GPS #2

Where’s GPS #1? There isn’t a GPS #1 post because I did not make it to the first GPS class.

What is GPS? It’s a group training class for people that want to be foster parents in Birmingham. It’s a total of 30 hours of training. My GPS class is being held at the Alabama Baptist Children’s Home. I want to share a little history on how I wound up in a GPS class and what we did in class. It is my goal that anyone that is considering fostering can get a little insight as to what is involved in the process and for people to learn why I decided to be a foster parent and how that looks for me.

About a year ago David asked the church to ask God if He wanted them to consider foster parenting or adoption. There is a big need in Birmingham for foster homes and we need to be caring for the children in need right here in our community. I felt God calling me to do this but I knew with a full time job there was no way I could be a foster parent so I simply signed up as a foster care support person. In this role I was supposed to be paired with a foster family to serve as support whenever they needed a babysitter or something. I was very excited about this opportunity but unfortunately time passed and I was never matched with a family. I’m sure it was just a matter of time before I would be matched.

I still felt God calling me to serve in some sort of fostering capacity so I talked to a few people that had fostered and someone who was single that had gone through the GPS classes as well. I found out that there was a great need for “Respite Care” fostering. Respite Care fostering is temporary fostering. Basically if a foster family needs to travel out of state (they aren’t allowed to take a foster child out of Alabama), wants to spend some time with just their family, or whatever the need is you take their foster child in temporarily. My friend who went through the first GPS class is doing this. She has the same foster child about one weekend a month.

One Sunday after church a group of singles went to the park and I took Roscoe and one of my foster pups with me. My friend had her foster child with us at the park and she LOVES dogs. She had so much fun playing with Roscoe and my foster puppy, Shelby. I could see so much joy in her eyes playing with them and she even talked about her family to me while we were playing with the dogs. Animals really have a way of getting people to let their guard down. It made me so happy to know that while she was going through the stress of being separated from her family I (well, Roscoe and Shelby actually) was able to make her smile that afternoon. After that I knew that this was a great ministry opportunity for me. Obviously not all children love dogs the way this girl did, but I believe that if I am faithful and obedient that He will bring the right child into my home for however long as He desires and He will be able to touch him or her through me in a way that they wouldn’t get in any other home.

This was confirmed in my GPS class last night. We went through a typical detailed scenario of how a child winds up in a foster home. It was very eye opening and shocking. We talked about how each of the “parties” of the story feel as they are going through the process. This post is already pretty long so I won’t go into detail but basically I saw how beneficial it would be for a child to be in a single person’s home. Some children desperately need one on one attention. Little girls, especially ones that have been abused, need to feel like the princesses they are. They need to watch Disney princess movies and eat popcorn. They need to have tea parties and play dress up. Sometimes that isn’t always possible in homes with other children or a child may feel like the third wheel in a home with two foster parents and no children.

There were three couples in my class and then me so it’s a pretty small group. I think there is a fourth couple that wasn’t there this week. Please pray for each of us as we go through this training and for the children we will minister to in the future. Please also ask God if He wants you to consider fostering or adopting a child in need.