FACT

11/17/2025

From their first ‘yes ma’am’s and ‘no ma’am’s’ to our hugs at the end of their interview, we were captivated by 16-year-old Alex and his 15-year-old brother, Noah. They were respectful, intelligent, insightful, transparent, and quietly introspective. As they left, our little team looked at each other and said ‘wow, that was unexpected.’

During this National Adoption Month (and every month) we long for waiting kids to be seen and heard and known, because once they are EVERYTHING changes.

‘What would you like adults to know about teens who find themselves in a situation like yours?’

“Losing people you care about…it’s major. It’s hard.”

“We’ve been through a lot, with no support system.”

May these brothers find their way home very, very soon. And may the fight to get every waiting child home move forward with urgency and intensity, until there are zero.

11/17/2025

Texas will streamline regulations to strengthen protections for children in care and make it easier for relatives to become foster parents.

These changes will give more children in foster care the opportunity to grow up in a familiar, loving environment.

Learn more: bit.ly/3XotQ4e

11/14/2025

James 1:27 was never a suggestion.
It wasn’t written for the “special few.”
It was written for you.

It doesn’t say “if you feel called.”
It says go.
Visit the orphans.
Care for the widows.
Step into the mess.
Show up in the places the world avoids.

This verse wasn’t meant to be printed on a T-shirt for foster or adoptive parents.
It was meant to light a fire under the Church.

Because let’s be honest…
somewhere along the way, we started treating obedience like an option.
We’ve turned “different callings” into holy-sounding excuses.
But the Bible doesn’t leave room for excuses.
It says do something.

Make the meal.
Bring the diapers.
Pray over the mom who’s losing hope.
Show up in that courtroom and speak for the child who can’t.
Mentor the teenager who’s been tossed around like baggage.
You don’t have to take a placement to take part.
But you do have to care.

The Church should be leading the charge,
not standing on the sidelines watching a few “called” ones carry the weight.
Because if the Church won’t show up for the broken,
then who will?

James 1:27 isn’t a verse to quote.
It’s a mission to live.
And it’s time we stop talking about it
and start doing it.

11/14/2025

Trauma parenting has looks like releasing my previously held expectations of my kids, like…

Expecting a kiddo with trauma to obey & go along with a situation that is triggering.

Expecting a kiddo with ADHD to sit still or stop talking.

Expecting a kiddo with anxiety to calm down & just go to sleep.

Expecting a kiddo who was neglected & ignored to stop making everything about them.

Expecting a kiddo with a damaged brain to just happily share their toys.

Expecting a kid who experienced food insecurity to just eat what’s put in front of them (or stop eating).

Expecting someone who learned that adults aren’t trustworthy to blindly follow.

Expecting someone who doesn’t have access to their pre-frontal cortex to react slowly & logically.

So most of our kids will get reminders & help & examples & redos & training & practice & earn backs & second chances & tools & co-regulation before or instead of doling out discipline.

Because while them learning what is right & wrong is important, we need to meet our kids where they are and teach them the lessons they are capable of learning in a compassionate & supported way.
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Follow our adventures in family & foster care: instagram.com/fosterthefamilyblog

11/12/2025

11/09/2025

On Pure Religion Sunday (Nov 9) we’re invited to live out the pure and undefiled religion described in James 1:27 — caring for orphans & widows and keeping ourselves from being stained by the world.

Will you join us in prayer for vulnerable children and families this weekend, and ask God how you can do something this year to join in His heart for the vulnerable?

11/07/2025

11/07/2025

People talk about how foster parents feel when a child leaves.
But we do not talk enough about how the other children in the home feel.

They learn to share their space.
Their parents.
Their routine.
Their toys.
Their peace.

They learn to make room for someone new.
They learn to be gentle with someone who is hurting.
They learn to be patient with someone who is angry.
They learn to understand things that many adults do not understand.

And then one day, the child they worked so hard to adjust to leaves.

Sometimes they are quiet.
Sometimes they cry.
Sometimes they ask questions that do not have simple answers.
Sometimes they pretend they do not care at all.

And sometimes they feel relief.

They are children, and children become overwhelmed too.
They notice when the home is tense.
They feel when everyone is tired.
They absorb stress even without language for it.

So when the goodbye comes, sometimes it feels easier.
Not because they did not love.
Not because they did not try.
But because loving someone who has experienced trauma can be heavy, even for very young hearts.

The outside world rarely sees this part.
It is quiet.
It is tender.
It is real.

Our children are growing hearts that love deeply.
And that love shapes them in ways they are still learning to understand.

11/05/2025

Thanks for praying tonight Grace Church Plano

Please join me in praying for these children to find their families.

https://events.humanitix.com/embrace-s-child-to-family-connection-november-2025

11/03/2025

https://events.humanitix.com/embrace-s-child-to-family-connection-november-2025