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May 2026 Newsletter
The tension in foster care that no one really talks about.
Tracey Albrecht
May 13, 2026
My boys together with Mari and Laya, our first placement.
I still remember the day our first placement left.
Two little girls who had filled our home with noise, laughter, and life… suddenly gone. Somewhere along the way, I had started to believe they might stay. Not because I didn’t understand the system, but because love has a way of quietly rewriting expectations in your heart.
And then everything shifted.
Plans changed. Decisions were made. And just like that, we were packing up pieces of our everyday life with them, clothes, toys, routines, and transitioning them to another home.
I knew it was the right thing to do.
They were going to a family that was adopting their infant twin siblings. They would grow up together, kept intact, surrounded by people ready to make them their own. It was good. It was what you hope for. Outside of reunification, it seemed perfect.
But that didn’t make it hurt any less.
We still had our four boys at home, and life didn’t stop. There were meals to cook, rides to give, and laughter in other rooms. But there was also an emptiness that settled in quietly and stayed.
Mari, Laya and their twin siblings.
Their room was the hardest.
The crib and the bed sat untouched, like they were waiting. I couldn’t bring myself to change it right away. And for a long time, the smell of their hair products lingered on their pillows and sheets. Sometimes I would just stand there and breathe it in, holding onto whatever pieces of them I could.
I remember sitting in that quiet… the kind of quiet that feels too loud. Their absence broke me in a way I wasn’t prepared for, even though I had said “yes,” knowing this was always a possibility.
There’s a tension no one really talks about enough: the space between doing what’s right and still feeling completely broken by it.
Because when you love a child deeply, you don’t get to choose whether it hurts when they leave.
And, to be honest, I was confused too. We loved them well. We had kept them safe. Part of me wondered, Wasn’t that enough? Shouldn’t they stay? There’s a fine line in foster care between loving with your whole heart and holding loosely at the same time. And that line can feel impossibly hard to walk.
Looking back now, I can see things I couldn’t see then. God was working in ways I didn’t understand. He was writing a story that wasn’t about us, but about them and their family, and a bigger picture I couldn’t yet grasp.
But in that moment, all I could see was the loss.
If you’re in that place right now, loving a child who may not stay, or grieving one who already left, I want you to know this: your love mattered. It still matters. And the ache you feel is not a sign that something went wrong. It’s a sign that you loved well.
Waiting seasons, even the painful ones, are not empty. God is still moving, still working, still redeeming, right in the middle of the unanswered “why.”
And sometimes, loving fully means grieving fully too.
If you want to read the full story of our first placement of Mari and Laya click here: Our First Foster Placement: A Tale of Two Sisters
With gratitude,
Tracey
IN OUR HOUSE
What Mother’s Day looked like in 2025.
What Mother’s Day looked like this year.
Our First Mother’s Day After the Move
Right now feels a little like an in-between season for us.
Some things are full, our days, our home, the rhythm of life with the girls. And some things feel a little stretched, a little far away, like celebrating Mother’s Day without our boys for the first time.
I felt that more than I expected.
There’s something about Mother’s Day that makes you want everyone under one roof again. And this year, with us in South Carolina and them in Illinois, that just wasn’t possible. I found myself holding onto photos a little longer, remembering past years that felt loud and full in a different way.
And yet… yesterday was still good.
The finished Mother’s Day masterpieces from art class…graded and everything 😂💕
The girls filled the house with energy, putting on a full gymnastics show, complete with music, routines and big finishes. Later, Chloe planned out an art class for just the girls and that was so adorable. My husband grilled, the sun stayed out all day, and we spent the evening on our new patio just being together.
It didn’t look like it used to. But it was still full.
I’m learning that two things can be true at once, you can deeply miss what was, and still be grateful for what is. That even in the in-between, even when parts of your heart feel far away, there is still beauty here.
Waiting doesn’t mean life is on hold.
And even in the stretching, God is still at work.
BOOKS I’M READING
Foster the Family: Encouragement, Hope, and Practical Help for the Christian Foster Parent
By: Jamie Finn
This is one of those books that feels like it was written for the days when foster care feels both beautiful and incredibly hard at the same time. Foster the Family is written by Jamie C. Finn, a fellow foster mom who speaks so honestly about what it really looks like to open your home to children who come from broken and uncertain places.
What I appreciate most is how grounded this book is in truth. It does not pretend that foster care is easy or always tidy. Instead, it acknowledges the emotional weight, the unexpected transitions, and the reality that loving children fully often comes with deep grief when things change. And yet, woven through every page is a steady reminder that God is still at work in all of it.
Jamie continually points back to the calling behind foster care, that we are invited to reflect the love of Christ to vulnerable children, even when we cannot see the outcome. It is not about having control over the story, but about being faithful in the part we have been given.
In this season of waiting and unknowns, this book has been a reminder to me that God is not only present in the big moments, but also in the in-between ones. The waiting, the transitions, the goodbyes, and the quiet days in between are all held by Him. And He is still using it all for good.
👉🏻 Get your copy of Foster The Family here: https://amzn.to/3NfDzIy
FEATURED BLOG POST
Guarding Your Heart as a Foster Parent
Spoiler alert! You can’t guard your heart.
In this post, I talk honestly about the tension between loving fully and facing the pain of goodbyes, the moments when letting go feels almost impossible, and how God sustains me through the emotional ups and downs when love feels costly.
👉Read the full post here: Guarding Your Heart as a Foster Parent
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Faithful in the Waiting, Supported in the Journey
This kit was designed to help foster parents feel less overwhelmed and more grounded with simple, practical tools that bring clarity and organization to the process.
Inside the Starter Kit:
✔️ Step-by-step guidance for choosing the right agency and navigating your next steps
✔️ Printable tools to keep paperwork, training, and schedules organized
✔️ Ready-to-use templates and checklists so you are never starting from scratch
✔️ A calm, simple system to help bring order to the chaos
Now included: The Connection Kit
✔️ Activities and coloring pages to help your foster child stay connected with their birth family
✔️ Simple ways for children to share updates, memories, and moments from their daily life
✔️ Opportunities for handmade art and meaningful connection that can be passed along to birth parents
These intentional tools help children feel seen, supported, and connected to their story, even during seasons of transition.
*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!
Do you know someone that is thinking of fostering? We would love it if you would forward this email to them so they can sign up!
This newsletter may contain affiliate links, meaning, I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my link, at no cost to you.