Something you may not know about me is that I’m a foster care Nana! My youngest son and his wife have been foster parents for about two years now, and seeing them walk this journey has helped me learn so much about the foster care community. A lot of us are aware of foster care overall, but most of us don’t really understand what happens in foster care and the dynamics that occur when a family says “yes” to this journey.
That’s why I’m excited to share my conversation today with my friend Jami Kaeb, Founder and Executive Director of The Forgotten Initiative, a ministry that exists to see people everywhere supporting the foster care community and experiencing Jesus together. I love that! Adoption, foster care, and advocacy were not actually part of Jami’s dreams for her life, but God changed her heart when He made her aware, and now she is passionate about helping others become aware too! Jami also is mom to seven children (five through adoption).
In this episode, Jami shares about the unique journey God led her on to discover the importance of foster care, how that led to a door being opened for The Forgotten Initiative to begin, how each of us can take a first step to supporting foster parents and the foster care community overall, a powerful story of when a friend showed up when she and her husband needed it most, and a whole lot more. This was such a great conversation and I hope this episode helps you become aware because, in Jami’s words, awareness leads to action!
Even if you’re not interested in foster care, please listen to this episode because it will inspire you to adjust your steps when God leads you in a different direction than you have vision for.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- The Forgotten Initiative’s Website
- The Forgotten Podcast
- Who Loves Children’s Book Series
- Connect with The Forgotten Initiative on Facebook and Instagram
- Connecting With Your Spouse: Setting Priority As Foster Parents (a conversation Jami and I had over on The Forgotten Podcast!)
- The New Foster Parent Experience (My son and his wife sharing about their foster care journey on The Forgotten Podcast)
- As a thank you for listening, get your 3 free eBooks!
My Key Takeaways:
1) “It’s not about bringing a child into our family; it’s about bringing our family to a child.” This perspective shift was really powerful, and is a similar one Mark and I went through during our adoption journey. Most significantly, the shift for Jami started when she became aware. Once she saw the need, she was moved to action to step in and make a difference.
2) God writes some incredible stories with our lives. Jami openly shares that she never anticipated adoption or foster care being part of her story. As she was sharing her journey, I was just struck by how incredible our God is. He is so faithful to lead us on a path of purpose if we are willing to follow His lead. If your heart was pulled as Jami was talking about foster care, I encourage you to lean into that pull.
3) It’s important that we don’t stop showing up after the initial transition. Jami’s story about the friend who still showed up for her and Clint after they found head lice in their home was powerful. I cried when she shared it! The best way to make a difference in the lives of foster parents (or anyone for that matter!) is to be consistent, available, and intentional. Jami shared some really great ways to do that in this episode.
About Jami:
