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”
Category Archives: Foster Care
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
A dark side of adoption that is not always talked about is the loss and brokenness 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 I had expected didn’tContinue reading “The Termination”
The YES
Oct 2018. One week before the 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 supposed to move to a foster-adopt home withinContinue 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”
The TRAUMA
Four years ago I thought trauma was merely an event that happens to some people and some not. I thought, it’s too bad that you had to go through a traumatic event but you just move on, right? Time heals all wounds, doesn’t it? Well, that’s not the case at all for childhood trauma. AContinue reading “The TRAUMA”