IN OUR HOUSE

Finding Joy at Disney After a Heavy Season

In our house lately, we’ve been holding both the heavy and the joyful.

The last several months have brought a lot for our girls to carry in their little hearts. They helped move my dad from Illinois to South Carolina, saw him every day, and then had to say goodbye when we lost him, along with our dog the month prior. Since we knew they had been through so much in a short time, we wanted to give them something that would lift their spirits and ours too.

So we surprised them with a long weekend at Walt Disney World, and it turned out to be exactly the kind of gift our family needed. There is something so healing about stepping away for a little while and watching wonder return. Seeing their faces light up with princesses, magic, and all the joy of being little again was such a gift to us too.

It reminded me that sometimes love looks like creating a memory that helps soften a hard season. It doesn’t erase the grief or the questions, but it gives everyone a little room to breathe, laugh, and remember that beauty can still be found in the middle of hard things.

Even in the middle of a hard season, I can see how God is gently restoring pieces of our hearts. Not all at once, and not perfectly, but in small moments of laughter, connection, and joy. This weekend felt like one of those moments. A reminder that even in the hard places, our kids still need to feel safe, seen, and supported, and sometimes joy is part of that healing too.

BOOKS I’M READING

You Are Special

By Max Lucado

This is one of those books that I find myself coming back to again and again. You Are Special tells the story of Punchinello, a wooden person living in a world where everyone gives each other stickers based on how they look or what they can do. Some get gold stars, others get gray dots. And before long, those labels begin to define how they see themselves.

What I love most about this story is the reminder that our worth was never meant to come from what others think of us. Punchinello learns that his value comes from his Maker, the one who created him with purpose and love. And when he begins to believe that truth, the labels start to fall away.

This message feels especially important for the children in our homes. Many of them carry labels they never chose. Words spoken over them, experiences they have walked through, and stories that try to define who they are. But God tells a different story. He calls them chosen, loved, and His.

Even in the hard places, even when the world tries to place its own labels, God is still at work reminding each of us who we truly are.

👉 Buy You Are Special on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4biqRlE

FEATURED BLOG POST

Some Things I Wish I Knew Before Becoming a Foster Parent

There are so many things you simply cannot know until you step into foster care. You can read the books, take the classes, and prepare your home, but some of the most important lessons only come through walking it out in real life.

In this post, I share a few of the things I wish I had understood before our first placement. The emotional weight, the unknowns, the way plans can change quickly, and how deeply this journey can stretch your heart. Foster care is full of hard moments, and there are days when it feels overwhelming in ways you didn’t expect.

But even in those hard places, something is growing.

Looking back, I can see how God was at work in the middle of the chaos. He was growing patience, strengthening our faith, and teaching us to rely on Him in ways we never had before. The hard parts did not mean we were doing it wrong. They were part of the process.

If you are at the beginning of your journey, or even in the middle of a challenging season, I hope this encourages you. You are not alone in what you are feeling, and there is purpose in the stretching. God is faithful to grow something good, even here.

👉🏻 Read the full post here: Some Things I Wish I Knew Before Becoming a Foster Parent

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

From Nerves to Next Steps

Getting licensed to foster can feel like stepping into a world full of forms, checklists, and deadlines… All while your heart is racing with questions and hope. It’s exciting, but it’s also overwhelming.

That’s exactly why I created the Foster Parent Starter Kit to help you gather everything you need for licensing in one organized place, so you can move forward feeling informed and confident.

Instead of searching through piles of papers or wondering what comes next, you’ll have everything mapped out and ready, both for your first license and when it’s time to renew four years later.

Inside the Starter Kit:
✔️ Step-by-step guidance for navigating the licensing process confidently
✔️ Printable tools for organizing paperwork, training hours, and key documents
✔️ Ready-to-use templates and checklists for both initial and re-licensing
✔️ A streamlined system that keeps everything together year after year

Bonus: The Connection Kit*
✔️ Creative activities and coloring pages to help your foster child stay or feel connected with their birth family
✔️ Simple, heart-centered ways to share updates and milestones
✔️ Meaningful prompts and pages for your child to express their story

Getting ready to foster, and staying licensed, can feel chaotic. But with a kit you create with our pdf printables, you can create space for calm, for confidence, and for connection.

Because even in the chaos, you deserve support that sets you up for success, from day one to year four and beyond.

👉🏻 Get Foster Parent Starter Kit Now for $19

*If you previously ordered the Foster Parent Starter Kit and would like the new bonus, just drop us an email with the name and email address you ordered with, and we will send it to you!