Opening your home as a foster parent can profoundly change a child’s life, offering them a sense of belonging and the love they need. But what inspires individuals to embrace children who have faced significant hardships?
Jessica’s heartfelt story reveals the journey her family undertook to become a foster family, highlighting the considerations and emotions involved in making such a life-changing decision
Opening your home as a foster parent can transform a child’s life, providing a sense of belonging and the love they need to thrive. But what inspires families to embrace children who have faced everything from hardship to unimaginable trauma?
Jessica’s testimony reveals her family’s path to fostering, shedding light on the history and emotion involved in making such a life-changing decision.
Jessica's Story
I sometimes struggle to write about why we started down the path to becoming a foster family. Even though I don’t think this is the very beginning of the story, I will start with the night several years ago when I took my phone and earbuds and went for a longer-than-normal walk in the neighborhood. On that walk, I suddenly and quite oddly felt compelled to find and listen to a podcast about fostering.
After a short search, I listened to a podcast called “Forgotten” with guest Jason Johnson. He laid out his family’s story of fostering and the nutshell version of his book Reframing Foster Care.
By the end of the podcast, I was convinced that this was the Lord speaking to me, and I started to prepare a speech for my husband listing all the reasons why we should foster.
After arriving home, I rambled for quite some time, and my husband just looked at me and said that he agreed. I was definitely prepared for pushback and not an open and easy yes.
This was actually harder for me to process because it truly confirmed the compelling voice telling me to look into the podcast and to be open to this path.
Sometimes, if I’m honest, it’s easy for me to feel like a grain of sand at the beach – unnoticed and even kind of unimportant. There are beautiful shells and sea stars, crashing waves, and majestic creatures in the deep. Who am I when I consider these things? I’m small, and why would the creator of the Universe see me and choose to talk to me?
Even as I write those words, however, I feel Him say to me, “But, I am the God who sees and the God who hears, and I’m kind and gentle and lowly in heart. I’m patient, and I’m your father.”
I know that I’m a work in progress, and my story is ongoing. “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6 ESV)
I’m trusting His promises. Therefore, our why for fostering continues to evolve.
This past September, I had a very short but vivid dream about a little boy sitting on a boat. I remember he had soft, sandy blond hair and was smiling quite adorably. It was sunny out, and the boy was clearly happy. Somehow, I knew that this was my dad from early childhood.
I’d never seen pictures of him before as a child and never saw his innocence or smile. He was so cute, and I kinda wanted to wrap my arms around him. I don’t remember much else from that dream, but it grieved my heart deeply, and it took nearly four months for me to tell my husband about it all.
You see, my dad died when I was quite young. But while he was alive, he lived a very hard and tragic life. He was raised by alcoholics and, by age 10, was sent to juvenile delinquency for many years.
All I can do is wonder why.
Why was he sent there – to be abused further, among other “lessons” of stealing and destroying things – instead of being placed in a loving foster home that would have wrapped their arms around him, showing him his worth, and pointed him to Christ? Why?
How would my life have been different if he had been?
Why do some kids have the chance to go into safe homes and some do not?
As I continue to process all of this, I know that I want to shine God’s light, peace, gentleness, and patience to displaced kids and maybe looked over or considered unimportant either by their own thoughts or by our culture.
I want to say yes to Christ always and trust His promises and His plan for my life and the lives of my family and anyone else he brings into our home in His great wisdom.
God’s providence is mind-boggling and comforting all at once. He REALLY is a promise keeper. Therefore, I BELIEVE what Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
On February 7 of this year, my husband sent me a text that felt like God speaking to my heart directly again: “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:1-8 ESV)
Then my husband texted, “It can be hard to empty yourself, but that is what being a foster parent is sometimes.”
YES!
Fostering has been rewarding and hard. We grieve and are filled with joy. We feel angry and laugh so often. Sometimes it’s easy and sometimes it pushes us to the limits of ourselves. But, through it all, God has His hand in it. It is a call that I feel God has placed on my life and the life of our family.
*Story used with permission, as submitted by Jessica.
Become a Foster Parent
We know you have questions about becoming a foster parent. You should! One More Child is here to support you through licensing, placement, and even after. The first step is to pray, and the second step is to get more information.
Join us for a free information session online or read through our Frequently Asked Questions about fostering.