TulipGirl

Thanks for the links…good to read.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot over the past few days–especially after I got done working through my girls’ HUGE case file down at HHS (which had to be done prior to adoption as after the adoption the records will be archived in a vault and will never see the light of day again).

My girls were spanked and God knows what else in their former foster family placement of 2 years.

At the same time, I was talking to some former foster kids (now adults) who spoke of physical, sexual and emotional abuse while in various foster placements.

So–this got me thinking. We have a case here of abuse–horrible abuse that led to murder. This mother was influenced by the Pearls. *BUT,* a good portion of the abuse in the foster care system is unrelated to Christian teaching.

While the Pearls’ and Lynn herself are responsible imo for the death of Sean, what about the larger issue of foster kids and abuse while they are in foster placement–be it a foster home, group home or juvenile detention center?

Even if every Pearl writing is wiped from the face of the earth and obliterated from the minds of followers–abuse of foster children will still occur.

We need change on a large scale–but nothing in the realm of foster care or adoptee rights is easy. It’s hard to even know where to begin….*sigh*

Hi! Thanks so much for your comment on my site. It’s been a while since I’ve read the Pearls, and your quote reminded me how much I’d forgotten about their intensity–or maybe I’ve just changed.

Naomi, I appreciate the thoughtfulness you’ve brought to the discussion on your blog. *grin*

I don’t know–in this sinful world bad things will happen. What can we do to minimize those “bad” things? Can we do anything at all?

I don’t know what can be done to minimize the problems. . . I don’t know enough of how the system works. I do think that shining a light on the problems (and the good things!) can only help.

And because there often is a tendency for punitive parenting to be promoted among Christian parents (and sometimes a tendency to not see the unique situations of a child), I have mixed feelings about encouraging more Christians to become involved in the foster system. How sad is that? I’d love for more Christian families to care for the “widows and the orphans” through fostering–but not if they are insensitive to a child and punish and neglect in the name of Christ.

That said, in our current church and previous church I’ve known some amazing, amazing families who have fostered and foster-adopted children. Their love and their willingness to make sacrifices to care for and put the needs of these children first is amazing.

And. . . what blesses me so much is how clearly I can see in one family that their kids are just kids in the family. Their appearance makes it obvious that they are not birth children, but they have made the transition as a whole family of uniting and the kids are just kids, you know?

Just thought i would comment and say neat theme, did you code it yourself? Looks great.