This summer a beautiful life breathed her first breath and entered our lives. As our first foster child placement, we had the absolute privilege of caring for and loving a newborn little girl we called Sweet Pea. Her eyes thoughtfully observed contrasts of light through our brown blinds, the tree line against an evening sky, Jasmine’s white fluffy fur, and our shapes. Her countenance…gentle despite her tummy troubles. Her tiny little body snuggled into our arms and hearts. From our first moments with her at the hospital, our hearts were enraptured. Life is fragile, and we were honored to nurture and attend to her needs physically, emotionally and spiritually. As we held, fed, burped, and changed her, we spoke words of love, healing, deliverance, and life over her. What a privilege.
Initially our dog Jasmine looked on her with confusion. Would this noisy little creature be part of our pack? But she quickly took a protective role of Sweet Pea by sitting at my feet, attentively keeping watch as I changed her diaper, barking more ferociously than ever at any knock at our door, and sleeping on my lap as I fed Sweet Pea her bottle. She had become part of our pack for a little while.
Right before we flew to Kansas for the Brethren in Christ’s bi-annual General Assembly, we united her with an extended family member. And while we are delighted Sweet Pea has family who loves her, our hearts are a bit broken. But as Drew joyously remarked through tears, his broken heart indicates he loved deeply and now feels the loss. Our hearts will mend. Praise the Lord we are capable to love, hurt, heal, and love again. While we gathered with our brothers and sisters in the BIC family, we attended a church service Sunday morning. A man in that congregation had just died and the pastor shared one of the remarkable aspects of this man’s life was that he and his wife had fostered 120 children in their lifetime! After the service, I followed his widow to her van because I just wanted to meet her. I shared with her that we had just begun our foster journey. Her words to me, “love them while you have them and know that you’ll have to say goodbye”. Thank you, Molly for your seasoned words.
Sweet Pea was our first foster love and we’ve said goodbye.
Yay! So excited to hear that you are fostering! What a journey.
What a beautiful remembrance of your short time impacting her life! And yes, I also was so touched by the story I heard that Sunday morning - so glad you connected with her! love you guys.