Welcome to our new blog! We created this so that others can follow along as we foster kiddos in need. There are so many thoughts, emotions, and to-dos that occur within a foster family and this blog will help us process through those things, as well as have a family record of our experience. So, let's jump in!
A few nights ago we held an informal gathering at our home with fellow Grace Covenant Church members to talk about fostering. We were given the chance to share our own story as well as hear from those who are foster parents themselves and those who are considering fostering. It was great to look back at the beginning.
My husband, Phil, and I took the initial steps to become foster parents back in 2010. We had a chubby, loud, and fun 1 year old (almost 2) biological son and felt like we had the time and space to help a baby in need. We weren't necessarily wanting to expand our family, just care for children. We felt like, "well we survived the first year, we can do it again." We attended the CPS intro course and were completely overwhelmed. We started investigating fostering agencies when we found out I was pregnant with our second son. Fostering took a back seat as we focused on Noah, who would eventually be born prematurely at 31 weeks and require a 4 week NICU stay.
Fast forward to 2013. Both boys sleep very soundly through the night and Phil and I feel slightly more out of the parenting fog and start talking about fostering in passing conversations. In February 2014 I had the honor of hosting an IF: Local gathering in my home with friends from church. (IF: Local is part of IF: Gathering, you should definitely check it out!). During that event, I was challenged that If God is Real, then what? What is he calling me to do right now? It was a very memorable, sweet time with friends as we silently and outwardly wrestled with what was stirring in our hearts. For me, it was fostering. I had been earnestly thinking about it for a few months prior to the event, but that weekend it became perfectly clear that we as a family needed to move forward, despite our fears and apprehensions. Phil returned home Sunday night and quickly agreed.
We asked some trusted friends in church for agency recommendations and chose Caring Family Network. I should set the stage that through all of this there was such perfect peace for both of us. There were questions, fears, lots and lots of unknowns. Lots of conversations that were, 'are we really doing this?'. But underneath it all was truly a peace that surpasses all understanding.
April 2014 we turned in our application and started our trainings. It took months for us to complete all the requirements of turning our home into what we call a 'state home'. Nothing was as over the top as we feared; magnetic locks installed, fire extinguisher bought, smoke detectors in every room, carbon monoxide detector etc. There was more paperwork, background checks, and trainings. Each step gave us the chance to confirm in our hearts and minds that we were really doing this.
September 2014 everything is complete and we were officially licensed as a foster family! We already had a trip to Germany planned, where Phil would be speaking at a conference. We would start accepting children once we returned. We knew this was our last carefree vacation for a while.
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