Editor’s Note: In honor of National Foster Care Month, we are featuring stories from some of our foster families. If you’d like to learn more about the ways you can Be a Family to a child please visit www.beafamily.org.

We were foster parents several years ago with another agency, and losing the little angel that we had in our care for over 10 months was one of the hardest things my husband and I have ever gone through. We talked and prayed about it and decided to stop being foster parents.

Then last November some missionaries came to our church and talked about doing God’s will. They said they had considered retiring, but God told them he was not finished with them yet. Wow, did that ever hit home!

My husband and I prayed and asked for God’s will to be done in our life. God led us to Buckner and we are now foster parents once again.

Being a foster parent is a wonderful thing. Yes, you will get tired. Especially at 55 years old when you have to get up for a 3 a.m. feeding and then can’t get your little one back to sleep. But once these little ones get used to your home and begin to smile, all of the lost sleep is worth it.

The children in our home now have brought us more joy then we can ever describe. They teach us so much, maybe even more than we teach them. When we let go and let God work through us, we have never been happier.

We know these little precious gifts from God will only be with us for a little while, but we do our best to give them all of the love and attention we possibly can so that when they leave us they will know that people care about them.

We thank Buckner for making it possible for us to be foster parents and for having such a wonderful staff. Most of all we thank God for speaking to our hearts and making us realize that this is what life its all about: making a difference in the life of another.

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” Luke 12:48 (NIV)

Anita and Bob Werner live in Midland, Texas. They have been foster parents with Buckner Children and Family Services for two and a half months and have cared for three children in that time.