life lessons Archives • Page 2 of 2 • The Foster Parenthood

Please Tell my Daughter She’s Beautiful, Just Don’t Stop There

July 31, 2015 by Roxanne

Here’s the thing. It’s undeniable. My daughter is absolutely beautiful. Yes, yes, I’m a biased mother. But aside from this fact, she hears it all the time. It’s a rare occasion for us to go out in public and someone doesn’t comment on how cute she is. Sometimes, it even merits her free snacks or gifts (seriously). And all this is fine and dandy, I know she’s beautiful and I want her to know that too. But I want her to know she’s more than just beautiful too.

(photo credit to Laura Vanderzee, the best photographer in OKC!)

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Preparing Your Child for a New Baby

July 27, 2015 by Roxanne

I spent the entire last month of my second pregnancy rocking my firstborn to sleep every night and weeping over the changes she was about to face. It’s a bittersweet thing isn’t it? Having a second child? You know you’re giving your firstborn the greatest gift in the world by providing a sibling to share life with, but it doesn’t always feel wonderful. I ached because her life would look different and she would have no idea why.

My fears were high. Would she understand that we still loved her more than anything? Would she resent us? Would I resent the new baby? Would bringing home baby brother create a wild child acting out for attention? Have we made a huge mistake? How could we ever prepare her for this? I believe all of those fears are valid and normal. Bringing home another baby IS a big deal. It is life changing for your family unit, but especially for your firstborn.

Preparing your child for a new baby is a huge undertaking, and I believe it can be done well. I want to share a few things I know we did right, but unfortunately I know there are a few things we did wrong too. Hopefully you can learn from our mistakes!

(Photo credits to Laura Vanderzee, our very favorite photographer!)…

Entitlement: Kicks and Screams

July 20, 2015 by Caleb Foster

I have to be honest. This is one of the hardest seasons of my life. So much has transpired in 2015. The first day of the year started with our shower and toilet backing up and overflowing into the bathroom. No biggie right? The next day our heat and air unit completely died and needed replacing. A week later one of our cars irreparably broke down and we needed to buy a new car. Three weeks later my father passed away. Around the same time, The Lord called me away from full time paid ministry and a little more than a month after my dad passed I left the ministry. This was particularly hard because, until that point I was completely convinced I’d be in full time ministry for the foreseeable future.

My job search in the meantime has extended way beyond the length of time I expected – it’s a slim market out there for a guy with a degree in Biblical Theology & Ministry. Due to many interviews that ended with the phrase, “It was hard, but we’ve decided to pursue more qualified candidates”, I am still waiting to settle up on a new career as I write this post. In addition to this, all of my sin patterns have risen to the surface due my tendency to trust more in myself than in God. My marriage is being stretched daily as we learn to trust God for financial provision, emotional provision, familial stability, etc. To say my family and I are being refined is an understatement.

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