Fostering gives you a gift of seeing potential long before it has bloomed.
Helping parents understand what feelings and moods are normal and what might need a little extra attention.
In just a few weeks, we will be adopting our third child in two years. Let me just say that three years ago, this was not in our plans at all.
We had this beautiful girl who had been in our home since she was 3 months old. We were (and still are) completely in love with her; she had become my heartbeat along with my biological children.
Then one beautiful spring day while playing at the park we got “The Call.” Her younger brother had been born and needed a safe place to stay, would we provide that for him? My immediate answer was yes. How could we say no?
The bond these two share was immediate. Our Princess loved nothing more than holding her brother and pointing out that their skin matched. She was his protector. When he would cry, she was the first one at his side. To hear them giggle and play together is one of my favorite sounds.
No one was more excited for our little guy on his adoption day than his sister. Having been adopted the year before him, she was overjoyed to know that her brother would truly be able to grow up as her brother — forever!
When “The Call” came again with the news that there was another baby in the family who needed a safe place, I have to say my response was a little different. I worried this time about saying yes to our children’s sibling because what if this one could go home. I worried about the size of our house and the four children we were already raising. I worried about our capacity.
In the end, none of these concerns was a good reason to say no to our children’s sibling, and I am so glad we said yes. Every day with them is a gift not only for all the extra joy and laughter and craziness they bring to our home, but for watching them together. They are each a part of the other, bound together through the visible signs of biology and the invisible signs of the heart. They belong together, and now they also belong with us.
No, this was not in our plans, but knowing that three siblings are growing up together when they might not have is one of the things I am most proud and honored to be a part of.
Fostering gives you a gift of seeing potential long before it has bloomed.
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