Wray and I have been foster parents for almost 15 years now! We’ve had over 50 children in our home. We were asked to speak at the Tapestry Meeting at Irving Bible Church. Tapestry is an awesome group of people who encourage and support foster and adoptive families. (www.tapestry.irvingbible.org) Michael and Amy Munroe started this ministry after adopting 4 children. They are terrific people and we were so excited when they asked us to talk about one of the things we love which is foster children. Amy said they called us “serial foster parents” because we had been doing it for so long. We also enjoyed hearing the story of Mark Tennant, Founder of Arrow Child and Family Ministries, who was himself a foster child.

Wray and I had a great time reminiscing about all the children who have been in our home. I guess our favorite question they asked was about our funniest story with our foster children— it was when Matthew, a 2 year old, tore loose from my grip at a Coppell High School football game, and ran to grab the legs of a strange man with a cowboy hat on. He was screaming “Daddy, Daddy” to which the gentleman with a horrified look on his face said, “I swear to God I am not his Dad”. Red faced I grabbed Matthew’s hand and made my way back to my seat.

We were reminded once again tonight about the desperate need for foster parents! In Texas there are 33,000 children in the foster care system, almost 10,000 of those are in the Dallas area. We need more people to open their hearts and homes to children who have suffered abuse and neglect. Tapestry Ministry can point you in the right direction to get started with that process. If you have questions, Wray and I are always happy to talk about our fostering experience!