Talking to the boys

Talking to the Boys


It had been about eight months since we first decided that we wanted to foster. Since then, our lodger had moved out and, rather than jumping straight into fostering, we had deliberately decided to give ourselves a few months as a family of four. After having someone living with us for so long, we wanted some time to regroup, enjoy having the house to ourselves and have a bit of a break.

One thing that was really important to us was that fostering wouldn't just be something that Kayley and I did, with the boys simply tagging along. We wanted it to be something that all four of us were part of. We didn't just want to be foster parents; we wanted to be a foster family.

Of course, that meant Samuel and Bradley needed to be part of the decision too.

One day, I was talking with one of the boys and asked him:

"Who do you think we should have live with us next?"

We'd always had lodgers of some sort, so it wasn't actually that strange a question for him.

His answer took me by surprise.

"What about a child this time?"

I couldn't have put it better myself.

It reminded me of Psalm 8:2:

«"Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger."

Psalm 8:2 (ESV)»

We had spent months talking, thinking and praying about whether fostering was the right thing for our family. Yet, in that simple response, one of our children seemed to sum it all up.


This wasn't going to be something that Kayley and I were doing and asking our boys to accommodate.

It was something we were going to do together.

We could now genuinely say that fostering was a family decision. We weren't just preparing to become foster parents.

We were preparing to become a foster family.

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