Our Safe Families for Children testimony began as we were finishing the training to become foster parents. I ran into an acquaintance who had a SFFC placement with her. In that moment, God was opening the door for us to become a host family.

In 2016 we took a leap of faith into our first “Yes”, not knowing what the reality of hosting would look like. We were confident in our ability to nurture and love well, trusting God to equip us with the rest. He did! It wasn’t always easy, but it was always worth it. We fell in love with our first placement and five years later, she is still very much a part of our family and we are grateful to be able to pour into her life. Each hosting brings a new opportunity to live out our faith.

The Goodbyes are always bittersweet. We celebrate the family’s accomplishment of reunification and trust we have planted seeds of God’s faithfulness in their lives. Our hearts still ache, and we do become attached, yet this very feeling is how we know we’ve done what we were called to do for the time we were called to do it.

Safe Families is a powerful ministry for our family and community, bringing the mission field into our home so that we can serve together.

Laurel and Shane