You are giving a child the chance to live a better life. A chance that they deserve. You are giving them the love and care that they so desperately need. You are making a lifelong, lasting difference in the life of another human being.
Being a Foster Child Taught Me Love #writeyourheartout - Sabrina's Story
I never understood why “foster care” and “adoption” had this eerie and peculiar reputation behind them, when those two things are responsible for the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.
Respite Care: Why a Foster Parent Would "Leave" a Foster Child & Why You Should Take a Child Who's Been "Left"
There may be times that a foster family may be in need of respite care for one reason or another. And before I jump into my argument for why foster parents should open their homes to respite placements, I want to shed some light on why families may need them in the first place.
Licensed & Waiting: Tips For Getting Foster Care Placements
Looking back now I realize it was only three months that I waited for my first placement, but at the time it felt like an eternity. Take the overall lack of phone ringing I had expected, add in a few potential placements falling through, and I was in full will-it-ever-happen-distress mode. Every story of a child languishing without a family was like a dagger in my heart. “I”m here. I’m waiting. Give me a child to love!”
"What to Expect" The First Week of a New Foster Placement
As I’ve been posting about the first week with our newest placement, I’ve had many new or soon-to-be foster parents reach out with thanks and questions. It's reminded me of just how clueless I was at the beginning. Maybe you, new foster mama, are feeling clueless yourself.
Siblings Shouldn't Be Separate
On Thursday of last week I brought one little girl home from the hospital. One twin. One half of a set. These girls who shared their mother’s womb for nearly seven months, shared a hospital room for nearly four, and shared every moment of their little lives together, were separated.
A Vet's Foster Care Journey: Jerry's Story for the US Children's Bureau
One time, a small seven year old girl quietly approached me as I sat in a dark living room after work. “Jerry, can I tell you something?” she asked. “When I first met you I was very, very scared because you are very, very big…"
From 1 to 50: Karen's Story for the US Children's Bureau
My husband and I started the process of becoming foster parents. At the beginning, we wanted only one young child. To date, we’ve had 50 children in our home. We went from a three bedroom home to a six bedroom home, allowing us to have the room for more children to love.
From Stranger to Daughter: A Story For the US Children's Bureau
You clung to me with tear-filled eyes like your life depended on it, like some stranger would come and take you away from me, too. And my heart clung to you just the same, continually aware of the risk of loving you, continually aware that you may leave...
Christmas is About Foster Care & Adoption
Christmas is the story of God bringing Help to the helpless, Hope to the hopeless, a Father to the fatherless. Sound familiar?
Foster Care is Contagious
Simply knowing about “foster children” isn’t very compelling. But getting to know a foster child, one specific child, can change us. When we know their stories and speak their names and see their faces and hold their hands, they enter our hearts.
"Better Than Fair Trade" Roll Call
This Christmas season, I've spent a lot of energy telling you all about the different "better than fair trade" organizations I love, why I love them, and which of their products I love the most. But it turns out, I got a little carried away. And it turns out, that all of the many lists may not be conducive to actual shopping. So consider this a "who's who" of organizations that do good, with minimum details...
A Letter To My Daughters on the Day of Your Adoption
I’ve called you by that label, that sacred name, “daughter,” many times. But today is different. Today there’s no prefix, no subtext, no “sort of but not really” as there has always been before. You’re not my foster daughter, I don’t love you “like you’re my own.” Today you are wholly, completely, for forever my daughter
When I discovered there were people behind products - Delicate Fortress Creations
For the first time in my life, I thought about the people behind the gift. And the thought that the beautiful figures sitting on my dresser had fed or clothed or protected a family made me happier than the beautiful gift itself.
Wear jewelry with PURPOSE
I’m grateful there’s something I can do. I’m grateful for organizations like Purpose that allow someone like me who can’t do much to partner with what they are doing. And what easier way is there to “do” good for these precious women than to shop?
MORE Gifts that Give: How Your Christmas Shopping Can Change the World
I created a list of my 10 favorite "gifts that give." But I couldn’t stop there. So I made a list of my favorites for kids. But I couldn’t stop there. All the people must know all the organizations! So, here is my second list of my very favorite do-gooding, beautiful-product-making, world-changing, better-than-fair-trade organizations.
OUR ADOPTION STORY - CARLY #writeyourheartout
I could not place any limits on the child that could bring value to our home. My mind had been forever shifted on value and worth. Here's the deal: I could not NOT check boxes. I stared down at the paper in front of me and as the pen pressed on to paper my heart began to expand a little more. Boxes all got checked.
Gifts that Give: "Better Than Fair Trade" Gifts For Children
I want them to know that the way we spend our money matters, that the best way to view money is through the lens of generosity and compassion, that there are people behind products...Here is a collection of my favorite “gifts that give” for kids.
OUR ADOPTION STORY - STEPHANIE #writeyourheartout
They were asking if we would adopt, we said yes. Two years later, I found myself loading up the oldest two into their mom's van. Three weeks later, it was the younger two. Yes, I was heart broken, but I knew this was God's plan for their lives and mine.
OUR ADOPTION STORY - CHERYL #writeyourheartout
In two years, we had met three different sets of birth families, met two babies right after they were born and yet none of them were in our home. I had given up.