Taking a Leap of Faith
Pictured is the Brazeal Family
By: The Connected Foster Care Area 5 Team
After their experience with longer-term provisional placements, the Brazeal family, a family with Connected Foster Care, wanted to begin providing respite care. In the middle of July, they reached out to their Connected Caseworker, sharing they felt God had been laying it on their hearts heavily to open their home sooner, but they did not know why.
The next day, they got a call for a teenage girl (not in their original plan for age-range), that needed placement ASAP. They felt this was what God was preparing them for. Their Connected Caseworker worked hard to complete their home study, and get approval so they could welcome the young woman into their home. The Brazeal family was so thankful to their caseworker - who got their home study completed and approved as quickly as possible. The foster mother shared that it showed, "Connected truly cares about these children and families! This could not have been done without them.” They opened on a July morning and took this young lady as their first placement at 4:30 that same day, providing her the stable home she deserved. The next morning, the Brazeal family took her on vacation with them because they believed it was the right thing to do. They shared that, "With all of this uncertainty that the world gives us, we are just taking it one step at a time, trusting that God is leading us down the right path.”
They shared that at first they were terrified for what God had planned for them, but once this teenage girl was placed into their home, it was like "total peace washed over us like never before.” As the month went on, they still felt at peace with their decision, their children were happy, their foster kiddo was no longer feeling nervous, but excited for the upcoming school year, and talked about her future. This family’s yes provided a stable home for a young woman. They stepped into the unknown, embraced their fears, and took a leap of faith with what God had planned for their family.