Foster Care

Foster Care is a very difficult decision for anyone to make. When Travis and I were dating, I told him that I had always wanted to do foster care and adopt children. He said that he would definitely consider doing that after he was done having his own kids. 

 9 years later, After we were done with having our kids, Travis and I talked and waited until we felt the time was right for us. We then we started filling out the paperwork and proceeding with our plans to foster/adopt. It was not a decision that was made lightly. I knew that I would rely heavily on Travis and that we would both have to love these kids like they were our own. We knew there would be sacrifices, a lot of sacrifices. So, after a lot of prayer and thinking and searching ourselves to make sure that we could bring a child into our home and give them the love they deserved, we made the decision to go ahead with the process. The long, long, long and time consuming process. We eventually finished all of our training and homework and home improvements and became official foster parents. Then we were presented with a lot of different foster kids to bring into our home. It was hard, but Travis and I had to be really picky about who we would bring into our home. We knew that our kids could not be harmed or hurt because of us bringing kids into our home. So we considered each child presented to us and in the end, the only child that we have ever brought into our home has been Max. Travis and I both knew when we got the call about Max that this was the right baby for us. We knew about him before we even got the phone call. We were waiting for him. It was meant to be. It was a miracle. He is our miracle.

We tell a lot of people about foster care and how we came to have Max in our lives. The responses that we get range from apathy to awe.  It always drives me CRAZY when people say to me "I wish we could do foster care, but I can't because I just know I would get too attached to the kids and it would be too hard to let them go back to their homes"!!!  I think that is the BIGGEST cop out that I have ever heard. Really?! You are afraid you would love these kids TOO much? These poor kids who are in your care because they don't receive enough care or love from their parents? These kids who have been neglected or starved or abused? You are afraid of loving them too much and being sad when they leave? Well, that is the lamest excuse I have ever heard!!!  It is ridiculous. Really! That drives me CRAZY when people say that!  When Max came into our home we told our kids that we were babysitting long term until his mom could get better. I became friends with his mom so that when she got him back she would know that she could call me anytime for help or baby sitting or just if she was having a bad day. I wanted to be there for Max. In the end, it worked out that we get to adopt Max and have him forever, but we didn't know that would happen. It was hard. It was an emotional roller coaster. But how selfish would it have been for Travis and I NOT to do foster care because we  didn't want to hurt our hearts!!  So- if you ever tell me that is the reason you don't do foster care, be prepared to hear me tell you that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard!!!

All right, off my soap box. I just thought you should know, I've heard it all and that tops the list of lameness!!