"That was SO much fun!"

We had a couple of friends over this afternoon for a few hours and after enjoying some snacks, the boys managed to convince the dads to join them in a massive game of Monkey in the Middle. Each kid teamed up with a dad and each kid/dad team strove valiantly to keep themselves of out the dreaded "middle." There was much laughter, yelling, diving for the ball, leaping to block shots, and apparently even some wrestling the ball out of little hands. *ahem*

Nothing spectacular really. Just an hour of simple craziness. But it meant the world to our Batman.

"It was so awesome," he began and then spent the next few minutes regaling me with tales of their game.

I thought about how something that my kiddos take for granted --of course dad's friends join in our games-- could be such a sweet blessing to our Batman.

There have been plenty of other moments like this as well. Our neighbors' son, home from college, has spent more than a few hours playing basketball with the boys in the driveway. Some friends kept the kiddos for an evening so Jared and I could go out, and they organized an in-house egg hunt. Our homeschool family welcomed Batman on a field trip while his school was off for spring break. And I could go on.

None of these things are particularly spectacular but all of them are incredibly meaningful because Batman is being loved.  He's experiencing a community of people who are safe, giving him a soft place to heal and to rest.

Here's the point: you don't have to be a foster parent to be involved in foster care. There are so, so many ways you can be the hands and feet of Jesus to a hurting child. You could just spend part of your afternoon playing Monkey in the Middle.