“Being a foster parent was always something that had been on my mind…”
I am excited to have two of my favorite people on the podcast today: Jonah and Sarah Wilson! Sarah is part of our team here at TFI and grew up with foster siblings. So becoming a foster parent was always something she personally wanted to pursue.
When Sarah and Jonah got married, their conversations turned to when the “right time” was to become foster parents and biological parents. While they knew they wanted to be in a stable place for either, they agreed that becoming foster parents would come first.
In our conversation, Jonah and Sarah share the details of what it looked like to become foster parents, where the journey differed from their expectations, how they navigated both the good and the hard parts of foster care, their perspective as both foster and adoptive parents, encouragement they have for other foster parents, and so much more.
I loved this episode, and I know you will too!
(Don’t forget that through the month of July, a generous donor has offered a matching grant up to $20,000! Join Team 3:10 today.)
TAKEAWAYS FROM TODAY’S CONVERSATION:
1. There is no “right” way to pursue fostering.
While Jonah and Sarah shared how they decided to start their parenting journey with foster care, everyone’s story is different. You may decide to start fostering while you are still single, with your spouse, or even later in life if you have biological kids that are growing up. The key is to make sure you, and your spouse if you are married, are on the same page.
“We were ready to step in and do this before we tried for biological children.”
2. Foster care is full of conflicting emotions.
This is true regardless of your role in the foster care community. Foster parents often feel this as they prepare themselves for the grief of saying goodbye while holding hope that their children’s biological parents will succeed and be reunited with their children. You often have to step into this process knowing you will feel the full spectrum of emotions from great joy to deep sadness. Specifically, Jonah mentioned that parts of foster care caused anxiety that he hadn’t experienced before, which was something he pursued counseling for.
“The consistent feeling of foster care is ‘both and.’ It’s good and hard and everything in between.”
3. Respond with grace to comments and questions you may receive.
“Are they all yours?” “This is great practice for when you have your own someday!” “Are you going to adopt them?” As a foster parent, there are times when you’ll have to field comments and questions like these. It can get tiresome, and it can be a challenge to navigate how to answer the question in a way that honors your child, their parents, and everyone’s privacy. It’s okay to use the opportunity to educate, bring awareness, or even just let it go. It’s also okay to communicate that you don’t feel comfortable sharing the information they asked about.
“There is value to saying, ‘Well we don’t really want to share that. That’s their story to tell.’”
- The Book of Common Prayer
- Replanted: Faith-Based Support for Adoptive and Foster Families
- Connect with Sarah by email: [email protected]
- Join Team 3:10
Meet Our Guests
Jonah and Sarah Wilson are foster and adoptive parents. Jonah is a pastor in his last year of a master of divinity at Denver Seminary. Sarah works at The Forgotten Initiative as the Community Specialist. They are honored to be the parents of two children, one adopted through foster care. In their free time, they enjoy trying new foods, reading, and spending time together as a family.
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