Hearing the Call to be a Foster Parent

This post is sponsored by Catholic Community Services. Call Catholic Community Services at 253-999-9144 and start your road to discovering where you fit into the foster care story.

You can change the story.

The need is real and it is right in our backyard. Washington state is in the midst of an Opioid epidemic that is not only affecting those addicted, but their children as well. These children are in desperate need of our help. Catholic Community Services is looking for families to join their foster care team. Here are a few ways to prayerfully hear if God is calling you into a role as a foster parent.

Prayerfully consider your role in helping with this crisis. Do you feel the tug in your heart even as your head may be screaming objections? Does it continually come to the surface of your heart as you pray? It may be that God is calling you into ministering to children through being a foster parent.

Time and again foster parents say that they get into fostering so that they can bless the children they are helping. The beautiful thing about God is that you will walk away more blessed than you ever thought possible. While this doesn’t mean it will be an easy journey, it will be rewarding. If God calls you to it, He will equip you through it.

As your brain rattles objections, consider if you are fully trusting God. Do you trust that if He is calling you into something He will give you what you need to accomplish it? How often do we avoid taking the next step because we are simply afraid? Set down your fear and pick up the mantle of courage!

There are many ways to get involved in the foster care community. These can be becoming a respite care provider, a receiving care provider, or a long-term care provider. If you feel God placing this call on your heart, pick up the phone and call Catholic Community Services. They will answer all your questions and walk you through your foster care journey.

One man shares his story: One of the happiest and saddest moments, at the time, happened many years ago. I came home from work and my wife Jane, who had a habit of bringing a foster kid home and surprising me when I got home, told me there’s a new child in our house. This little boy, I think he was about six years old, met me at the door and we talked for a second. Now I had never met him before so I said, “Let me go change my clothes, and we will go outside and play catch.” I went and changed, and when I came back out he was crying. So I said, “What’s wrong?” And he replied, “I’ve never had anybody play catch with me before.”

Foster care matters. These children matter. These families matter. Call Catholic Community Services at 253-999-9144 and start your road to discovering where you fit into the foster care story. Together, we can change the story for these kids!