After considering becoming a foster family for many years we finally began the application process in January of 2019, thanks to our own children’s encouragement. We always had it in our hearts but never found it was the perfect time to proceed so one day our kids asked us to stop talking about it and just do it – that was just the push we needed! As we began exploring different agencies a very good college friend of mine knew about Safe Families for Children in Florida and began giving us information about it so I looked into finding if there was a chapter in Dallas. My friend encouraged us to give it a try as she thought it would be perfect for our family! Thanks to Cindy’s advice we began the online training and were officially approved the beginning of June!
On Sunday morning, September 22, 2019 I received a call from the director of Safe Families asking if we could possibly host a nine month old. I quickly responded that we were indeed interested and would meet the baby and mom that afternoon. As soon as we met the mom and her sweet baby boy we prayed with her that she could help herself and we would love her little guy and provide him a safe loving home! It didn’t take long for us to form a very trusting relationship with the baby and providing for him was everything our family needed! It was amazing how not only our own family but the whole community wanted to play a part in his life! We felt like we had a little celebrity with all the calls, visits and people wanting to help out in any way they could! It really was incredible to see so many people fall in love with someone they didn’t know!
After having this little one in our house for almost seven months it was time for us to say goodbye and for him to return to his mom’s care. It was a difficult day and it took a few weeks to get adjusted to our new normal of not having a little toddler around. We gained more from him than we gave and our family quickly realized how easy it is to love someone. We continue to pray for he and his mom and think about them often. This hosting experience made us realize that we cannot solve all the world’s problems but we can be a positive influence on those in need! When you have the ability and there is an opportunity to help others in need, then it is important that we do just that!
“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.”
– Proverbs 3:27
Kristin and Patrick, a Host Family