And still, we were passive. Until one night, driving home from a couples’ study on “Anything” by Jennie Allen, I told my husband that I thought we were supposed to be fostering children now, not later. His response was “I know”. It was impossible to turn back from that moment of actively acknowledging the years of preparation God had been doing in our hearts. Our eyes and ears had been opened, and we felt that it would be disobedient, if not impossible to ignore where God was leading us [Matthew 6:19-20]. We started the paperwork within two weeks.

I would love to say that the certainty of that moment never left us and that God’s peace never faltered, but this journey has been complicated and painful. It has pushed us into places where eternity with Christ truly is the only hope, where the Lord is our only rest and strength. We were under spiritual attack immediately after the decision, before we had even completed our training. We were humbled in our own short-comings constantly, as God allowed us to be tested and refined in preparation for the real trials to come [James 1:2-3].

After seven months of paperwork, interviews, and training, we were notified that our house was approved and open for placement. We got our first call within hours. There are many questions to ask when these calls come in, but I don’t think I ever got to ask any. Our social worker informed us of a very unique situation that she wanted us to consider- twin one-year-old boys who were up for adoption, currently in an emergency placement. Their history followed along with much of what you expect from foster care. We had the weekend to think about it, but they would only want us to say yes if we could commit to keeping them forever, without knowing them. I hung up the phone shocked. We hadn’t really thought much about adoption; in fact, our paperwork indicated that adoption was our lowest priority. I called Colin and we laughed about how absurd this first call had been. But then we discussed the realities of their situation, and humbled ourselves to the idea that God wasn’t as concerned with our plans as He was with His own. We prayed and we asked for prayer. By Monday morning, we said yes. The twins will be formally adopted sometimes in the fall of 2018, but in our hearts, we acknowledged them as our children before we got to meet them.

For Colin and I, caring directly for orphans has become our life [James 1:27].  The twins have many wounds from their past that can be healed through Christ in time. I advocate on their behalf and I make sure that all the proper therapies and appointments are in place; but ultimately, their future will be up to the Lord. Because of this uncertainty and difficulty, the number one way to support our family, and all foster families, is through prayer. Prayer is powerful and so very needed. I believe that everyone in the church has a calling to serve somewhere, but as a body, we are not all called to the same function; we can, however, all pray together in faith that the Lord hears us. I will make the bold statement that I speak for all the families in our church who are loving children from difficult backgrounds- we need prayer!

One of the hardest things to adjust to for our family has been the isolation. We don’t see our friends nearly as often as we used to because our younger children have needs that often don’t align with our previous social schedule. The siblings of foster kids sacrifice their social lives as well. On top of that, the several appointments per week leave little room for balance in our home lives. I know I am not unique in this; other foster moms have shared similar experiences with me. As a result of all this, besides prayer, encouragement is greatly needed. I have gone through many valleys over the past year, and often the Holy Spirit has used an encouraging text to remind me of His presence. Sometimes these texts come from women I barely know, prompted at the right time with the right words. This is an easy, simple way to walk alongside us and lift us up, to break up our valleys of isolation- if the Spirit has placed us on your hearts, let us know! When I have become discouraged, God has used the simplest words to remind me of His presence. I can not express how impactful this has been over the past year. If you know a foster parent, send them encouragement as often as you are lead.