A little over a month ago our family took in a child through one of the county departments of social services, and now my wife and I have begun to take classes for foster parenting. Last week we attended the first of 10 three-hour sessions that will continue weekly until the end of October.

My natural tendency as we approach these classes would be to consider them excessively bureaucratic, longer than they need to be, and have a bad attitude about them. But somehow I?ve been able to set those sentiments aside and anticipate them as necessary to help us understand our new child and learn to handle behaviors that are foreign to us.

Last week we had our introductory session, which was a bit long but a humbling experience for us.

For weeks now, as we?ve told friends about our new addition, many have praised us for what we?re doing, but we often don?t feel like we?ve had the right attitude about this at all. This little boy was brought to our attention and we couldn?t ignore his situation. We don?t feel we are part of a noble cause or worthy of commendation, as some have said, because it?s not something we wanted. Indeed we often feel put upon. We often feel like this is a disruption, not a blessing. Of course, being Christians, we are ashamed about the way we feel sometimes.

This first foster class taught us a lot about our attitudes. My first observation was the remarkable number of families whose head of household served, or was serving, in Iraq. I would say about 50 families were represented there, and five had husbands/fathers who had served in the war. Three were women, alone, whose husbands were still in Iraq. These were families who have already sacrificed, and yet they are looking to give more of themselves to help children in need. One Iraq veteran, already with two children of his own, told of what he had seen during his tour, which compelled him to find a way to care for abandoned or neglected kids.

Much of the class was taken up by each husband and/or wife, or single woman, introducing themselves and telling a little about why they were there. Many of these brief stories were humbling to us. We heard the outpouring of love from people whose hearts break over the abandonment of children.

We sat across a table from one couple who had fostered 10 children over the years. I think they took a break for the last two years because of an especially difficult teenager they took in. But they had come back ? their fostering license had lapsed ? for another 10-week session so they could return to helping children. And now the wife said that the troubled teen they cared for had returned to them for a weekend visit, thanking them for providing a loving home. Clearly it was a meaningful development that spurred her to return to fostering.

We were also amazed at the many older men and women who had already raised their children to adulthood. They could have said their mission was accomplished, but they now wanted to care for more. Of course tears were shed over the aches felt for abused and neglected children. We were moved by so many who would willingly bring more difficulty into their lives in order to give a child a chance to avoid a terrible fate.

We came away from our first session, I believe, with a changed attitude about our new little boy. He is really a dynamic kid with a lot of potential, but in need of a lot of guidance. He requires a lot of attention. But with God?s help, I believe he ? and our other four children ? will get the love, instruction, and discipline they need to become responsible Christian adults and positive contributors to society.