We are fostering! We wanted to be able to answer some questions that people may have about this decision. We would love your prayers and support and would love to discuss further why we chose to do this.
Why did we decide to do this now with 2 kids under 3?
There could always be an excuse for every “season” in life. I could come up with a reason to wait for every stage. We originally thought about fostering once our children were older, and we were done have babies but God gripped both of our hearts and convicted us to act now. Foster Care/adoption is at the heart of the gospel (Ephesians 1:4-5). So what better way to live out the gospel than to take care of the neglected children (Isaiah 1:10-20). To let them know that there is a heavenly Father who’s love knows no end (Psalm 103). And it is in and through this message that we pray that they would become children of God (1 John 3:1-3).
Will this process be hard?
I’m sure! Will we feel totally overwhelmed at times? Absolutely! But Gods power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). So then we will have no other hope or boast but only in what Christ has done in our lives and what He will continue to do in this process.
When do you expect to have a child placed in your home?
Unlike with a pregnancy, we don’t have a “due date” of when to expect the arrival of a new child. We have begun the process and it typically takes around 6 months to finish. Since there are 14,000 children in the “system” right now, we assume it should be fairly quick to get a placement. Since we are open to an age range that is a higher need for homes we assume it will be soon after we finish our license, although right now in Arizona the need for foster homes for every age range is great.
What types of children will you take?
There are many different “types” of needs in the children in foster care. After prayer, we feel that we will be open to accepting children that do not have any severe medical disabilities. We feel that children with these needs would be better placed in a home that can provide the therapeutic benefits that we cannot at this time. There are times when you do not know what types of issues your placement may have ahead of time. We are praying for guidance and for peace that God knows the child/children that will join our home, and He knows for how long. These children did not come into foster care by anything they did. They are not broken, or “bad”, they just have parents who made poor choices, or could not care for them. This is a ministry to not only the children, but to the birth parents at well.
We plan to accept one (right now) child between 6-9 years old. For logistical purposes for our bedrooms, we plan to take a girl.
How do you know your biological children wont be harm by the other children you bring into your home?
We don’t. There are no guarantees. There is no risk free ministry. We view this journey as a mission field, and just as we could not protect our children from all the unknowns on a mission field, we will do what we can to protect them, watch them, and have open conversations with them, and then pray, a lot. We are not naive to think this is going to be an easy journey, but we fully believe it is directed by God for our life, and we know that God loves these children (Gracelyn & Kade, as well as our foster children) more than we ever could. We will rest in those truths.
Do you plan to adopt?
We would love to be a forever home for a child and would hope to be able to adopt the children placed in our home if we were the best place for them to be.
How long will the child stay with you for?
In foster care, there is SO much unknowns. It could be for a weekend, for a few months or for a few years. Sometimes we will know how long a placement will most likely be when we get “the call”, but sometimes we wont.
