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Our fostering journey began nearly five years ago with a pressing desire to care for the vulnerable in our community and to provide a loving home for children in need. We did not know what to expect, but committed to trusting God with each step. We know that God cares deeply for people in distress, and we consider it such a privilege to be included in His plan to care for them. The journey has been often difficult and always unpredictable, but we are so thankful for the opportunities we have had and the ways we are growing as a family.
Our fostering experience has been varied with children ranging from newborn to three years old in regular placements and relief. Every child we have cared for in our home has left footprints on our hearts and the hearts of our children. We have two biological daughters, ages seven and nine years old, and they become very attached to the children we care for, as they delight in the daily care and nurturing of these little lives. Inviting children into our lives, loving them as our own, and then letting them go is most definitely heart-wrenching, but we also believe that it is heart-stretching. We have watched our girls love deeply (as we do) and grieve deeply (as we do). It hurts. It is hard. It is heartbreaking.
But it is worth it.
These relationships stretch their young hearts to greater capacities for love as they experience the sacrifice of compassion, the need for mercy, and the indescribable joy of caring for the vulnerable.
We hope and pray that welcoming these children into our lives will continue to be heart-stretching for all of us. In a world with so much brokenness, so much pain, and such overwhelming needs, we seek to make a difference in the lives of those God entrusts to us for however long, cherishing the time we have with them. Each smile, each milestone, each moment of their precious lives matters, and are gifts to those who care for them.
Written by Yvonne, foster parent for the Children’s Aid Society of London & Middlesex and birth mother of two children.