Webster’s defines resilience as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. Undoubtedly, children from hard places like the foster care system have experienced more than their fair share of opportunities to develop resilience, but did you know that there are 4 main types of resilience and it’s possible to be strong in one area while lacking in others.

It’s a valid question for most of us. I don’t know how you were raised, but for me, when it came to “bad” behavior no excuses were made. Tired? Power through it. Stressed? Deal with it.

As a foster parent, I found the legal jargon and courtroom experiences to be quite intimidating. I spent many hours scouring the internet trying to make sense of the legal processes that children, birth parents and foster parents go through when a child is placed into protective custody.

Fr. Joseph Nassal says, “Behind every scar there is a story.” We all have our stories. We all have scars and we all have choice in what to do with them. As Brene Brown says, “You either walk inside your story and own it, or you stand outside your story and hustle for your worthiness.”

May is National Foster Care Awareness Month and it’s hard to believe that just seven years ago I knew so little about foster care. And to be very real and honest, most of my thoughts on the topic had a great deal of judgement attached. It is easy to fall into judgement when we don’t understand something.

At Mamas Well we talk about the gifts and the gaps of foster care and adoption. The gaps are the challenges that we face, and in this line of work, there are many. In today’s blog and podcast we’re focusing in on three major challenges facing the foster community.

From the time I was little bitty, I remember longing to be a mother.  That was the thing I wanted most to be when I grew up.  My dream came true and I am grateful to be a mama to 5.

Have you ever done anything that you thought was for someone else, and it ended up being for you? Maybe it was a gift you picked out for someone only to realize that the look on their face far outweighed the cost.

Have you ever done something that just seemed crazy…something the rest of the world might even label “irresponsible”? Ever leap before you see the net? Ever say “yes” before you’re certain?

Somedays the only thing you’ll find me in is yoga pants… I’m quite sure this is a common trend. So what is it that makes me forego the blue jeans for the softer comfort of the familiar fabric? The answer is deeper than you think.