Last week, we attended a Halloween party hosted by a lovely family. They have five children, seven and under. The house was decorated adorably, games were planned and played, even the food fed the theme.  All of that was great, but one moment made it the best party ever.

Fostering Love

Our hostess was busy preparing her laptop to show the guests a video clip where her children’s faces were fit into a comical clip of the Monster Mash. As her computer loaded, it revealed a desktop photo of their baby getting baptized.

Her five-year-old son pointed to the photo, “That’s when Itty Bitty got dunked. When he got baptized. Right Mom?”

Through the busyness — waiting for the computer to finish booting up and the website to load — his mother affectionately smiled at him and said, “Yes, it is.”

Then he inquired, “Did the judge say we can keep Itty Bitty yet?”

She looked at him and said, “Not yet. Hopefully soon.”

Other adults in the room inquired about the status of the baby’s adoption. Postponements, future court dates were briefly mentioned. Then, that dear boy looked up at his mother and asked, “The judge said you can keep me, right?”

“Yes. We can keep you.” She reassured him. “The judge said we can keep you.”

He asked a few more times, interjecting his query in the midst of the busy scene. Each time, she looked into his eyes, reassured him calmly and then returned her attention to the stuff of the party and costumed children eagerly hovering close by to watch the video.

It was a beautifully intimate exchange between a mother and child in the midst of ordered chaos. And it was the sweetest Halloween treat I’ve ever had. All five of those wonderful children have been blessed with a caring, loving and now permanent home because of foster care. Four have celebrated their adoption day, and the last one is still in process.

Without going into all the stuff of life, my friend and her husband tried to conceive, then adopt, then finally came to the realization that they just wanted to be parents. It took a while, but they eventually decided it didn’t mean an infant was the only option to fulfilling that desire. They entered into foster care and well … let’s say their prayers were answered abundantly. And in ways unexpected and truly cherished. They are a wonderful example of being open to what God has planned for you.

And there we were, and there was that sweet little boy, appropriately dressed as the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. His brothers and sisters were the Lion, the Tin Man, Dorothy, and the witch.  May they always find comfort knowing that they needn’t look any further, for they have found their hearts’ desire for their brains, hearts, courage and … a home.