Last night I heard my wife tell a friend of ours and fellow foster mom “My only regret about fostering is that we didn’t do it sooner.” Our friend wholeheartedly agreed.

We realize it’s not for everyone in every season, but now might be a great time to consider getting involved in foster care in some way! There are lots of opportunities to help with foster care, many that don’t involve having kids move into your home.

Here’s 7️⃣ Reasons to consider getting involved foster care:

1️⃣ It honors God — James 1:27 says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction…” Anytime we help others who can’t return the favor we are in harmony with the heart of God. Our purpose in life is to glorify Him and when we do it’s deeply rewarding and satisfying. 🎯

2️⃣ It’s needed — A July 2021 Texas Tribune article stated “The number of Texas foster children placed in unlicensed facilities, like motels, churches and offices, surpassed 400 in June 2021” All of these aren’t due to a lack of foster homes, but that definitely contributes to the challenges of finding placements for these kids. 🤲🏼

3️⃣ Kids are awesome — with the right perspective it’s always refreshing to be around kids. They’re genuine, affectionate, and fun, and we all need more of that in our lives. 🤩

4️⃣ Fostering is a ministry the whole family can participate in. Before we started this journey we talked to our bio kids and got them on board. They’ve been more than ok with it, they’re a huge help. It’s a family adventure. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

5️⃣ It will draw you closer to Jesus — fostering is very difficult at times. Difficulties draw us closer to our Savior. Jesus understands every stress and emotion we go through. Fostering has brought us to our knees in prayer in a whole new way, and that’s a good thing. (Sometimes in our culture we think the entire goal of life is personal gain and comfort. How’s that working out for us? It doesn’t draw us closer to Jesus) ✝️

6️⃣ If you’re married it will unify you and your spouse — We always feel a little guilty going to a Christian marriage seminar or conference because we know they’re going to talk about the importance of a “date night” like it’s John 3:16 😆. We get few dates a year but fall wayyy short of the standards of most. But even though we’re not great at frequent date nights, we do see the value in doing things TOGETHER. For us, we’re never closer as a couple than when we’re serving TOGETHER in Christ’s name. Fostering has definitely unified us like never before. 👩‍❤️‍👨

7️⃣ It will open your eyes to hurts that need your help and prayers — The fact that we have a state entity called CPS or even a foster care system in place is heartbreaking. Even though we had friends who fostered, we had no idea of some of the pain and challenges going on in foster care until we got involved ourselves. It’s good to be made more aware and learn how to better pray for our broken world. ❤️ 🙏🏼

Hey, we’re far from experts, but if we can ever answer any questions for you about fostering or just pray with you, or help you consider fostering in any way, please let us know. It’s normal to have lots of questions and it’s not something to rush into! It honestly took us years to warm up to fostering. And like I said, we wish we’d started sooner. If we can help someone through the process of getting involved, we will! 📧: ccrblayman@gmail.com