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Adoption

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Journey Camp: A Camp for Kids from Hard Places

If you have had the opportunity to care for a child or children from foster care or adoption, you know the trauma they have experienced. It is difficult to look into the eyes of a child affected by trauma and not want to find help for the child. For seven years, A Home For Me …

Social worker interviewing a family in their home

Humbled By Trust: Serving Foster Families

We were sitting on the edge of our seats. Our hearts were beating a little faster by the minute.  We exchanged nervous smiles. I had rehearsed what I was going to say…in the car, in the mirror, during my evening walks. Still, I had a checklist to make sure I didn’t forget anything.  Finally, I …

Shown from behind, a team of people in a huddle outside

You Matter: A Principle That Builds Connection

Working in foster care is both rewarding and extremely challenging. It reaches out to the most vulnerable children. The children who have been disappointed by their birth parents. The ones who should care for them the most, helping them to know and believe that they are precious and valued! Foster Care establishes hope in a …

Teacher explaining something to young children in a school classroom

“Bring Me the Football” The Power of Healing Connections

“A foundational truth: Connect before correct.” Dr. Karyn Purvis

Black family of mom, two young daughters, and grandmother all sitting on a couch enjoying looking at a photo album

Telling the Truth to Your Child: Helping Your Child Come to a Strength-based Understanding of His Story

Kevin had always known he was adopted. When he was 18 months old, he had entered foster care because his mother had died from an undisclosed illness, and his father, in distress, left him with a neighbor and never came back. That was the story he grew up with, shared by his adoptive parents. The …

A sad teen girl being counseled by an encouraging caseworker

Through the Eyes of a Caseworker

I believe it is imperative for families in the foster care system to have a compassionate, knowledgeable caseworker who can display empathy towards families. Many families coming into the foster care system are dealing with an array of emotions from being angry, fearful, hurt, and disappointed with themselves. It important for a caseworker to be …

Couple and their young daughter talking with each other while sitting on the floor in their home

Understanding the Impact of Foster Care and Adoption on Children Already in the Home

When Jonathan and Lynne Walker decided to become foster parents, their three children, ages 7 to 14, both biological and adopted, were excited. They gave an enthusiastic “yes, let’s do it.” Believing the adjustment to having more children in the home would be relatively easy for their children, the Walkers had yet to experience the …

Smiling dad with his son and three daughters in a park; one daughter is hanging off each of his arms

Father’s Day Challenge

Psalm 68:5-6 says that God is Father to the fatherless and that He sets the lonely in families. As God’s adopted children, it is in our DNA to care for the fatherless as well. Doing so, according to James, constitutes religion that is accepted as pure and faultless by God. Right now, there are more …

A big family having a meal together at a table outside

Happy Father’s Day, Dad: What He Taught Me

On June 21, we will recognize Father’s Day. For many, whose relationships with their fathers are strained or marked by abuse, or whose fathers are absent from their lives, this will perhaps be a difficult day. For others, who enjoy healthier relationships with our fathers, we will honor them. And, depending on our circumstances, will …

Mom affectionately comforting her sad tween daughter as they sit together on some steps outside

What Does It Take to be A Foster/Adoptive Parent? Five Characteristics in Becoming a Trauma Competent Healing Parent

Some years ago, at a retreat for adoptive moms, I asked the question: “What do you wish you would have known before you fostered or adopted?” I wasn’t surprised by the answers. I wish I had known that I could get so angry at a child I really loved. That this would expose my wounds …

pastor healing relationships

PRESENCE MATTERS: Any Foster/Adoptive Parent Can Do This

Several years ago, while training our trauma curriculum in Armenia, I described two principles: Abuse happens in the context of an interpersonal relationshipHealing only happens in the context of a healthy, stable interpersonal relationship. Pastor Raphael, a local minister, raised his hand, stood up, and asked if he could share a story. I invited him …

Empty classroom

The Silent Epidemic

As I watch the round-the-clock media coverage of the corona virus pandemic sweeping our country, I can’t help but think of the silent epidemic that has been invading our public-school system over the past decade. The epidemic is largely invisible to those outside the system. It is an epidemic of childhood trauma and neglect that …

But God, For Such A Time As This

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness […] If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, …

Chris and Alicia Johnson (center) and their family, also know as the #JohnsonDozen.

Chris and Alicia Johnson: Called Into the Lives of Hurting Children

Chris and Alicia Johnson are parents to 10 children, seven of whom were adopted out of the foster care system. They refer to themselves as the #JohnsonDozen.

social worker

Social workers are on the front lines of child welfare

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the world in unprecedented ways. Children and families who are either in the foster care system or are at risk of being so, are no exception. COVID-19 has impacted children, biological families, foster families, adoptive families, the court system, support services, agencies…virtually every area of the child welfare system has …

self-care

“Don’t Tell Me to Take a Walk”: What Really is Self-Care?

“You cannot pour from an empty cup. You must fill your cup first.” Dr. Karyn Purvis

What a Birth Mom Needs for Mother’s Day Weekend

Fifteen years ago, I celebrated my first Mother’s Day, but it looked a bit different than others. It wasn’t filled with my baby smiling up at me, flowers, or a handmade craft. I was a first-time mother in one way, but also not. I chose life for her. I carried and birthed her. She resembled …

foster mom

Mother’s Day as a Foster Mom

It is Mother’s Day, many years ago. Six excited children are anxiously holding up pieces of cardboard; carefully wrapped in tinfoil, with large pink letters that spell “MOTHER,” taped on the front. While I took my turn with the other children speaking about the special qualities of mothers. “M” is for the many things… Little …

Teenage and Pregnant: Why I Chose Adoption

Whenever I heard about a teenage pregnancy, my first thought was that the mother should place her baby for adoption. Let me be clear in saying that the best option for your baby is life, but teenage pregnancy isn’t easy, and acting on it was a very different story.

A couple holds their newly adopted child

Adoption Was Our Leap of Faith

Our intention in adopting wasn’t to set an example or even to encourage others. Our only goal was obedience. And yet, little by little, God helped me see that He can use our obedience to further His kingdom in ways we never imagined.