Greetings From The Circus

I'll never forget the call I received from my daughter Micah, I was grocery shopping when my cell phone rang. Her cheery voice greeted me with the news that she knew who her "people group" was. She had told me about a retreat she had attended with a group of college friends where they were challenged to pray for God's direction as to who they should serve. This is in itself somewhat unusual for today's college student, being told it's not about the job you land, the bank account you build, or the status you achieve. These students were told it isn't about YOU at all...it's about what you will give away, and the people you will serve.
Micah told me her people group was foster children. She was about to watch God map out a plan that would forever change the lives of many children in the system.
She had witnessed what being in abusive and neglectful situations does to children. We had five foster children in our home at the time. Although Micah was married and living in another town she came home every chance she got to help with them. She saw what a struggle it was for us to go from having a quiet life with two teenage boys to the chaos that ensued when seven children all needed something at the same time. We were exhausted, sleep deprived and overwhelmed. We couldn't do it alone. Thankfully, we didn't have to. God supplied friends who did everything from organizing the children's clothes, to babysitting, to being an arm for our teen boys to lean on. It took that village we've heard about to help us survive.
In the midst of it all Micah was called to start a ministry. Big House Foundation was born. She named the organization after a song by Audio Adrenaline, a Christian band. The first Wednesday night we had our foster children we were on our way to church, I asked the kids to listen to the song. Some of the words are: "Come and go with me to my Father's house, it's a big big house with lots and lots of rooms, a big big table with lots and lots of food, a big big yard where we can play football, a big big house...it's my Father's house". The kids screamed to hear it again. We listened to it three times there and three times back. They were hooked. The song refers to Heaven but to foster children who may not be used to having enough food or room or a place to play it sounds like something they want right now!
The mission of Big House is serving the foster family. There is a clothes closet stocked with nice clothing free of charge to foster families, a swimsuit and beach towel drive each year so that foster children have a new swimsuit and a towel with their name embroidered on it. This past Christmas Big House hosted the foster family Christmas Party. Each child received gifts, books, hat's and gloves, and got the opportunity to eat breakfast with Santa and some of his helpers. Basically, the desire of Big House is to give every child a chance to do the things most children in traditional families do, including music, dance, art, sports, scouting etc.
Foster care is not a perfect solution, but it is all we have to do what we can for children in situations where they have no voice. As foster parents in Lee County we are thankful for friends, churches and organizations like Big House who are here to help.