One of my favorite things about reading through a romance series is when the author weaves in the continuing stories of the characters from the earlier books. After rooting for a couple through their struggles and cheering their triumph, I love seeing what happens after the ‘happily ever after.’ In real life, that’s where things just get started. It’s a whole new world coming back from the honeymoon and starting a life. It’s the same for any of life’s big transitions like graduating college and starting a career, moving to a brand-new city, becoming a parent. When it comes to life-altering, there’s little that beats becoming a parent.
In the final book of my Sweet River Romance series, The Redemption Road, the main characters are both in their twenties and sorting through some serious baggage on their way to finding love. In the background, the characters from the first book, in their late 30s and early 40s have just become foster parents to five children and plan to adopt. I wanted to include this sub-plot because being parents is something they both thought was never going to happen for them. It’s a sweet story, but I didn’t want to just leave it there. Adopting a foster child is an act of love and faith as well as a challenge for both parents and children.
Often we think of a child finding their forever home as a happy ending. It’s a heartwarming, feel-good story. But as any foster parent can tell you, it’s just the beginning. There are miles of road ahead and some of it will be rocky. No child ends up in foster care without first enduring some kind of trauma. Neglect, the death of a caregiver, or abuse, there are many kinds of trauma. Even removing a child out of a situation where they were not harmed causes trauma because of the separation from the only family they knew. As Annie, the heroine of The Redemption Road, put it “She wondered what else the children had lost when their parents died…They probably lost friends, their old teachers, coaches? Their house, their neighborhood, even their church.”
It’s easy to assume that a child will be so glad to be out of difficulty and united with people who will love them that it’s going to be smooth sailing, but it’s more complicated than that. Showing that struggle was important to me since I’ve seen it close up. Although not a foster parent myself, I am close to some who are and have experienced the blow ups, the meltdowns and everything in between. Parenting children is full of blessings and love. It’s also challenging and emotionally exhausting. Choosing to open your home (and your heart) for a child who has lost theirs is truly kingdom work. It’s saving lives and pointing the way to Jesus and eternal salvation.
That sounds like a whole lot for a sub-plot, but I try to reflect real life as faithfully as possible. And each person we interact with in our daily lives has their own plot and sub-plots. Sometimes we need to slow down and take the time to notice, to understand what they’re going through. We’re called to be salt and light, sharing the Gospel, stopping to help the hurt and the broken. Not everyone is in a position to become a foster parent, a missionary, or pastor, but all of us can be light in a dark world.
Christa MacDonald is a 2017 Carol Award finalist for contemporary Christian fiction. After publishing a few short pieces in her college’s literary magazine she took a long hiatus during which she embarked on a few different careers, got married, had three kids, and renovated an old barn masquerading as a house. When not working or writing Christa can be found ferrying her kids around, reading, or attempting something crafty. She and her family live along the coast of New England. You can connect with Christa at her website.
The Redemption Road, the final book in the Sweet River Redemption series is out now.