My first....

This was, my first. The very first time I received a card on this day from my husband. The first time I woke wondering about the baby in the room across the hall. The first time on this day that I jumped out of bed to go mix up a bottle and hurry into the room to peak over the crib. The first time that I would snuggle a sweet babe in my arms and for at least this day...mother a child. Feed him, love him and treat him as my own on this very special day.

Yes, this was my first Mother's Day as a Foster Parent.

And we were doing respite care.

We were helping another Foster family out by watching sweet Baby "D",

an adorable 5 mo. old baby boy. And of all weekends to start with our very first foster placement, it was Mother's Day weekend. We absolutely loved this sweet guy and couldn't believe how easily he transitioned into our home since we never had met him even before this weekend. He was sweet, flexible and everything we hope our "longer term" placement to be! He even sleeps through the night.

There are many moments I'll remember from that weekend, but one will stand out to me as long as I live. You see Baby "D" was such a pleasant baby... really, he was always happy. Unless, he was unhappy and I mean UNHAPPY! He would go from nothing to 60 miles an hour with his emotions. He didn't really cry, he screamed. Well, we had a great morning Sunday and got all ready to attend church at Scott's mom and grandmother's church. It started later than ours so we got to relax and hang with Baby "D". I didn't want to put him in a nursery of EVEN MORE people he didn't know. He listened to the worship songs and fell fast asleep before the pastor got up to preach. I was a nervous wreck he'd wake up screaming (that is when he mostly did it). But he didn't he slept the entire service. As they played the invitation song, I started to become emotional. All I could think about is how I loved the feeling of this sweet sleeping child in my arms and how even more must his own mother love & miss him. She should be holding him on Mother's Day, but something (most likely sin...hers or anothers) kept her from her beautiful son on the day celebrating their relationship. I felt defeated and sad.

but then I heard more deeply the words being sang....

Victorious one, in you I stand.

then a few more verses..... and then the chorus:

Jesus, you are love

JESUS, YOU ARE RIGHTEOUSNESS

JESUS, YOU ARE LIGHT

JESUS, YOU ARE HOLINESS

AND YOU ARE MINE.

I don't have to feel defeated because GOD is VICTORIOUS over every sweet child in this world and I don't have to feel sad because WE HAVE HOPE.

I have hope.

Baby "D"'s mom can have HOPE because Jesus is our righteousness, he is our holiness and he is our love. All we need is HIM!!!

The last thing that put me over the edge (well my tears over the edge) was a Special Needs woman who was down at the altar praying. A woman sitting in a different part of the congregation from where this woman had gotten up from rose and met her there. She put her arm around her and the Special Needs woman in childlike love laid her head on the woman's shoulder. They prayed for several minutes like this and the tears just poured out.

That to me was a clear picture of what Jesus meant when He said " Feed my sheep."...at least part of it. What can we do to feed His sheep? Who can we help? Who can go to so they have a shoulder to lay their head? Who can we mother besides our own biological children?

Since it is still National Foster Month, I want to again ask you to pray about how you can help in this huge NEED in our communities.

Oh how I long to share Baby "D"'s sweet, adorable face. But alas, that is the Foster curse for a Photographer Foster Mommy like me. I will share this most special picture because no one could ever tell who this child is...

The Man snapped this picture of this most precious site. I think I will always cherish this photo. It symbolizes the first time I celebrated Mother's Day...not just to honor my amazing mother or my fabulous MIL or the grandmothers who have taught me so much, or my sisters who are wonderful mothers or all my great mother friends, but because it will remind me of one small child I got to mother for one weekend.

Hoping you all had an amazing moments like this one.