Never Enough - Foster Parents

There are children in this country, even in your city, who don't get enough love or support.  There are children whose parents don't know how to, are incapable of, or have become so engrossed in their deep pits of personal Hell to care for their children properly.  Some of these parents need to be taught things they never knew from their own childhoods.  Some of these parents need a wake-up call and a concerted intervention that addresses their personal demons.  Some of these parents should never have been parents at all.

Some of these children have suffered severe abuse.  Some of these children  have been born addicted to various chemicals or with any number of ills associated with poor prenatal care.  Some of these children won't survive, and need someone to love and care for them while they die  Most of them have learned to not trust people or their situation.  They suffer from attachment disorders.  They think that they are responsible for their own situation.  They become the parent figure for younger siblings, trying to protect them from the evils around them.

The LUCKY children end up "in the system."  The Department of Children and Families, or some equivalent, removes the children from their harmful environment and places them in homes and with people that have been inspected and investigated.  These children become a part of a new family...sometimes just long enough to find family to take care of them, sometimes just until mom and/or dad can figure out what they did wrong and fix it, and sometimes forever.  These children now have to learn to fit into an environment they are not accustomed to.  They need to learn to follow rules that were never required before (like do your homework, wash your face, pick up your room, go to bed at 8:30).  They need to be taught that they are NOT responsible for their horrible predicament, and that they are worthy and capable of love and social interaction. 

There are never enough of these families who open their homes and their hearts to these children.  Certainly, not everyone is even capable of such sacrifice.  If you think you are, though, PLEASE consider volunteering.  Check in your local area for how to become a Foster Parent.

I have 'enough'

There are things I want.  There will ALWAYS be things that I want.  However, I came to the realization during a rough patch in our lives that I really do have 'enough.'  I have a house to live in.  I have a wife that loves me.  I make enough money to pay the bills and have a little bit left over.  I have children that don't hate me anymore. I have a job that I really do love.  Really, what more is there in life?

It wasn't always that way.  We lived the life where we were one paycheck from the street and a $20 bill was a big deal.  I became an expert at knowing exactly how long it took a check to clear depending on where I sent it.  I knew exactly how long I could hold off paying a bill in order to use THAT money to pay a different bill.  We got an answering machine so we could screen our calls.  We cut EVERYTHING we could, and what was left was very difficult to pay.  We made it through that time, though.  I REALLY wanted more then.  I wanted to be able to answer the phone.  I wanted to have a decent Christmas.  I wanted to provide better for my wife and children.  Looking back though, I realize that, even then, I had 'enough.'

Today I am involved in some social services where I meet people that really don't have enough.  Children that don't have enough love or support.  I've met mothers/fathers that don't have a place to live or enough to feed their children.  I've met people who don't have enough compassion NOT to hurt their children.

I can't explain how liberating it is to realize that I have enough.  When the administration decided that my pay should be adjusted downwards, I was able to take it in stride, realizing that I still had enough.  As the organization contemplates an additional 20% cut in my pay, I am able to not fret too much, knowing that I will still have 'enough.'  Sure, we will have to trim some things, and it will be painful, but my family and I will still be fine.  In truth, if we had to go back to $20 being a really big deal, I wouldn't be happy about it...but my wife would still love me, my children would still not hate me (OK, they love me), and we would weather whatever we needed to because we've done it before, and we know HOW to do it. 

It's nice to be able to say, "I have 'enough."