On July 15, 2019, I got a text from a friend who worked at a teen shelter. She asked if I was still interested in fostering. Months earlier, I had told her I felt called to help teens, though I had a young child at home. I was not sure how it would work out, but I knew my heart was open.
She told me about a girl named Mara. Right away, something in me knew we were meant to meet. At the time, I was at a women’s conference, and when asked to write down my dreams, I wrote “fostering” first. I could not stop thinking about that girl in the shelter, without a home.
The hard part was getting my husband, Josh, to agree. We had talked about fostering before, but he never felt called like I did. Then, that weekend, we went to church. They showed the movie Instant Family, which is all about fostering and adoption. I started crying even before the movie really began.
That was the moment Josh realized just how serious I was—and he said yes.
Six days later, I met Mara. She was nervous, and I was too. We sat in my car, and she told me her story—about moving from one foster home to another, and the pain she had been through in just 16 years. I gently interrupted her and said she did not have to prove anything to us.
We already knew she was meant to be part of our family.
Three weeks later, Mara moved in. The first few days felt a little awkward. We all got along, but we were still strangers. Over time, though, everything started to feel normal. She got a job, made friends, and began to shine. She brought laughter to our home and became close with our other daughter. Her quick sense of humor made dinner our favorite time of day.
One night of a softball game, I still remembered in the car. We were all laughing at one of Josh’s jokes, and I looked in the mirror and saw Mara laughing, too. I quietly started crying. That moment felt so right. I could not imagine our family without her.
When Mara turned 17, she had the choice to be adopted or age out of foster care. In the beginning, she believed nobody would ever want to adopt her.
But after many talks, she chose us. On May 8, 2020, she officially became our daughter over a Zoom court hearing. She even changed her last name to ours.
Fostering a teen was not always easy, but it was always worth it. The hardest part was missing the first 16 years of her life. The most painful part was knowing she had to lose so much to join our family. But the love we have now makes up for it.
Mara has her eyes set on a future that makes me so proud it almost brings me to tears. She is working hard to graduate ahead of schedule, determined to step into college and turn her experiences into something good. Her dream is to help kids who share a story like hers—to be the voice and the steady hand she once needed. Watching her plan her future with such strength and purpose reminds me why we said yes in the first place.
As for us, our journey doesn’t stop here. We will keep fostering, because every child deserves a safe place to land, a home where they are seen and loved for who they are. Our path has been difficult, yet our hearts continue to hold space for additional love. And that, I think, is what is most important
