For However Long
Celebrating Moms who expand their love
Motherhood takes on many forms. Perhaps the most unique form comes through foster care. The essence of being a mother is to give your whole heart to your child for the rest of your life. Forever. This is why so many respond to the need with, “I would get too attached.” What they are saying is, “my parental instincts drive me to love a child with my whole heart forever, not just for however long.”
So, how do foster moms do it? How do they give their whole heart to a child knowing it might not be forever?
It’s not easy. They rely on God and a strong circle of support. We thought you might like to hear first-hand from some real-life superheroes we like to call foster moms. So we’ve composed a collective narrative written by a dozen women who have chosen to love their babies for however long.
“What does it mean to be a foster mom?
For starters, it is the toughest “job” I’ve ever loved. It requires strength, love, compassion, and grace that I don’t have enough of without the presence of the Holy Spirit. I have cried tears, both hidden and seen, both of sorrow and abundant joy. I have loved a child born of another woman, and extended God’s grace to his mother, whom I once thought deserved hate.
To be a foster mom means planting seeds knowing I may not see the harvest. It means to love without expecting anything in return or worrying about the moment he might leave. It means loving, nurturing, and raising a child for an undetermined amount of time. It means to love without bounds, giving myself wholeheartedly to my child for however long! It means I am a temporary mother to my child, yet I love him no less fiercely.
It means hope, loss, love, sacrifice, heartbreak, triumph, brokenness, and healing. It means a child has a place to go. It means loving sacrificially, embracing brokenness, and trusting God to make it beautiful.”
Biological moms, foster moms, adoptive moms, stepmoms, new moms, future moms, empty-nest moms, spiritual moms, grand-moms, working moms, stay-at-home moms, single moms, happy moms, discouraged moms…you are ALL superheroes and we honor you!
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