So much more with God
I didn’t feel qualified to be a foster parent. Not based on any rules or regulations, but rather by my life experiences, or in my case, the lack thereof. I was raised in a happy, healthy home and experienced very little hardship; largely naïve to the world around me.
God called my husband and me to become foster parents in 2015. Despite feeling much like Moses must have in Exodus 3:11, we took the first step and started foster parent training classes.
I remember sitting in foster parent training and learning about trauma. One by one, each individual in the class mentioned the trauma they’d experienced growing up. I very vividly remember thinking, “All of these people have been through something tough and can relate to a foster child. Who am I? What can I add?” For the first time in my life, having a good childhood felt like a disadvantage.
The thing is, fear speaks very loudly when you’re in the midst of doing something good. Fear made me question my ability to love children from hard places.
Years later, I have learned to challenge those thoughts. I’ve learned exactly what I can bring to the table when I let go of what I think I know and acknowledge God’s work in me. I no longer question whether my uneventful past has helped the 10 children we’ve seen come through our home. I’ve learned that children who come from chaos need calm adults. Children who’ve only known uncertainty need adults who can show them stability.
I’m grateful we serve a Heavenly Father who pursues us and pushes us past what we feel capable of accomplishing on our own. The verse: “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12:9), helps me put into perspective exactly where this foster care journey has taken me. From a place of fear, to a place of knowing that with God, all things are possible—even things that seem so very far out of your comfort zone.
Today, we are proud parents of four beautiful children. Two were brought into our family by birth and two have joined us forever through foster care. Never would I have imagined this life, and I am so grateful that God doesn’t accept the limitations we set for ourselves—His plans are always so much more than we could even imagine.
Renee Cartlidge serves as Administrative Assistant in our Dothan office.