A mother's love

People are always asking me how I can foster and host children and then let them go. The number one concern that people have about fostering and hosting is the ability to let them go when the time comes. I understand that fear and concern. I have lived through it many times in my role as foster and host mom. As difficult as it is for me to let them go, I understand what the children take away from their experience in our home. How do I understand it? I unlike the children who come to visit am blessed to have a mom who loves me unconditionally. She has been my biggest cheerleader for the forty-five plus years that I have been on this earth. I know what it is like to have experienced the love of a mother. I am blessed that she is a phone call away when I need her. There have been times in my live that I have done or not done something because I knew exactly how my mom would feel about the situation. My desire for all the children who cross my path, is that they too would experience the unconditional love of a mother. God has blessed me with the ability to love them like my own while they are in my presence. I have been involved in this ministry of Motherhood for a number of years. A ministry that I did not think belonged to me. I had other aspirations for my life. I wanted to be a physical therapist or a lawyer. God worked in my life in ways that consistently put me in path of children. Not only was it children but children who where rough around the edges and needed a mother's love. I was mothering before I was married to Kenny. I tutored the football, basketball, and baseball players who needed help to stay on the team. I went to their games and cheered them on to victory. Being in the school hallways, I knew who was doing what on the weekends. I was not shy about reprimanding them for their choices that did not make me proud. I mothered the team of misfits as a twenty-two year old first year teacher. I loved them with everything I had. I once found myself in the middle of a drug deal gone bad as I fought to keep my boys out of trouble. As guns were drawn, my boys stood in the gap to keep me safe. It seems that I made a lasting impression on both sides, as very few of those boys had ever had someone love them just for being them. The gift of mothering the least of these has continued to be a part of me. I am constantly asked when I will be done fostering, hosting, advocating and loving the least of these. I will be done when I am either no longer breathing or when they all have a mother to love them. The highlight of my recent trip to China was meeting Nick's Grandfather and Father. The visit to his home place was a wonderful experience for me. Nick's father would not talk to me. Nick's grandfather had lots to say to me. One of the things he expressed to me was there are no women left in the home. I think that he understood the importance of a mother's love in the life of a young boy. Nick was blessed to have known his mother. She died when he was five or six years old. The cause of death was listed as tumors of the liver. I have no idea about the details of her death. If is was sudden, or if Nick slowly watched her die. I do know that he loved her. Nick and I talked about her while he was visiting with our family during the hosting program. The language barrier limited our conversation. I asked him if she was beautiful? His face lit up with the biggest smile as he replied, "yes." He experienced the love of a mother and wants to experience that again. As Mother's Day approaches, I ask you to prayerfully consider how God is asking you to practice true religion. James 1:27 commands us all to come alongside orphans in some way. How can you help a child experience the love of a mother for the first time or maybe again? I am blessed that God has given me the ability to minister to the least of these in numerous ways. It is my prayer that mothers and people who are blessed to have an awesome mom will come alongside me to help me do what it takes to get my son home.... and help me connect other boys with their moms.