God's Children

It was inevitable.  It really was.  For years Peter and I had been talking about becoming Foster Parents.  It was weird how it was almost not even a decision from the beginning, it was just something we knew we were going to do.  We never wondered 'if' we were going to do it, but 'when'.  I felt like we needed to do it a few times in our marriage.  So I'd start looking into it and then we would move, or get pregnant.  And in the back of my mind I would think 'ok, so I was able to put if off...'  Because lets be honest, it a scary step to take.  But a step I would soon need to take. So here we are...Foster Parents.  Watch this short clip then I will tell you our story.

We are all God's children.  Our goal is to return to our Father in Heaven.  We are here to help each other along that journey.  We feel we have been blessed with many things.  A loving family, both immediate and extended, good kids, a nice home, a job, the gospel in our lives.  We felt like we need to help others, and that becoming Foster Parents was what we were supposed to do.

One Sunday in August I was doing my hair for church, listening to church music.  I swear every single song was telling me, "do foster care, do foster care, do foster care."  More like the Holy Ghost was SHOUTING it at me. I started to cry and walked into the family room where Peter was.  (One of the songs was Prayer of the children   http://kurtbestor.com/index.php?page=songs&category=Innovators&display=354  That has since become our theme song for Foster care)  The first thing I said was "we need a bigger car."  He was so confused.   Here I am crying over wanting a bigger car?  So I said, "we need a bigger car because we need to do foster care."  He said, "oh, did you just see that commercial on tv?" No...I said.  He said, "well, I was just thinking that same thing."  It was like a ton of bricks hit at once.  We couldn't deny how strong we felt to do it, Im thinking the Holy Ghost was tired of telling us nicely for so many years.

So we started the process.  We handed in lots and lots of paperwork.  Took 30 hours of coursework in October.  And just recently had our home study.  We are officially Foster Parents.  My kids are excited, we have tried our best to explain this to them.  We are excited/nervous.  I'm more anxious and nervous than anything.  We have done a lot to prepare for this and ready or not, we are starting this next chapter in our lives.  We are Foster Only parents, not Foster to Adopt.  Our intention is to Foster, not to adopt.  However if adopting presented itself, and everything felt right, then that is something we would consider.  I love my kids dearly and don't want to DO foster care to them, but rather have them do foster care WITH us.  I want this to be a good learning experience for them and us.  They are my primary concern in life, and that will not change.  However there are so many other kids who need a stable environment and whom we could influence in the meantime.

So if we have any extra kids in tow....well just know that for the time being they are part of the family.  We hope that they will feel loved and welcomed and enjoy their time spent.