by Amy Estrada
My husband and I, we've always had the same goals. Career. Marriage. House. Kids. And for a while we really had the ball rolling! We both had successful and rewarding careers, got married, bought the house (even had the white picket fence!). So what's next?
Kids, obviously! Or so we thought....It's been a bumpy road. God sure made our map look crazy with all the paths and roadblocks. But we kept hope and we pushed through the craziness. 10 months and 3 empty kids bedrooms later and we had our hope renewed! We always knew there were other options out there for having a family so the moment we considered fostering, we just knew that it was the right path to go down. We prayed, we discussed, we researched - and never for one moment did our resolve falter.
Fostering was the missing piece. It was what would complete our puzzle. When we decided it was what we would do, we were nervous. We were scared we wouldn't be able to do it or we would be thrown into this unknown world of pain and neglect. We were even discouraged by family members and told it wasn't worth it! How absolutely insensitive and wrong that was! So, feeling lost and unsure we reached out to our community to find support for families like ours - families that opened their homes to kids who had nowhere to call home.
That's when we found LoveMovesUs! We knew that fate had brought us to them because the founders live literally less than 2 miles away from us! Going to our first support group event - boy were my husband and I nervous! First, we didn't have any kids yet and second we didn't know anyone there! But none of that mattered. The welcome we received from everyone was enough to bring tears to my eyes. Not only did we find the encouragement we needed but we both left feeling empowered! We could do this! We were not alone! It IS worth it!
Suddenly the world we were getting ourselves into didn't seem so scary. What the Bentsen's have created has assured my husband and I that this is not only possible - but what we were meant to do. I don't know what we would have done without them. Now, we have completed our Pride (foster care) training. We have our foster care license, and we now have a placement of two kiddos. We are ready, we are confident, we are stronger - thanks to Love Moves Us!
Mark & Amy currently reside in New Lenox, IL. Both from south suburbs of Chicago, they met after being introduced to each other by their mothers in 2013. Two years later they were married. A huge lover of animals, Mark is the Operations Manager of a large animal shelter and Amy is a Process Engineer in the baking industry.
Along with their biological 3 month old son, Bryan, they have two foster children - a 17 year old boy and his 10 year old sister who have been with the Estrada's since March 2017.
My husband and I, we've always had the same goals. Career. Marriage. House. Kids. And for a while we really had the ball rolling! We both had successful and rewarding careers, got married, bought the house (even had the white picket fence!). So what's next?
Kids, obviously! Or so we thought....It's been a bumpy road. God sure made our map look crazy with all the paths and roadblocks. But we kept hope and we pushed through the craziness. 10 months and 3 empty kids bedrooms later and we had our hope renewed! We always knew there were other options out there for having a family so the moment we considered fostering, we just knew that it was the right path to go down. We prayed, we discussed, we researched - and never for one moment did our resolve falter.
Fostering was the missing piece. It was what would complete our puzzle. When we decided it was what we would do, we were nervous. We were scared we wouldn't be able to do it or we would be thrown into this unknown world of pain and neglect. We were even discouraged by family members and told it wasn't worth it! How absolutely insensitive and wrong that was! So, feeling lost and unsure we reached out to our community to find support for families like ours - families that opened their homes to kids who had nowhere to call home.
That's when we found LoveMovesUs! We knew that fate had brought us to them because the founders live literally less than 2 miles away from us! Going to our first support group event - boy were my husband and I nervous! First, we didn't have any kids yet and second we didn't know anyone there! But none of that mattered. The welcome we received from everyone was enough to bring tears to my eyes. Not only did we find the encouragement we needed but we both left feeling empowered! We could do this! We were not alone! It IS worth it!
Suddenly the world we were getting ourselves into didn't seem so scary. What the Bentsen's have created has assured my husband and I that this is not only possible - but what we were meant to do. I don't know what we would have done without them. Now, we have completed our Pride (foster care) training. We have our foster care license, and we now have a placement of two kiddos. We are ready, we are confident, we are stronger - thanks to Love Moves Us!
Mark & Amy currently reside in New Lenox, IL. Both from south suburbs of Chicago, they met after being introduced to each other by their mothers in 2013. Two years later they were married. A huge lover of animals, Mark is the Operations Manager of a large animal shelter and Amy is a Process Engineer in the baking industry.
Along with their biological 3 month old son, Bryan, they have two foster children - a 17 year old boy and his 10 year old sister who have been with the Estrada's since March 2017.
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