I often reflect or even shed tears over meaningful songs. I am not a crier or “feelings” person by nature, but these songs so perfectly summarized what my heart was going through, that they became my anthems and a healing way to vent my pent-up emotions.
The foster-care system is so broken! Trying to get a little one’s needs met in that system, or get them out of that system is frustrating, discouraging, and often feels hopeless. Parenting an adopted child with so much hurt is so hard.
May these songs be as therapeutic to you as they have been to me!
Garth Brooks, The Dance
This song was especially poignant when we faced losing Kelley to the system. It made me cry when I heard it after Kelley and Gabi had moved away, and again I sat sobbing in my car with this song playing the day I sent the county notice to resign as foster parents. (See “Love is Blind: Our Foster-Parenting Story Before Adoption” for details). Had we known how hard foster parenting would be, I don’t think we would have pursued it. As I grieved the loss of Gabi forever and the fear of losing Kelley forever too, I resonated with the thought that “I could have missed the pain. But I’d have had to miss the dance.”
Garth Brooks, Unanswered Prayers
So often in life we fervently pray for things to turn out our way, and when it doesn’t, we accuse God of not caring. But in hindsight, I can see so many ways that God was steering me to something better. For example, when my first love broke up with me, when I continued to have surgery after surgery and still could not get pregnant, when I moved from a town I loved to one I felt less certain about, when the job I really wanted didn’t come, when I felt certain that I had utterly failed as a foster parent, and when even adoptive parenting was much, MUCH harder and less instantly rewarding than I hoped for. Those unanswered prayers and hardships have all led to HUGE blessings, much better than what I asked for. “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.”
Rascal Flatts, Bless the Broken Road
All of the hardships we went through are what brought us together. “God blessed the broken road that led me straight to you.
Audio Adrenaline, Good Life
Many of the dreams I had for my life have not panned out. My vision of my relationship with my child, how my child would behave, what we would do together as a family- all changed dramatically. But I’ve found deeper relationships, new friends, and deeper faith in the midst of it. “Sorrow’s opened up my eyes to see what real joy is. Pain has been the catalyst to my heart’s happiness. This is the good life.”
The Village and The Vineyard 