Big changes have come to our home over the last week. We’ve added a new member to our family. It’s been heartbreaking, chaotic, exhausting, but also beautiful. Being able to open up our home to children who need a safe and loving space has been on my heart for years (and more recently my husband’s). And how fitting that not only did we officially become approved, but ALSO get our first placement during Foster Care Awareness Month? We have no idea how long this placement will be for or what the end result will be. But we know that we are called and we were able to say Yes.

During this month we have been experiencing firsthand, what it means to be willing to say Yes to our lives getting turned upside down in a decision that we only have minutes to make. And to experience just the beginning of the emotional roller coaster that is fostering. In our case we said Yes and just 4 hours later, our new little one was in our home. I know that I may have slightly rose colored lenses coming from the very beginning of our experience. I may have heard stories, but I don’t yet know firsthand the darkest, hardest parts of what we (and these children) may walk through.

As time goes on, I will continue to share and take you on the journey that the Lord has called us on, while also respecting the privacy and journey of the little ones in our home. So please have grace with me while I learn what that will look like. If you know me personally, you probably know that I have felt the call to foster (and potentially adopt) since I was a child, and you may have also ask me, “Can you handle this?” You probably know that I wear my heart on my sleeve and feel very deeply for what others are walking through.

The truth is, no I probably can’t. But where I am not enough, the Lord is! I know that he has called us to this journey and that he will fill in the gaps and carry me (us) when we can’t move forward in our own strength. I know that the system is VERY broken (on both ends) and that providing a home (whether short term or a forever home) can be BOTH beautiful and traumatic. In a sinless world, children would never have to leave the homes that they were born into and it’s a heartbreaking thing to have to walk through.

But I also know that the Lord has called us ALL (as Christians) to care for the fatherless; James 1:27 (NIV) says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Not everyone is called to foster and adopt, but we are all called to care for the orphans and widows, and there are many ways to do that in whatever season we are in.

Maybe you are called to foster and adopt…maybe you feel the call, but it isn’t the time yet. Maybe you are called to support in other ways. May is almost over, but as part of foster care awareness month, I invite you to lean in with us. Honestly the biggest thing any of us can do is PRAY. Pray for healing, pray for restoration, pray for the people who are called, to step up and answer that call, and pray “Lord, what have you called our family to? Where can we serve?” As we share our journey, I pray that your heart will be encouraged and challenged to step out and love in new ways.

Here are some tangible ways you can support foster children and their families. Ask your church if there are families that are fostering that you can support: through prayer and encouragement, through meals, through childcare, or gifting tangible items they may not have. Our church has a support group to help foster and adoptive families and there are also organizations that come alongside to educate and support families (check out this PA organization: Keystone Family Alliance). Find local foster/adoptive agencies and see how you can support them.

We are approved through Cobys Family Services and they go above and beyond to support the resource families and kids in their care. They offer many trainings, therapy for families under Cobys AND other agencies, and extras like giving the resource family a backpack with starter items when they get a placement (we got a small pack of diapers and wipes, a sleeper, onesies, a blanket, a bottle, baby toy and Bible for our little one). As a non-profit, supporting their families in this way is made possible through partnerships and financial donations. They have different types of fundraisers and events throughout the year, they have a “Closet” that is always accepting donations (visit their website to see needs), and they always have an Amazon wishlist with the biggest needs.

I have seen the church step up in big ways, but also know that the need is still so great. I pray that as our family steps out in faith, that God would continue to move hearts and his church to fill in the gaps and be the hands and feet of Jesus for the most vulnerable. Matthew 19:14 “Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Well I am off to change some more diapers and fold some more laundry…but feel free to reach out and ask questions and I’ll answer as time allows <3