Foster Care Affects Every Member of Our Family

These girls of ours understand what it means to welcome a child through foster care. They remember their own experiences, make connections to their own lives. Continuing to welcome kids in our home has brought up a lot of questions and started many conversations with these two.

And usually, what I’ve expected to be triggering, has most often been healing.

Triggers aren’t meant to be avoided (forever). They reveal places that are broken, so that healing can take place. When our kids are ready, triggers can be opportunities—to process, to grow, to heal.

I think the love my girls have for their (foster) siblings has helped accelerate their own healing journeys. And I know their experiences in foster care have helped them be even better (foster) siblings. They hype their siblings’ visits, root for their moms, comfort every loss, celebrate every win.

Foster care affects every member of our family—in the hard and in the healing.