Can you we just use this space to be honest for a second? Life is a lot isn’t it? There is so much being thrown at us. I was talking with a friend the other morning and we were talking that life is so much that sometimes our minds just swirl. But in that conversation we talked about the power of a song. Seems to center us, ground us, bring us back to a state or worship. A couple of nights ago...
February 9, 2023 – Darcie Van Voorst, “Just breathe…” As caregivers of adopted and foster children, we must be mindful of our own health needs so that we can be equipped to care for our kids. Darcie Van Voorst, who specializes in body based therapy, shared strategies to help us regulate our nervous system. These strategies can have a healing impact on our mental, emotional, and physical health. In the near future, Katelyn’s Fund will be releasing a series...
Year after year, He has shown His faithfulness by leading us, helping us, drawing us closer to Him. As we lean into His leadership in all ways in the ministry, we surrender things to Him, His vision, His leading, His ways. Each year, we see Him move and teach, continuing to call us into places of security, in His presence, keeping our eyes on Him, and security that His ways are higher and He sees beyond us (Isaiah 55). Every year...
Children are never too young to talk about race. Stokes and Draayer encouraged us to have conversations about race with our children at an early age. Research shows that race-related stressors can cause trauma symptoms; however, high ethnic identity can serve as a buffer against the negative impact of race-related stressors on mental health. Coping strategies for children who have experienced traumatic racial events could include: journaling, talking through the incident and time-lining it, powering off from triggering...
What a day! We are so thankful to all of you who showed up and joined us for Orphan Sunday 2022. It was such a great day of community and worshipping together! We were so blessed to hear Diego Fuller share his story of redemption and how God has captured his heart amidst the hurt and anger through people who didn’t give up and shared unconditional love with Diego! Thank you Diego for being so transparent and sharing how God has...
This month’s meeting was held at Shari’s Family Visitation & Exchange Center to bring awareness to our community about a new site providing a safe and neutral location for visitation purposes. Contact the Family Crisis Center if you would like to utilize the space. We also had the privilege of hearing from Mindy Louscher about her own adoption story as well as her responsibilities as a case manager through DHS. We were able to view the foster care process from her...
WHEN GOD SPEAKS by Angela Dekkers When God calls you to sometime, do you obey Him or do you question? Do you listen to Him or do you ignore? Seems like an easy answer, right? But can I admit something to you? I am guilty of latter. When God called my husband [Jim] and I to the adoption journey, I questioned Him. I ignored Him. I did everything in my power to pretend like He never spoke. Even though adoption was something Jim and...
Sep 8, 2022 – Loren De Jong Identity in the Promises of God Setting our families up for success by putting strategies in place can help make day to day life more manageable. Tools, such as Dr. Pervis’ The Connected Child, help us walk alongside our kids. Some strategies that Loren and Patt De Jong incorporated into their...
FOCUS ON WHAT MATTERS Today’s blog was written by a Katelyn’s Fund friend Kansas Fergen. What happens if it doesn’t work out? This very question was asked while we were in the process of adopting one of our older children. Our family was called to walk the road of adoption in a not-so-typical way, and this question made us think about why we were adopting in the first place. When most people think of adoption, the first thought...
This blog post was written by Kyle Blankers, a friend of Katelyn’s Fund. Mindfulness. It’s a word I’ve been pondering lately, and one I’d like to encourage all you fathers with on this Father’s Day. “Mindfulness” doesn’t come up often in daily conversation or get put on the back of a t-shirt, but you’ve probably had experiences in your life (like I have) that have made you familiar with the concept. · Back in high school, I had a choir teacher constantly remind...