When I was in second grade, my parents came home from a church information meeting on foster care and sat my brothers and I down and asked what we thought about becoming a foster family. Since we were so young, I am pretty sure we had no idea what that meant. Little did I know, that naive "yes" would change our lives forever!
My family continued to foster children for 10 years. Our shortest placement was 2 weeks and our longest placement was 18 months. Through those 10 years, the Lord shaped and molded our family in miraculous ways. We learned firsthand what it meant to be the hands and feet of Jesus, how to sacrifice everything we knew as normal and how to love others that are sometimes hard to love. As I got older, the Lord planted a seed in my heart to want to continue this ministry for myself. I went on to receive my masters in Social Work from Baylor University and I currently work full time recruiting, training, and licensing foster parents to care for vulnerable kids. In my free time, I enjoy serving my local church through their foster care ministry, serving dear friends through babysitting their foster kids and telling everyone I know how crucial the need is for more safe foster parents in our community. I am so thankful for my "yes" in 2005 and I hope you will think about what your "yes" might be today.
Chloe Smith - Foster Care Advocate, Waco, Texas office