Help! I’m a Foster Parent by Nikki Hertzler
Being a foster parent is being intentional in looking for God’s will. And God’s will is often not easy to follow. Foster parenting is gritty and messy, yet also beautiful and rewarding. Help! I’m a Foster Parent contains prayers, scriptures, reflection questions and a personal experience story to encourage foster parents to keep leaning on God’s strength and wisdom in this journey.
Today is Release Day! Help! I’m a Foster Parent is available now, May 2nd, in time for Foster Care Awareness Month!
As a foster parent myself, I have experienced both sides—how difficult and yet how rewarding. I wanted to encourage others, to let them know that what they are facing is real, is necessary, is often isolating, yet they are not alone. I wanted this book to be a group effort and so I reached out to everyone I knew in order to find other foster parents who could write chapters for issues that I had not experienced.
Of those foster parents who do not have a kin-relationship with the children, a study by PEW Research shows that 65% attend religious services. That is a sizable amount. Our faith propels us to this mission. Being able to point children to the God who created them and to Jesus their savior is a valuable part of fostering.
Throughout the United States, over 400,000 children are in foster care and of those, over 100,000 are awaiting adoption. With over 300,000 Christian congregations in the US, we should be able to take care of all of these children. Churches are stepping up and speaking up about fostering and adopting. My own pastor’s family added three little boys to their family through the foster/adopt process.
Who do you know who could use encouragement in their fostering journey? Who do you know who can pray for those families? This book is a perfect gift for everyone who came to your mind.
With thirty-four chapters written by over a dozen authors, here is godly inspiration for many issues we face in fostering. Besides foster families, we have chapters written by a family court judge, a case worker, and a woman who was a child in the foster system. Some chapters address situations like working with biological families, a parent who is in jail, children with special needs, and the teenagers who are aging out.
Would you like ideas on how to pray for foster families? Would you like scriptures to help encourage those families? The stories told by families in the trenches are both poignant and hopeful. Each chapter has reflection questions to keep us focusing on God in this journey. Because it is for Him that we foster and with His strength that we continue our mission.
Join me for fostering/adopting thoughts and tidbits on NikkiHertzler.com
Nikki Hertzler resides in northern Nevada. She and her husband have lived in several states before settling with their three children in Nevada almost two decades ago. Nikki is an avid reader, an elementary teacher, and as a speaker, she speaks on the importance of early childhood development as well as on foster care. Her family enjoys participating in their church ministries and being on outdoor adventures. A few years ago, with their biological children on the brink of leaving home, the Hertzlers felt God calling them to foster. Since then, they have been introducing their foster children to the fun of hiking, skiing, Lake Tahoe, and the God who created them.
Website/blog: NikkiHertzler.com
Facebook: facebook.com/Nikki_Hertzler
Email: nikki@nikkihertzler.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teacher_nikki_lee
