We Chose This Life

“Yeah, it’s hard, but you chose this, so…get over it, figure it out, suck it up.”

We chose this life.

We chose this life of hellos and goodbyes and heartaches and joys, of high highs and low lows.

We chose the revolving door, the empty seat at the table, the laying ourselves bare to the system.

We chose to share our family with another family—to wade into people’s stories, to step into their brokenness, to open our homes to their needs.

We chose the days peppered with visits and court dates and appointments, lawyers and therapists and workers, with just too much and not enough.

We chose a life of holes in walls and “I hate yous” and calls from the principal, of tears and fears and screams, of diagnoses and prognoses and never ending needs.

We chose the rollercoaster of emotions—the heartbreak of loss, the anxiety of the future, the overwhelm of the privilege, the joy of the love given and received.

But just because we chose it doesn’t mean we have to carry it on our own. In fact, it’s the we-chose-it-ness of it all that should pull our people into it right along with us.

Friends and family, we need you to walk with us as we walk this path we chose.

We chose to step out in love for kids and families. We need you to step up in love for us. We chose to say yes to kids and families. We need you to say yes to us.