by Donna Foster and Joanne Scaturro •
- You open your home and heart 24 hours a day to children you haven’t even met.
- You know your family will grieve as children enter and leave your home, but having the children in your lives is worth it.
- Though you realize you can’t heal the child’s pain, you strive to be a part of the healing.
- You volunteer all of your love even when sometimes children and their families can’t accept it.
- You see the strengths in children when others see their weaknesses.
- You know others may not understand your choice to foster and may even avoid your family. Lost friendships are missed, but to you fostering is worth it.
- Your inner faith is enhanced as you see children grow and flourish. Even the slightest smile of a child is a victory. Their small steps are major successes.
- You understand and aid a child returning home to a healthier family. You do what you can, even if you may not agree with the decision. You understand most of us want to be with our own families.
- Material wealth isn’t important to you. You choose to live with less to be able to give more.
- You are humble to the praises of others for what you are doing because you feel this is what we all should be doing. It is your normal way of life.
- You learn from your mistakes and strive to do the best you can.
- You record your children’s lives through Life Books, journals, and files because you know for confused children, you are the one to help them make sense of their lives. They can count on you. You are the “memory keeper.”
- Your arms never closed to a child and your heart holds them forever.
