It was such a lovely evening,
really. The gorgeous wreath on the door greeted me as I walked up the
well-swept path, and the glow from the windows invited me to come inside.
Delicate coffee cups stood at attention next to the folded linen napkins,
waiting for the scrumptious chocolate dessert that would soon be served.
The woman seated next to me admired the hand-crocheted doilies underneath the
fresh-cut flower centerpiece. The conversation around the table was muted
and polite, nice young ladies making small talk with each other.
I had thought that this was going to be
a wonderful, relaxing evening, one I had looked forward to for weeks. It
had been such a long, long time - years probably, since I had been able to find
a babysitter, get away from the responsibilities at home, and make arrangements
to attend a ladies Bible study.
I hadn't been there too long, however,
before I began to feel
embarrassed and awkward, realizing that
I didn’t really have much in common with these nice young ladies. I think
most foster and adoptive mothers might feel the same way: How can we be
nice, after all, when most days we are warriors, fighting a battle for a
child’s health or wholeness or future? 1 Honestly, we don't
want someone to invite us to a Bible study. What we really want is someone
to come mop our floors or run errands or hold our foster babies while we take a
nap. We feel so isolated sometimes, that we long for someone else to
understand what it’s like to love the most vulnerable members of our
community. 2
