Ps 68:6 ?God sets the lonely in families.? |

It?s true, adoption and foster care sets lonely children in families. All too often, however, once the children are home, adoptive and foster families are also lonely. When families have biological children, many people share the journey. Families, churches and social groups surround the new family with attention and interest. ?Adoption and foster stories often generate a different response. Adoptive and foster families are often met with comments like this, ?That?s great you are doing that. I could never do that.? ?

Adoptive and foster families feel like an anomaly. Often there are few foster and adoptive families in their church or extended family. Families feel like they no longer ?fit? with their former social groups or their church. They are lonely.

God commands us to care for the lonely. The family of God, the church, must surround lonely families, including foster and adoptive families. These families are often overwhelmed. It?s hard to ask for help or even to initiate social contact with other families. The church can support those families in many ways, especially by maintaining and promoting those social contacts. Church families can help meet not only the spiritual needs of these families, but also the physical and social needs. It takes effort on the part of these church families. It takes thought to invite and reach out to families who may not have the energy to respond. It isn?t always easy for church members to know where to enter in.?

Recently I had a conversation with a friend. I was telling her about a foster family who had just brought four young children into their home. I commented, ?I hope that their church surrounds them and the new kids, because it will be hard.? Her comment was, ?Well, they (the foster parents) wanted this. They knew it would be hard.?

Yep! These families knew it would be hard and said ?yes? to setting the lonely in families. Let?s encourage our church family to say ?yes? to setting the lonely families into warm and loving church families even when it?s hard.?

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