When I was about 11 years old I was staying with my Aunt Val. She had to run some errands and left me at home with a mission. There were two little girls that were going to be on the news for Wednesday’s Child (a program to encourage adoptions from foster care) and I was supposed to write down the number for her and any other info they gave on the sweet sisters. I took that job very seriously (as any 11 year old do when entrusted with an important job) and within a few months they were my Aunt Val’s new daughters and our whole family quickly fell in love with them.
Ever since then I have had the plan in the back of my heart that I wanted to adopt from foster care too someday. When Nick and I were dating I told him that was something I planned to do and he agreed we should later on in life when our kids were older. And then….
I got this really strong feeling that we needed to start looking into it. Not later, now. I tried to ignore it and get it off my mind but it wasn’t budging. I don’t know how else to describe it besides saying I felt homesick or like I was missing someone and this was our path to finding them. Nick was surprised when I told him I thought now was the time but he trusted my gut.

Once I got looking into adoption I found out how desperate the need in my area was for foster parents. The beauty of starting off as a foster parent was that if a child came into our home we could keep them safe and loved until they go back home wi...