Friends, did you know that November is Foster Care and Adoption Awareness Month and National Adoption Month? A couple years ago I didn't know anything about these, or November's annual Stand Sunday observed by many American churches either. Honestly, I didn't know much about foster care at all.

All that changed when several of my friends became foster parents, and I have been on a journey to learn more and support this community ever since.

Listen in as I learn from my friend Mandi, a foster and adoptive mom who now works to support foster and adoptive families through an organization called Foster the Family. I can't wait for you to hear about the beauty and hardship weaved into foster care and Mandi's deep compassion and wisdom.

Here are some highlights: foster care 101, Mandi's experiences with 18 foster children and 4 adoptions, relationships with foster kids' biological families, and ways you can support and join the foster care community.

Mamas, you and I have a unique light to bring to the world to our children and also to other children around us. Some of them may come into our homes for a time or even stay forever. I invite you to think of the children and parents in the foster care world and consider, "How can I share this light that I have with others?"

Extra Stuff:

• TBRI (Trust-Based Relational Intervention) is a “training method which offers a way to build attachment as you parent kids from hard places.” Learn more here: Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development⁠.

  
  

• Foster The Family: support groups map, Foster the Family Founder Jamie Flinn @fosterthefamilyblog

  
  



• Books: Foster the Family, Filled: 60 Devotions for the Foster Parent's Heart, The Connected Parent: Real Life Strategies for Building Trust and Attachment, The Connected Child: Bring Hope and Healing to your Adoptive Family, The A-Z of Therapeutic Parenting: Strategies and Solutions, Honestly Adoption: Answers to 101 Questions About Adoption and Foster Care

  
  



• Podcasts: The Resilient Caregiver Podcast (Mike and Kristin Berry), The Forgotten Podcast, FTGM episode on creating meaningful traditions

  
  

• Check out Project Belong, an amazing organization equipping Northern Virginia churches to support foster, adoptive, kinship and struggling biological families.