Help! I'm a Foster Parent: Experiences from Real People. Hope from a Real God.

Book excerpt: Foster families are unsung heroes, willing to stand on the front lines for children who can’t stand up for themselves. But fostering can also be a lonely journey as friends and family members pull away from the fear of the unknown. We all have a job to do, and it starts by stepping forward and wrapping around those who are sacrificing so much. In Help! I’m a Foster Parent: Experiences From Real People. Hope From a Real God., Nikki Hertzler has compiled the stories of foster families and others who are in the trenches—loving, advocating, and fighting for children who have found themselves displaced from their biological families. Their poignant, transparent stories will help you get a glimpse into the true realities of fostering, discuss ways to support these families, and encourage others on their own foster journey through a daily prayer, Scripture, and reflection. Endorsements These stories from foster and adoptive moms will be an encouragement to other foster and adoptive moms. This is hard, hard work. These stories remind us of our humanity, God’s greatness, that we are not alone, and how desperately we all need Him. Trisha Porter Backyard Orphans Anyone who steps into the fostering system sooner or later realizes how broken and dark it is. For fostering families, the road is often frustrating and lonely. For the children in foster care, the emotions are so much more than that. That is why we need a book like this. Discouragement is always close by, and the emotions and feelings run deep. But families are not alone. We all need to be encouraged to persevere in the messiness, to love the children who didn’t ask for this, to encourage biological parents about whom few care—to be a light in the darkness. Pastor Derek Parker, Lead Pastor Starkey Road Baptist Church, Seminole, Florida As someone who has never fostered, I found the stories in Help! I’m a Foster Parent powerful. The genuine emotion of each devotion is heartfelt. Honestly, the experiences provoked in me a deeper empathy and support for the brave parents who choose to open their homes. But the book provides so much more. It honestly relates to the foster parents’ many challenges and offers understanding, camaraderie, encouragement, and hope. This book is a must-read for those desiring a deeper understanding of God’s command to care for the needy and the orphans. Lauren Crews Author of Strength of a Woman: Why You Are Proverbs 31