Michael hated foster care. He had supportive and loving foster parents, a committed MBCH Treatment Family Care support worker, and plenty of resources to help him work through his negative memories and build a positive future for himself. But Michael wasn’t interested in working on his treatment plan or developing independent living skills. Seventeen and cynical, he resented his life story and the transient living situations it had placed him in. All he could talk about was getting out of foster care—even though he had no plan for what came next.
The Treatment Family Care staff and Michael’s foster parents all worried about his upcoming transition. As eager as Michael was to start over on his own, the statistics for kids who age out of the foster care system are bleak, and Michael’s refusal to form a connection with his foster family or the MBCH staff didn’t bode well for his future. But ready or not, his eighteenth birthday came, and Michael stepped forward into independence without ever looking back.
For a while, Michael disappeared into his new life without responding to any of the caring texts or calls he received. Then one day, he surprised his former Treatment Family Care support worker by picking up.
It was a different Michael who chatted on the phone now. Happy and polite, he explained that he was living with his grandmother, who had become one of his best friends, and taking on the physical housework his grandfather used to do before his passing. Michael was surrounded by support; he worked with a close friend, enjoyed his job, and felt connected to his community.
The proof, they say, is in the pudding. Not every kid leaves foster care on a positive note, but the ultimate goal of MBCH support staff and foster parents is to invest in kids’ long-term wellness, rather than a singular feel-good moment. Even when we don’t see kids responding to the love and resources we invest in them, we continue to put their healing first, hoping they will one day use the skills they’ve learned through Treatment Family Care to achieve stability in adulthood.
Despite his earlier resistance to foster care, Michael is a success story. God used a path that felt uncomfortable to Michael at the time to prepare him for a purposeful and productive life marked by supportive family and hope.
We are all pieces of God’s plan for blessing those we come into contact with—but none of us is God’s whole plan for anyone. As painful as it can be to sow love, time, and attention into someone who never responds with gratitude or affection, God uses stories like Michael’s to humble us and remind us that He is the only One with the power to change lives.
His plan is bigger and better than any happy ending we could write. It is an honor just to sit and watch the wonders He performs as He works out redemption in one life at a time.
