we get by with a little help from our
By Kristin Wynalda
Friends
During the recent series in the book of Ruth there was a sermon about hospitality . My husband , Robert , nudged me on the way out of the Sanctuary and teased , “ Think we have met our hospitality quota for the week ?”
He was joking , of course , but it was funny because we were on our way down the children ’ s ministries hallway to pick up strangers who had been living with us . You see , we practice hospitality by serving as foster parents .
For several years now we have provided respite , substitute , and crisis care to foster children and fostering families . Our role is a little different from normal foster care . We are fully licensed foster parents , but when children come to stay in our home we have an end date when we know they will return to their full-time foster family .
We started exploring ways to serve foster children several years ago when we moved into our home . We were young twenty-somethings living in a large , four-bedroom home . We had been studying in our small group that all of our resources are God ’ s and should be used for His glory . So , we began the long journey of getting licensed as foster parents . Now we are into the double-digits of the number of children who have stayed with us , some up to two weeks and some multiple times .
We knew this important work would not be easy . We predicted some challenges , like the difficulty of getting out of the house with five children or navigating different bedtime routines for different children . Some challenges were unexpected , like how mentally taxing it is or how hard it is on our marriage . There is something about sacrificing for tiny strangers all day that brings your own selfishness bubbling to the surface when you interact with your spouse . But God has been gracious and has given us the ability to keep accepting kids into our home .
In the midst of these challenges there are some unsung heroes who make it possible for us to serve these families and their children – our small group and the Momentum class . These wonderful families completely wrap around us when we have children in our home .
They bring us meals constantly when we have children staying with us . Sometimes , when they bring over yet another kid-friendly dinner , they even include breakfast foods for the next morning . They invite us over for play dates with their kids and they treat all of our children exactly the same . They never cringe when we have to deal with behaviors their children would never display . They do not judge us when we share marriage struggles that the stress brings out . They tell us they are praying for us and then actually do it . They let us bring our crazy group over for dinner and cut food into bite-sized pieces . They loan us double strollers without us even asking . We have kids who are only with us for two weeks who know the names of our small group members and their kids because they are taking care of us all of the time . The people in our small community at Calvary have been incredible servants to us and to the kids in our home .
I would love for every fostering family at Calvary to have a support system as wonderful as ours . If you are wondering how you can support a foster family , I think the best way is to assume they need help . Try to fill in the cracks . Even if you do not necessarily see any cracks , I promise , they are there .
If you see us stroll in on Sunday morning looking sharp in church clothes and everyone holding hands as we walk across the parking lot , you might think we mostly have everything under control . And you know , we do have everything mostly covered . But that is not because we are super parents . It ’ s because Christians from the church and our families have stepped up to serve us as we serve .
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