The Need to Decompress

 Today, we had our first DCFS training for foster and adoptive parents. This is a brain dump, so please bear with me.

I've had classes on maltreatment, abuse, and neglect before. I have had foster children under my care when I worked in childcare. My point is, I've seen/heard most of this information before, about how trauma can affect children and their overall development.

It breaks my heart. I won't ever get used to hearing stories and seeing pictures, even dramatized situations, of child abuse and neglect, and the heartbreak of a birth mother whose kiddos have been taken away. The fact is, these kiddos face an ugly reality. Our minds were not created for trauma. Yet, these kids have seen the worst of the worst.

Again, the doubts come. Can I parent a child who has been through trauma? Will my training and experience as a childcare teacher and a special education teacher be enough? What if we are giving it our all and it still isn't enough?

But I keep reminding myself, that His grace is sufficient (2Cor 12:19). His grace is sufficient.

Can we do this? Of course, but not on our own strength.

Help us, Jesus, as we walk this road. Even if we are not enough, we know that You are enough. <3