Our Journey to Foster Care
As an adoptee myself, I have experienced adoption as a beautiful redemptive gift. Adopting myself became my dream from a young age. My husband and I began our family with two biological children and we planned to grow the rest of our family through adoption.
Then in 2020, God gave me a burden for human trafficking. I remember feeling really overwhelmed and asking God, “What can I possibly do to make a difference with this horrific crisis?” His answer was foster care. He showed me how foster care is both restorative and preventative in relation to human trafficking.
I began to pray about getting our foster license, but at the time, my husband was adamant that we would never foster. The thought of attaching to children and having them taken from him was a huge emotional barrier.
We began our domestic infant adoption journey instead, and became active with seven adoption agencies. To our surprise, this was the very process that God had planned to prepare us to become foster parents. God asked us to attach ourselves in prayer to each mom we presented to which was not easy because it meant we had to grieve our connection each time we weren’t chosen. As we obeyed and yielded to this type of intercession for expectant moms across the U.S., God transplanted his heart into ours for the vulnerable families behind every vulnerable child.
Then God encountered my husband and opened his heart to fostering. He spoke to him that our biological children are not ours; they belong to God. We are really just fostering them on this earth. God said that there would be no difference with children that come into our care that on paper belong to the state because in reality they are God’s children. He spoke to us both that our mission was not just to adopt children, but to adopt families.
We are now foster parents who get told all the time, “I could never do that. I would get too attached.” To which I respond, “If you think you'd get too attached, you would be a great foster parent! The very thing these children need to heal is a safe and strong attachment to loving parents while their families receive the support they need to also heal.”
Foster children aren’t given a choice on entering the system. They are forced into it absolutely terrified. So we, the Holy Spirit empowered adults, can certainly step into foster care a little afraid. God's tangible presence has absolutely met us every time we proceed despite our fears.
The Lord told me that caring for orphans and widows isn’t something He’s adding to the Church’s “To-do” list. This is WHO WE ARE! James 1:27 calls it pure religion. We are the pure bride of Christ. When we care for vulnerable children and families, we are preparing the way for Jesus to return and through this process we are purified, transformed and made ready for Him.
Even though the first goal of foster care is reunification, adoptive parents are still needed. There are currently over 100,000 children in the U.S. whose parental rights have already been revoked and are legally free for adoption. You can visit the support page for more information on foster care, foster adoption and domestic adoption!
Each of us has a part of our to identity that is God's solution for the broken and vulnerable!
Read more about our journey here.
*To watch a video where I candidly tell our story of our journey to fostering, click here.
