Miracle Monday: “Make God Happy” — A Foster Mom in Israel Shares Her Story

Pam at International Mom sent me this wonderful story about this remarkable foster mother of three Israeli special needs children. Petra, who  often writes under the pen-name Christina Boerma, is a published writer who is originally from Holland. She and her husband of almost 30 years have lived since 1989 in Jerusalem, Israel. Presently she is working on her third historical novel.

“I watched as a mother sitting in a row in front of me put an arm around her daughter. The simple, natural gesture touched me. Bill and I had been married for 11 years, knew we could not have children, and didn’t miss them. Why was I so moved now? Why did “adoption” pop into my mind?
 
“I thought, OK Lord, if this is from you, Bill must bring up the subject.  A few days later, I was flabbergasted when Bill said, ‘If you desire to become a mother, we can either adopt or foster.'”

Confirmations came from different, unexpected sources. For instance, in a Dutch romance (of all places), I read, “The Lord is looking for empty nests, where He can place children that are ‘over’ and ‘too-much’ and are craving for a warm place. Don’t fret, but make the Lord happy by giving one of these children a place in your heart and home.”

To read more of the story entitled “Make God Happy” by Petra van der Zande, click here.

For another inspiring story, check out this post at Patrick Madrid’s blog, about Irena Sendler, a Polish woman (1910-2008) who saved more than 2500 children in the Polish ghettos of Warsaw during World War II.

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Calling all Extraordinary Moms… That’s You!

The simple truth is that every child thinks Mom is extraordinary. Whether that child comes to us the conventional way, or through adoption, or foster care, or some other way. Your presence is what teaches that child about love, about goodness, about kindness, about truth. You ARE those things to your child … and to all the children in whose lives you invest.

Pope John Paul II used to talk about the “feminine genius,” and frequently quoted the Council Fathers of Vatican II who contended that “Women imbued with the Spirit of the Gospel can do so much to aid humanity in not falling.” By our very nature, women have gifts and abilities that are distinctively feminine. We relate differently, both to one another and to God. And that is a good thing.

This website is dedicated in a special way to “Extraordinary Moms” Moms who devote themselves to their families (often but not always large families) to a remarkable degree. And Moms who are “extraordinary” in the sense that (like an “extraordinary” Eucharistic minister) they come alongside the “ordinary” mother and help her raise that child in God’s name.

Adoptive and foster mothers, godmothers and favorite aunts, even teachers and religious education instructors! For each of us has a God-given job to do … and in the words of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta (a great patron of adoptive and foster families), “God does not call the equipped; He equips those who respond to the call.”

This website is for all women who need encouragement to live out their vocations as fully as God wants them to. There are resources for all kinds of EMs … those with big families and small ones, those who struggle with infertility and who wish they weren’t quite so fertile, those who long for children … and those who are considering, perhaps for the very first time, whether the child who is meant for them has already been born and is waiting for them. Those who are happily married, and those who carry on alone.

So let’s share our experiences … let’s help each other. If you’re considering adoption and are looking for more information, especially about foster-adoption, feel free to check out my adoption blog “Mommy Monsters.” For now, let’s begin, as we begin every good thing, by calling on the Father of us all!

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth
As it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
Those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.