Foster Care – Kingdom Love Stories

The Grief

May. If you’re a parent of school-aged children you know what May means. May = chaos. May = crazy. May = So. Many. Things. Just take my money! But May is also #fostercareawarenessmonth and somehow there are only 3 days left in this month for me to tell you something about foster care. Well, thatContinue reading “The Grief”

You Chose This

Yes, I did choose foster care. Yes, I did choose to adopt. No, I didn’t choose for my kids to be removed from their biological parents. No, I didn’t choose for the foster care system to be so incredibly broken. No, I didn’t choose for bio mom and dad to fail. No, I didn’t chooseContinue reading “You Chose This”

Fostering Hope

2017 Five years ago I was eager to learn more about foster care. I just finished a book study on The Connected Child where I met foster parents for the first time and was all fired up to use my new trauma-informed skills! With a deep compassion for kids in need and a mind thirstyContinue reading “Fostering Hope”

The OTHER MOM

Mother’s Day just passed and I always think about my boys’ birth mom. My heart aches for all that she has endured. They say there is nothing more painful than losing a child. And she lost two. For a time, her story and mine collided. I met her standing in the lobby of a ChildContinue reading “The OTHER MOM”

The Transition

March 9, 2018. I was dropping X off at daycare when my phone rang. This was yet another life-changing phone call. In foster care, everyone says, “Be ready for anything!” and “Anything can change at anytime!” Well I just had my first REAL taste of that since my boys arrived. The 3-month return home thatContinue reading “The Transition”

The ADOPTION

March 15, 2019. Adoption Day. Travis County Courthouse, Austin, TX. What does it feel like to become a Forever Mom to two little boys that you planned on only being Temporary Mom?? PRETTY UNBELIEVABLE! It took exactly 6 months from the trial date to our adoption hearing. During that time I learned about the manyContinue reading “The ADOPTION”

The Termination

The dark side of adoption is rarely talked about. I am referring to the loss and tragedy that occurs when a child loses their biological family. There is a family that had to be broken apart so that mine could be formed. I still feel a sense of loss because the outcome for which IContinue reading “The Termination”

The YES

October 2018. It is one week before the TPR (termination of parental rights) trial. My personal deadline to make, yet again, the most difficult decision of my life. Nearly 6 months prior I decided I would not adopt J and X. I truly felt I was making the best decision for them. They were supposedContinue reading “The YES”

The NO

In early May 2018 I made the heartbreaking phone call to our CPS Case Worker to inform her that I would not be adopting the boys. I had to force the words out of my mouth. I couldn’t believe I was saying them. The tears flowed. “OK,” she said, “we will move forward with findingContinue reading “The NO”

The Community

Prior to 2010 I didn’t know the true meaning of “community.” That is, the idea of a servant-minded group of authentic people who truly care about me and sacrifice for me. Since my own family doesn’t operate this way I had no idea that complete strangers would actually do this! People I barely knew takingContinue reading “The Community”