Episode 51: Real FAQs By/For New Foster Parents

People often ask us questions when they are thinking about starting their foster care journey, and we love to answer them! So, when Nati and Misael Estrada asked to meet with us, we recorded the conversation so that you can hear their important questions, and our semi-important answers! Some questions that we cover in this episode: How is it, dealing with bio parents of the foster child? What road bumps did you experience in trying to get licensed? (Our question to the Estradas. And they had a couple!) Why they chose not to go with private adoption Dealing with different religions of foster children How do you speak to kids about the fact that they are adopted? What are visitations like for foster children? How do you prepare for foster kids? Some important things to remember for new foster parents: Kill the martyr mentality that you have to go this road alone! This mentality that you can, and should, do this foster care thing without anyone else's help will make your journey much harder than it needs to be! You will be anxious about so many things - what will the child be like, can I handle all of their needs, am I a good enough parent, etc. And these are common things to think about, but not worth stewing over for more than a hot minute. ALL parents deal with parenting situations for the first time at one time or another. So whether you have parented 10 kids or none before your placement comes to your home, You Are Able To Deal With Them. Do not think 'I bet other parents who have more experience could handle this situation'. Not true. When our first kid was born - that was the first time we dealt with a baby, one year old, two year old, etc. And even with our 8th child that we cared for - we were still dealing with different things for the first time! The (Good) Word of the Day There is a time for everything,     and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2  a time to be born and a time to die,     a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3     a time to kill and a time to heal,     a time to tear down and a time to build, 4     a time to weep and a time to laugh,     a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,     a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6     a time to search and a time to give up,     a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7     a time to tear and a time to mend,     a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8     a time to love and a time to hate,     a time for war and a time for peace. 9What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 There will be hard seasons, there will be easier ones. There will be times of WAITING (which happens often enough in the process of becoming foster parents) and there will be times of going going going. Find joy in those seasons. And find community for every season. You cannot go this alone. Thanks so much for tuning in for another episode of our podcast! And thanks especially to Nati and Misael for sharing your questions, and your hearts, with all of us! We are praying for you guys on your journey, and the beautiful children you are going to get to serve over the years! AND thanks so much to our friends at Tinter Health for providing the $100 Amazon Gift Card for one of our lucky listeners! If you are interested in connecting with them, you can do so on Facebook! If you want to connect on Social Media: You can find us at: Jihae Watson on Facebook Chris Watson on Facebook Fostering Voices on Instagram Jihae Watson on Instagram AND we would LOVE it if you would leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people!