Removed {a powerful short film}
This weekend I watched a short film called Removed by Nathanael Matanick. I can’t get it out of my head and I know so many of you would appreciate seeing it. It chronicles the journey of a young girl removed from her home and placed into foster care. It is one of the most well made films I have seen regarding foster care and the trauma past circumstances can cause in the present. Sometimes there is an idea tossed around that all a wounded child needs is a loving home and the past will no longer have an affect on them. And sometimes love is all they need. But sometimes love shows itself in recognizing that often deep wounds do not just simply go away. Wounded children need parents willing to be big enough and brave enough to hold them in their confusing tears and to help them on the road to truly healing.
We’ve watched several of our friends walk the road of foster parents. While there are so many joys in seeing children heal, it is also often a road covered in the bumps of every kind of emotion. It is not for the weak of heart. It is for the brave. The strong. The willing. I’ve watched friends weep and groan as they fight and advocate for the kids that joined their families through fostering. I’ve seen them broken over the hurt what those kids endured. And, I’ve watched them rejoice as the same kids begin to flourish and heal in a stable, loving, grace-filled, understanding environment. My friends would tell you they are weak. They would say they aren’t strong or brave. But, they are.
According to its website, Removed was made “with the desire that it would be used to serve in bringing awareness, encourage, and be useful in foster parent training, and raising up foster parents.”
So today, I wanted to share this video. It is both educational, eye opening, moving and powerful. It is 12:47 minutes long…
