Maybe...
- Savanna
- May 28, 2021
- 3 min read
Maybe they will be super difficult and hard to parent.
Maybe they will have emotional damage that is beyond repair.
Maybe they will cause problems and chaos in your home.
Maybe they will never say all the things you long to hear.
Maybe they won't respect you or understand how to accept love.
Maybe they won't act like they are grateful for everything you do for them.
Maybe they won't ever comprehend how much you sacrificed for them.
Maybe they won't believe you will always be there.
But what if maybe all they need is...
To have a last name matching yours that proves they belong to a family.
To see a mom and dad in the crowd taking pictures of them receiving their awards.
To feel accomplished despite never attending Kindergarten or 1st grade.
To never doubt that each day they will be fed no matter what.
To wake up in a warm bed with clean clothes to put on each day.
To never fear the drugs, fighting, hunger, loneliness, and neglect of failed parenting.
To enjoy their first real Christmas or Thanksgiving surrounded by family.
To smile at you when you tell them how proud you are of their achievements.
To finally understand the importance of trusting God because a family they so desperately needed didn't let all the "maybes" discourage them.
Just maybe with God, grace, and love you can take the pictures of two children who were once hopeless, holding an A-B Honor Roll award, with a last name that matches yours and know with 100% certainty that you fought past all the "maybes" and now have forever. Just maybe one day the world will understand that most of all these foster children just need to be constantly Loved On Borrowed Time.
Bailey Christian completing 6th grade with an A-B Honor Roll award. Bailey had never completed a full school year until 3rd grade. One of her most favorite sayings is, "Mom, I don't know...I didn't go to 1st grade." Bailey is smart, respectful, funny, and successful at anything she sets her mind to. Bailey came to us broken, unsure, and unable to trust. She mothered her little brother, Kayson, better at age 9 than some women do at age 30. Bailey has been with us 3 years now and has fully embraced being adopted and her story. She will gladly share all the facts, terminology, and the ends and outs of foster care with you. Just ask her! Bailey advocates for foster children and has chosen to only see the positive that came from her situation. Bailey is a survivor who beat all the "maybes!" There is no doubt that this brave girl of mine will accomplish great things in life!
Kayson Christian completing 4th grade with his A-B Honor Roll award. I met Kayson for the first time when I became his 1st grade teacher. Kayson rarely smiled, was always quiet, and did his best to stay out of the spotlight. The first week of getting to know all my students, I explained that we were a foster family to my whole class. He slowly let a small smirk come across his face while I spoke. He then very cautiously raised his hand and said, "I'm a foster child." I smiled and did my best to act like this was an awesome thing as all the other students in my classroom tried to understand and process what this really meant. No, this wasn't great at all. It was actually heart wrenching to listen to all the students tell about their family, summer vacations, and their favorites toys when all he had to offer was being a foster child. The rest is history! That school year I became "Mom" to this little boy, who knew me the day before as only his 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Christian. Kayson talks all the time and is so outgoing now! Kayson does not meet a stranger and most of the time I wonder what he really remembers from life before being adopted. He has good memories he can recall here and there from his previous foster home, but the older he gets the more that fades. He is unable to recall any trauma at all. He lives life with not a worry in the world. Literally! Keeping up with shoes, brushing teeth, talking to strangers, getting lost, where he will sleep at night...it's all the same with Kayson. His theme to life could certainly be "Don't Worry Be Happy!" I know Kayson views the world as nothing but opportunity and my prayer is that he never loses that.
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