For the last three years I have loved participating in my friend Rebecca’s December Photo Project. She hosts it from her blog and encourages people to take a picture daily from the beginning of December through Christmas Eve. It’s been a fun way to be a little intentional during the holiday season to stop and reflect. This year I have chosen to document the life of a foster mom through an image a day. For confidentiality reasons, there won’t be identifiable photos of our foster child, but I struggle with feeling like confidentiality means our kids become invisible. It’s easier to ignore what you can’t see. So I’m documenting the impact a foster baby creates in a home, like the waves that happen when you throw a pebble in the water. And what lovely waves they are. (For the record—I am not a photographer, don’t necessarily enjoy taking pictures, and have done zero editing to any of these images. I like to document, but I am not artistic.) Enjoy!
25 Images from a Foster Mom
Day 1
An ornament to celebrate Baby’s First Christmas in a way that will help us remember how special this time was even if when we unpack the ornaments next year, she’s no longer with us. Our much loved little fairy, floating in and out of our lives.
Day 2
Visit supplies packed and waiting by the door each morning. It’s nice to have a little break each day, but somehow still feels like a kick in the gut when Baby goes out the door.
Day 3
Ready for a visit. When you think about fostering, you think about a child. The black boots in this picture belong to a visitation worker who is one of a host of people involved in this baby’s life. Foster care allows us to build relationships and love people we otherwise never would have met. Yes, foster care is about a child, but loving that child opens the door to lots of other people to love, to influence, to serve.
Day 4
Some things about caring for a foster child are unique to foster care. And then there are the universals. Like diapers and tiny laundry.
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