Weekend Reading: National Foster Care Month Style

It's the last Saturday of the month and I finally got around to posting some of my favorite links from the month. There were some amazing foster care posts - these are just a few I remembered to bookmark;-)

From Tiffany at Stuff and Things - Foster Care for Every Commitment Level

This is a long list of foster care blogs - a whole new world!

From The Forgotten Blog - An honest look at being the other woman - the foster mom.

A nice list of do's and don'ts entitled What Foster Parents Wish Other People Knew.

Catie from This High Calling was killin' it this month! SO many great posts from her and her guest posters! A few of my favorites:
Conviction
I. Could. Never.
I Think I'm Expecting too Much From a Hallmark Holiday

Happy Weekend!

Weekend Reading

Happy weekend!

Here's hoping you get the chance to enjoy a nice cup of hot tea, kick up your feet and do some reading.

First, a thought-provoking post from Tapestry entitled "Protecting What is Sacred."

 "We must acknowledge that we teach our children by our actions.  What we model for them shows them what is sacred. Adoptees have experienced significant fractures in trust, introduced mainly by the adults in their lives long before they ever arrived in their adoptive families. They need reassurance by their parents’ words and actions that the sacred nature of their stories will be honored. Parents must model sacred because for many adoptees they do not view their own life story as sacred."

You can read the full post here.

My friend Leslie took a really honest look this week at the reality of aging out of the foster care system. The statistics are staggering. Each of us should pause and pray about what our role in foster care should be. You can read Leslie's post here.

Here's a really wonderful post on loving families with special needs children.

Enjoy!

And congrats Reagan! You won the giveaway for 31 Nuggets of Hope!

weekend reading

"When we consider the complexities of issues that surround the global orphan crisis, we are confronted with the fact that truly visiting orphans in their distress (James 1:27) requires more of us than we can imagine. The mandate to care for orphans over the long haul requires that we give of ourselves in ways that are at war with our culture’s pursuit of earth-bound treasures. It’s impossible to care for the orphan without living self-sacrificially.

As a result, if we are not actively locating our identity in or being defined by the grand story of redemption, our efforts to care for the orphan will likely be superficial, perfunctory, and short-lived." - Dan Cruver, Together for Adoption.

 Read the full post here.

Waiting for Glory,

Weekend Reading

I'm emerging from slacker mode. Here you go... thank me later.

I came across this great blog - written by a foster mom, with several young kiddos, who also runs a foster care ministry. YES. PLEASE. I promise you will be encouraged by her family.

Did you see this uh-mazing ultimate list of adoption fundraisers? Check it out. There are sure to be some new ideas among these gems. (And we might be included in the "Other Creative Ideas" section:-)

This post on special needs parenting made me let out a sigh of relief. More to come on why, but this is a necessary read for anyone with a kiddo who has special needs and anyone with friends who are parenting kids with special needs. 

I'm leaving you with a quote from Gillian's above linked post...

If you are struggling with your child who has special needs, I give you permission to say it outloud.

I give you permission to ask for help.

I give you permission to realize and own the fact that Jesus is with you in your pain. He knows how much you love and cherish your child, and he also knows that this path can be difficult.

When I open up about my struggles something amazing happens.

I cry “uncle,” and God whispers “peace.” “Gillian, what took you so long to give this to me?”
I call for help, and Jesus stands up on my behalf. “I’m here. I’m helping.”
I confess weakness, and He claims strength. “Oh, child, finally, you are starting to get it.”

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

weekend reading (where have you been?)

I've been seriously slacking when it comes to posting "weekend reading" on Saturdays...

I'm digging my way out of slacker mode but, in the mean time, check out the trailer for Faultless: The American Orphan, a full-length documentary, developed by Unthinkable and the Christian Alliance for Orphans for the purpose of inspiring and equipping Christ’s followers to more deeply love and care for orphans for the glory of God.


 

weekend reading

Were there some great posts this week or what?

So much is going on, I can hardly keep up. So many posts I wish I had written myself but someone else beat me to it. And I had to figure out what that smell in our fridge was all about. (It was week old black beans, in case you were wondering.)

So this weekend, kick your feet up and check out this post from Jen Hatmaker. (As if you haven't already read it.) I could pour chocolate on that woman and eat her. Seriously.

AND KATIE DAVIS! She drips of the Holy Spirit. He just oozes out of her. Reading her words is so humbling. I pray that we would all be prisoners of hope.

Then there was this post from the Orphan Justice Center.

This week, in the midst of our own crazy, I was having these exact thoughts. I even drafted a post in my mind, but it would not have been as good as this:

"The ending of abortion cannot be separated from the raising up of an adoption movement. Both concern wanting and loving children, born and unborn—and loving them enough to make them our own sons and daughters if they are left fatherless. In the Father’s house, there are no unwanted children.

There are currently nearly half a million children living in U.S. foster care, from newborn babies to teenagers. These children, along with those who have been aborted in their mother’s wombs, are America’s present day unwanted people group. Their lives have been tossed aside and ignored, even by the Church. These children live in our neighborhoods and attend our schools. But do we even see them, and do we care about their lives?

At this time, a very small percentage of the church is adopting the fatherless. Those children whom the world has named “unwanted” have not been received by the Church either.  Currently, the number of Christian church congregations in America outnumbers children who are waiting to be adopted from U.S. foster care by about a 3 to 1 ratio. This means that if each congregation adopted even one child, there would be no orphans in America. God has given His church the charge to care for the oppressed, the poor, and the orphan. These statistics yield disturbing evidence that the church, as a whole, has not heeded His Word on this issue. Currently, the government is raising the fatherless, though the church was given the mandate. "

Oh how I pray we will take these words to heart.

 
Francis Chan For Orphan Sunday from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

And finally, who doesn't love Francis Chan? If you haven't seen this Orphan Sunday video it's worth watching AND sharing.

And if you haven't heard of Orphan Sunday check it out here.

I plan to do a post on it but you never know when something will go bad in our fridge...

What are you reading this weekend? 

weekend reading

I really like to read. I'm sort of an information junkie but as our kids get older, more mobile and take fewer naps, reading an entire book has become a bit of a challenge. Therefore, I've become a bit of a blog junkie...

I have to be careful how often I use the phrase "So I read on this blog today" when William comes home from work. If I use it to many times what he hears is "So I read on this blog today blah, blah, blah, blah. Did you know blah, blah, blah, blah? Blah! I never thought about blah."

I don't get to post here as often as I would like or in any way computable to the things that are heavy on my heart. But luckily, their are lots of other bloggers who post some great stuff.

Instead of just reading it and keeping it to myself or sharing it on my FB wall, I'm going to start a "weekend reading" series. My plan is to post these early Saturday morning. Sometimes I will, I'm sure sometimes I won't but my prayer is that you find the links encouraging for the task God has ahead of you.

Enjoy!

First, this post from the Gospel Coalition. I think the title says it all "Do I have What It Takes to Raise an African Child?". For those of us who doubt (don't we all?) it is an encouraging word.

The Christian Alliance for Orphans released a White Paper on understanding orphan statistics so that "Christian orphan advocates can both accurately understand and carefully present orphan-related statistics.  Failure to do so undermines the strength of our advocacy and can misguide the actions that organizations, churches and individuals take on behalf of orphans.   Meanwhile, an accurate grasp and communication of the true nature of the need provides a strong foundation for an effective, well-focused response." If you want to advocate for the "orphan" you need to understand what that means.

Third, this post from echos of mercy was just what I needed to hear Friday morning.

“We need to stop asking for guidance and start asking for the Guide.”

[tim keller]

And who doesn't love Kristen Howerton. Really?