Straight from our Home: Fostering Update #1

First of all, thank you.

When I shared our big news with the world last month, it felt that much more real for us.

We are humbled, absolutely humbled, by the outpouring of encouragement, love, prayers, and suggestions that have made their way to us through our socials, e-mails (and mail), and text messages. Not to mention the financial gifts and donations we’ve received like books, toys, unbreakable cups, and furniture. They mean everything to us.

So what’s happened since we announced our plans to become foster parents?

We made our first big trip to IKEA to get an idea of what’s out there and how we want to transform our chosen room (my current home office) for our foster kids. I found the perfect extendable beds that will grow as the kids grow, some sweet toys, and storage solutions to give us additional space for, well, everything! My Photos app is drowning in photos like the ones below from that single visit.

It feels surreal to be planning out spaces for children after years of hoping and praying for our home to be filled with even just one! So you can imagine just how much self control it’s taking for me to not transform everything now (you all can continue to pray for Gabe in this aspect as he takes in all of my ideas).

We also attended our first info session to get a full understanding of what our training will be like, what fostering in general is like, and how to start preparing our home (and ourselves) for children.

In a few words, it was overwhelming with information and at the same time, encouraging to meet others taking the steps to also provide refuge to children going through the foster care system. We have ten weeks ahead of us starting in late March where we’ll get in the nitty gritty of training alongside several of these individuals and I’m looking forward to getting to know them more in the midst of it.

One of the things that really stuck with Gabe during our info session was the word “permanence.” Reunification is the goal in foster care but permanence for children is the ultimate objective. Whether it’s through reunification or adoption through a foster family, a child needs and deserves permanence and stability. Our prayer is to play a role in giving the children who come through our home just that for however long they’re with us.

How can you be praying for us right now?

Earlier this week I hopped on a call with a former coworker who has fostered for several years to hear about her and her husband’s experience. One of the things she stressed is Gabe and I staying on the same team, no matter what comes our way. Would you join us in praying for that? There’s so much we can plan for, but when it comes to our relationship, we want to always be on the same team no matter how chaotic our lives are about to get.

Would you pray for our upcoming training and for the other couples and individuals who are in it with us? Pray also for the social worker who will be leading our group as well as her team. The roles that they’re playing in training us are vital. Pray that the Lord would continue to strengthen them as they seek to place children in homes.

And finally, a vulnerable one here. Would you pray that I won’t compare our foster story to anyone else’s? We’re hearing a lot of stories, both good and bad, on what fostering is like. With it can come some fears, apprehensions, and even thoughts of “what if that happens to us?” I don’t want that for us. Pray that we, and by we I especially mean me, would take in all the stories around us and remember that Gabe and I are going to have our own story unique to us.

In case you’re curious…

No, our Amazon registry isn’t quite ready! I’ve been compiling recommendations as I’m receiving them, but will most likely share it in May as we near the end of our training. I’ll also be updating it as children come through our home and have more specific needs for them.

I have an ongoing list of names for Amazon registry distribution and if you’d like to be added to it, please let me know! I’ll also plan to share it here on our website once it’s ready to go.

For now, thank you, friends. We are humbled, excited, jittery with the unknowns of the future but ready, really ready, for all this next chapter holds.

Until next week,