One Family’s Journey with Foster Care

For the past decade, Mandy's parents have participated with Safe Families and provided homes for kids in the foster system. Though they'd never planned to become adoptive parents, they knew it was their calling once they were fostering a 10 year old boy, named Jacob. There was a time when they thought he might have an incurable illness, and his ability to be adopted came into question. He was potentially going to be part of a meet and greet with prospective parents – a situation where multiple kids and sets of adopting parents come together to see who might be a good fit for each other. Mandy's mom said absolutely not. He had become a part of their family, and seeing him go through an experience of feeling like he has to prove himself in order to be loved and accepted by a future family was out of the question.

So they adopted him into their family.

Now, years later, Mandy's parents are bringing Jacob's three sisters into their family, including a set of newborn twins that have been in the NICU since they were born prematurely in April.

In conversation, Mandy's parents most often hear – you guys are incredible, you are super heroes, I'd never be able to do that kind of thing, I'd get too attached, I'd care too much.

But Mandy's mom always says, “We never planned for this, it could be anyone in our place.” When Mandy was growing up, her dad owned his own business and her mom stayed at home and did in-home daycare and nannying. They just started saying yes to the needs they saw in front of them. Incredible people, but also just normal people, saying yes to caring for kids that need safety and stability, kids that need family.

So as Mandy has watched as her parents respond to needs as they've come and step into a sacrificial role, it has re-oriented her thinking and impacted her way of going about life. As questions arise about what her and Erik are building as a family, about their future, about what to do with their lives – the conversation has been shifted. The question has instead become, how do we serve those that God's placed before us?

In this season, Mandy and Erik have taken a step to reorient their lives in order to support Mandy's parents as they bring home these three new children. The people they can care for, right in front of them, are their own family. For the next 6 months, Mandy and Erik will be living with her parents in the Coachella Valley, as they adjust to growing their family by another 3 members. 

Supporting the thriving of a community can look many different ways. It can look like bringing a meal or providing supplies for others as they welcome kids into their families, or it can look like offering a safe space for children in your own home. It can look like moving in with your parents to support them as they bring 4 new siblings into your family. It looks like showing the love of God to those around you, and supporting those around you as they show the love of God.