The Road to You

To answer this question, I could tell you the paperwork needed, the spacing between cribs, the rules for travel out of state, the flexibility needed for family visits, or quite a few other “requirements.” However, the answer is actually very simple.

To be a foster parent you just need to be willing. If your heart is willing to begin, the rest will be learned and navigated on the foster parenting journey.

If you have a heart to help the hurting and are willing to open the doors of your home to someone in need of a bed, food, shelter, and love; then you have what it takes to be a foster parent.

There are many resources to be found on how to become trauma educated, so that you can be equipped to parent hurting children. There are many people who have traveled the road you are considering that would be happy to give you guidance and encouragement. But no one can make you be a foster parent (nor should they try). To be a foster parent or not is something you must choose for yourself. You are the one deciding, “Am I willing?”

God will walk alongside you. God will give you the compassion required for the hurt and injustice you will be witness to. God will work in you to give you the patience you’ll need to walk long roads, and the strength to continue if the road with a child is shorter than you imagine. God will work in you to build your endurance for the climbs you’ll experience.

The only thing he asks is, “Are you willing?”

You will be in awe of what God will do with you when all you have to offer is the willingness to begin.