For the past several years, some members of my church have given up their homes, time, energy, hearts, and prayers to foster children. They've opened their homes to complete strangers and loved them like their own, prayed for them, and shown them Jesus' love in powerful ways.

I never quite understood the foster care system and all that it entailed until about a year ago. A family in my church took in a DAY old baby girl and loved her, prayed for her, and gave their heart to her and a few days ago she officially became apart of their family.

As a church, we prayed for her and her soon-to-be parents and older sister every day (and will continue to pray for) until she was theirs for good. I had the privilege of being a part of her first year of life and I can already tell she is going to do big things in her lifetime.

According to childrensrights.org, there are nearly 428,000 children in foster care in the United States on any given day. That statistic is alarming and I pray that each of these children is brought into a loving home and given just what they need to become who they were always meant to be. The people that God intended them to be.

As a girl who has watched families bring children into their homes and our church has been so rewarding. I have watched these children blossom and some have even given their hearts to Jesus and that's what it's all about.

Our job as Christians is to show the love of Jesus and His life to all ages and that's just what these people have done and for that, I am forever grateful. Foster care in my eyes is a beautiful thing when lives are changed for the better.

As I scrolled through an album of pictures of a family who got to officially introduce their sweet girl to the world, I couldn't stop smiling or thanking Jesus. I was amazed at how far this family had come and how long it took to get to this point. I know without a doubt that this was not an easy journey for them or the people around them but I know that they found joy in the journey.

God is so good, friends.