Foster Care - North Dakota Edition!

Baby A the day he
came to our home!

The past 2 weekends we have spent Friday evening & Saturday all day doing our foster care training. In North Dakota you can get your license before you complete your training as long as you get your training done within the first year - we have been licensed since November. We haven't had any placements yet, although we are ready whenever they come!

Family picture for Dylan's third birthday.
Baby A was with us for 9 months!

One thing I have been thinking about a lot is how people respond when we say that we are foster parents. Everyone has been so positive & I am thankful for that. We have had so many people step up & donate things we need: beds, sheets, toys, clothes, babysitting while we are at training. It has been such a blessing to be surrounded by such loving people!

Derrick & Baby A at Dylan's birthday party.

The thing that I am struggling with the most, both on my own & with the responses of other people, is the desire to have children in our home. I want foster children to come & live with us. I want to be able to minister to families. People often say to us, "I hope you get a placement soon." And while we hope that, too, we don't want to hope that. If kids are in foster care it is because of some issue at home. Usually the issue is that the parent is abusive or neglectful or their is another issue they need to work through to be the best parent for their child. So as much as we want to have kids in our home, if they have to leave there home it is a loss. No matter what, those parents are the child's parents & it is hard for them to leave them. I don't want kids to have to experience that. I want them to be safe in their own homes. It is such a mix for us. How do you say that you want to have foster kids in your home without essentially saying that you want them to have to leave their homes?


I guess I say this to say, while you pray for us as we prepare for kids to join our family, pray that those children won't need to leave their homes. Pray that their parents work hard to keep them at home. Pray for the police, social workers, & judges who have to make hard decisions about what is best for the children because that is really why we are here. We want what is best for these kids so that they can grow up healthy & happy, whether that is with us or at home with their family.

Baby A in 2013.
We are so thankful for the relationship we have with his adoptive family!
We love watching him & his brothers grow up!