How do we build relationships with our foster children’s biologically family? I think it starts with our hearts.
We can’t truly love someone and be for someone if we only see them for their mistakes, or if we put ourselves on a tier above. Our foster children’s parents are not evil, they are human. And they deeply love their kids.
We have to choose to lean in. You know that quote, “there isn’t a person you wouldn’t love if you could read their whole story”? It’s true. If we could see the whole stories of our foster children’s parents there’s no doubt we would be filled with compassion. So often the biological parents we struggle to love were once the vulnerable children we love in an instant now.
Whether or not you have the chance to hear more of their story, you are part of it now. You have the chance to be an agent of hope, of healing, and of restoration. You have a chance to love the way you’ve been loved.
Jesus sees our whole stories and he loves us anyways. Not because of anything we’ve done right, but simply because we are His. We have been given the free gift of grace and unconditional love — now it’s ours to give away.