Trusting the Story

So many people ask the question, why did your family decide to foster? Well, we didn’t. Fostering is not a career choice or a to-do item for our family, fostering was a calling. We were called to foster, and after every child, God calls us back again and again.

The first time I heard the call was after an extremely hard forensic interview where I spoke to a precious 4 year old girl who told me all about how mommy’s boyfriend had been hurting her and her 2 year old sister. Hearing stories like that was a norm for me in my work as a forensic interviewer and therapist, but this child’s story was so raw and innocent. Her angelic face framed with blonde curls became embossed on my mind. When the interview was over, her social worker told me that they were desperately trying to find a foster home for these two girls but were not having any luck. Now we’ve all heard the stories of so many kids and not enough home, and in my line of work, I had been hearing them for years. This time, however, the story was now paired with the face of two beautiful little girls who, for some reason, haunted my heart. I felt God quietly saying, “you.” I didn’t know nor could I have ever imagined all that would happen next, but the thought of those two little girls having nowhere to go, caused my husband and I to enroll in foster parent classes.

No one knows us better than the Lord, and the Lord knows the way to my heart is through a child who needs a mama because I will always be a mama looking for her child. This is how our journey started, and so much has happened in the 7 years since, so much joy, pain, sorrow, and healing. This is the story. This is God’s story of our lives and the lives of all of our children. My name is Jaci. I am a child forensic interviewer and clinical therapist who specializes in trauma, but most importantly I am a step, biological, foster and adopted mother. I invite you into the journey of our family and pray it will help those who need it and serve as a call to those who are considering a similar path. Let’s all trust the story together.