Dallas/Fort Worth Chapter

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J is for Joy

After completing almost all of our foster care training, we felt very strongly that God was redirecting us to be a part of something we had just recently heard of – Safe Families for Children. Their mission to help keep families intact aligned with our passion for reunification. 

Not long after being approved as a host family, I met with a scared, pregnant teen who was considering a late-term abortion. She was around 35 weeks, and while she wasn’t sure she wanted to have an abortion, she didn’t have an adoption plan and didn’t feel like parenting was an option (her parents were not supportive). We were able to help ease the stress at the end of her pregnancy by offering to have her newborn stay with us, giving her time to decide if she wanted to parent or place for adoption, and even invited her to stay with us so we could help her become comfortable parenting if that was the option she chose. As expected, she fell in love with her little baby, chose to parent, and the grandparents are so in love with him as well. We have maintained a sweet, mentoring relationship and have enjoyed watching the baby grow over the past year.

Shortly after the baby was born, the same teen called to let me know of a friend in a desperate situation. A single mother in South Dallas was struggling and was on the verge of being evicted. She knew she needed to be in a treatment facility but had no one to care for her 21-month-old son. After getting approval from Safe Families, we drove to meet the mom late that night and have her sign the intake forms. Initially, we thought we would have her precious boy for a month, but, although she’s working hard and is determined to be healthy, it’s been a long journey for his mom. We’ve had precious “J” for a little over a year now, and it has been a joy for our family to watch him grow into a smart, kind, funny, and loving little boy.

 

From the time we said “yes” to helping families in need, it has been very evident that God has orchestrated every step. We have been faced with many opportunities and challenges, and we’ve learned that wherever God leads us or whatever He asks us to do, we want our answer to be “yes”. Knowing how hard it will be to watch “J” go, people often ask us if we would do it all again, and our answer is unequivocally “yes!”.