- God has given me so much

through what I thought I had lost.

I found out I was pregnant andI wound up losing that baby.

And so that was kind ofa defining moment for me.

It was tough, and hard to walk through.

I think if I'd had that child,

I would've felt likemy family was complete

and that everything was normal for me,

and we would've moved on.

But that loss burst a hole in me

that God designed, I believe,

to fill with this calling for foster care.

- Tiffany came to me and said,

she was really prayingabout doing foster care.

And I immediately said, "No."

She said, "I really feellike we should do this."

And so I said, "I'll tell youwhat, I'm going on a trip,

and I'll pray about it,And you pray about it.

And we'll talk as soon as we get home."

I went halfway aroundthe world to Thailand,

put in a room with another pastor.

And out of nowhere,

he just started talkingto me about foster care,

the joys and the strugglesof being a foster parent.

And when I got home,

I knew that that's exactlywhat God was calling us to do.

- Really kind of fighting

what I knew God was callingme to do, because it's tough.

This is too hard. This is too heavy.

How am I supposed to lovethese children and let them go?

And that's one of the only times

I've audibly heard God's voice in my life.

And he said, "At what pointdid your potential pain

become more important thantheir definite need for love?"

So we got Finn from thehospital as a newborn.

He was two days old andwe brought him home.

He has a lot of issues.

His mom used all throughout her pregnancy.

And so he had tremors for eight months.

His whole little body would convulse

as he was trying to clearthe drugs from his system.

And because of that, thewithdrawals actually preempted

what they consider now, almostlittle mini panic attacks.

When he feels his emotionsbeginning to spiral out,

his body and his brain relatesthat to the withdrawals.

And he just loses it.

- With Finn, it's a lotof behavioral issues,

him not being able to talk.

And so the communication is very tough.

But when he wants something,he can't verbalize it just yet.

And so he just screams.(Finn screaming)

- He is in 22 hours of therapy a week

with occupational therapy,

speech therapy and behavior therapy.

He's got a road ahead of him,

but equipped with the right things,

and obviously coveringhim in prayer, we believe

that he will be completelynormal functioning kid.

(laughing)

- Josiah, when he was born,he was born drug addicted.

And so it took him threeweeks or so in the hospital

to be weaned off the drugs.

- He is your standard,what they call a drug baby.

He would scream for eight hours a day

because his body hurt so bad.

He had no muscle control.

Because he was onmethadone in the hospital,

he laid on his back for three weeks,

which caused him to havea flat head in the back,

which he later needed a cranialhelmet for, to correct that.

That was very hard.

When he would cry like that,

there's just nothing you could do.

We would just sit in the floorand turn on worship music

and hold him tight and rock.

That was all you could do.

We have to stop and take a deep breath

and remember that he's not suffering

from these things by his choice.

This is because of a choicethat someone else made.

I firmly believe that God gives you grace

for what he's called you to.

- Oh, the heartache,

the hardship is bringing these kids in,

and loving them like they're your own,

but letting them go, because they're not.

- I believe that we are truly walking out

what God has called us to.

So in the moments when it getstough, and we wanna give up,

or we wanna scream, or cry or whatever,

being reminded that this iswhat God has called us to.

It's when things get hard,and they will get hard,

it's really important thatyou're in it together.

You still have to continueto invest in your marriage,

just like you did before, if not more.

- We do try to spend a coupleof hours together each night,

after all the kids go down and go to bed.

- Our family has changed quite a bit.

It definitely requires allof us working together.

I've seen my girls step up in ways

that I never knew they could.

I tell people all the time, there's no way

we could do what we do without them.

When the therapists come,they want to sit in the room

with them so that when they go,

they know how to respondto Finns behaviors.

And we actually took a dayand made sensory bottles

and sensory bags forFinn to use in therapy.

They were a part of that.

- You can just shake 'em.

It redirects him almost from hitting.

- It helps him, when he stepson the bag, it calms him.

- We have a great time as a family.

We love the time with the boys,being able to play outside

on the swings or down by the water,

or putting together puzzles,and stuff like that.

- My favorite part about Finley

is he's super funny andsweet at the same time.

- He is just silly.

He is a lot of fun, and heknows he's funny. (laughing)

And my favorite thing about Josiah

is just his sweet demeanor.

He is a snuggle bug andhe will smile at you

every time you walk inthe room, he's precious.

You spend more thantwo nights in my house.

You get a picture on the wall.

That is a very physical reminder.

I want to see the facesof these kids every day.

So that I can be reminded to pray for them

no matter where they are in their journey.

- You don't know how longthese kids are coming in for.

You don't know how much ofyourself you want to give,

but they need it.

They need as much as you can give,

especially in those moments,

because it is truly their darkest moments.

- Josiah!- It's okay to love

and hurt so that they can experience love.

- I think that it's not a mere suggestion.

I think that God tells us tocare for the widows and orphans

in James 1:27, and so Ithink that foster care

is a part of that.

Not everyone can open upand be a foster family.

I totally understand that.

But I think that there areways that you can get involved

in the foster care communityand help serve that

in the ways that do fit your family,

whether it's respite care,doing that short term

instead of those longterm placements

or whether it's partneringup with local nonprofits

who are helping the system.

God has such a heart for the fatherless.

And that's what we're talking about here

is these kids that need family.