DC127 Spotlight
DC127 is pleased to feature the Groth family who is connected to DC127's Foster Care Support program. We celebrate their commitment to fulfilling a desire God placed on their hearts. We know you will enjoy getting to know this loving family and find inspiration in their beautiful testimony of Christian faith through works!
"DC127 has truly been a lifeline to us more times than we can count. They have lightened the load and loved us in so many tangible ways. We tell everyone about them because they've made such a huge difference in our journey and we are grateful!"
Q: Share with us your journey in deciding to foster.
A: Both of us always knew we would adopt one day, from the time we were kids. We originally went to foster care with the intention of adoption. But as we went through training and certification, we decided to be foster parents while we waited for an adoptive match. Our oldest son, Gabe, was our first foster placement, and we eventually adopted both he and his two younger sisters (through subsequent placements).
Q: What are some of the challenges you faced as a foster parent?
A: The goal of fostering is and always should be reunification. As a foster parent, you live in that heartbreaking tension of knowing this is what is right and best, but also the "job" of any parent (foster or otherwise) is to love with your whole heart. On the surface, the challenges are having the inconveniences of someone examining every part of your life (the licensing process is a lot of paperwork!), and of social workers, licensing workers and lawyers regularly in your house. It's caring for kids when you have limited background information. But honestly, the biggest challenge is putting your heart out there knowing it can, and likely will, get broken, but that it's more important for your heart to break as a foster parent, than for the children in your care to experience any more brokenness than they already have
Q: What are some of the joys of fostering?
A: We were welcomed with open arms by our children's grandmother, great aunt and siblings and they have loved on all our kids the same. I know it was heartbreaking for them to not be able to care for our kids and it has meant the world to us that they consider us family, as we certainly feel the same. We've learned how important it is to walk through the awkward, uncertain and messy moments to form something really special- a new broad family. Our kids have so many people they call grandparents and siblings. And for us, three of our miraculous children came to us through our foster care journey. There can be nothing more joyful than that!
Q: Any words of advice for someone considering fostering?
A: We can say without hesitation that becoming foster parents was one of the best decisions we ever made and completely changed the course of our lives. For anyone considering becoming a foster parent, we'd encourage you to learn as much as you can ahead of time about trauma-informed parenting. We'd also recommend getting to know other foster parents and making sure you have a strong community around you as you enter the journey.
Q: Any words of advice for someone considering fostering?
A: We can say without hesitation that becoming foster parents was one of the best decisions we ever made and completely changed the course of our lives. For anyone considering becoming a foster parent, we'd encourage you to learn as much as you can ahead of time about trauma-informed parenting. We'd also recommend getting to know other foster parents and making sure you have a strong community around you as you enter the journey.
