If foster care is something you have been feeling might be ‘your thing’, then here’s a list of some books that really sealed it for me.
The first is “Another place at the Table” by Kathy Harrison.
Here’s an excerpt from her epilogue:
People still ask me how I stand it. How can I tolerate the misery and hopelessness of it all?….. “Doesn’t it scare you?” they want to know. “Wouldn’t you rather teach again or sell towels, for goodness sake? Anything but continue to do what you do?” The truth is, there isn’t anything I’d rather do. I think keeping a home and raising up children is a good and noble calling. I say I am a foster parent with my head held high. It’s hard work and not for the faint of heart. It is sometimes a job for a warrior.
And a piece from the beginning of the book:
“When children come to me they are shattered. In the course of a few short hours they have lost everything than anchored them to their sense of self. They are truly refugees from a war they can’t begin to comprehend. My job is to paste them together until they can start to make some sense of it all. I offer a small island of safety in an unsafe and terrifying world.”
When I read this book, I wondered how Kathy had gotten into my brain and written down exactly what I was thinking!
The next is “Mixed Blessings” by Deborah Lee
This is what Random House Publishers had to say:
There are around 20,000 children in foster care in Australia, but how many of us would actually open our hearts and homes to help? With husband Cedric, Deborah Lee is one of the unsung heroes of foster care, having fostered scores of children, many of them so-called ‘difficult cases’. In Mixed Blessings, Deb tells her story. If you have ever loved a baby, you will love this book. Because every child deserves to be loved the Deb Lee way.
Definitely made me laugh…and cry. A great inspirational read. I will be reading this again over summer.
Then we move onto the harder books to stomach:
Dave Pelzer’s books: “A child Called It” and “The Lost Boy” are two books that will at times, literally turn your stomach at the atrocities inflicted on a child. But there is also hope, and the story of a courageous child that no matter how deep his wounds, has come out victorious.
Melissa Fay Green’s “There is no me without you”
and Cathy Glass’ books are all deeply disturbing. If you finish one of her books, and don’t feel compelled to do something, check your heartbeat!
For deeper research as to the ‘why’ behind abuse, the authors of “Ghosts from the Nursery” produce compelling if not controversial evidence that violent behaviour is learned and cultivated in the first few months of childhood development. Even more startling, the authors Robin Karr-Morse and Meredith S. Wiley believe that a predisposition to violent behaviour can be learned before birth. A “chemical wash” of toxins such as drugs and alcohol, combined with a mother’s stress hormones generated from rage or fear can directly effect the babies brain development.
And one of my favourites – not specifically on the subject of fostering, but rescuing the ‘least of these’ – the children, is Wes Stafford’s book “Too Small to Ignore”
Children are too important and too intensely loved by God to be left behind or left to chance. Children belong to all of us and we are compelled to intervene on their behalf. We must invest in children–all across the world.
Do you have any great reads to add to this list? Leave a link here, or comment and I will update the post as I hear from you!
