God Provided Even More Than They Asked For!

For Travis and Beth, faith is central to every aspect of their lives. They are grateful for the way God adopted them into His family. In return, they always felt like adoption was supposed to be part of their family, to live out their faith and extend God’s grace in the lives of others.

When they started the process of exploring adoption, they learned one of Travis’ childhood friends was a foster care and adoption social worker, and she had become a foster and adoptive mom along with her husband. She shared with them about PCHAS and about different adoption and foster care opportunities.

They researched infant and international adoption but did not think either was the correct route. They also learned about foster care and adopting from foster care. Beth says, “The more we learned, the more we knew it was the right thing for our family.” Seeing God bring them information and connection in their searching season was encouraging.

Starting with community felt a little easier, so they worked with PCHAS to complete all the required steps for verification. Their sons were getting excited, too, and even prayed for a sister. “God provided even more than they asked for and gave them two sisters!” says Beth.

Several months after verification, Travis and Beth agreed to foster a newborn little girl in the NICU. Two months later, her one-year-old sister joined the family. In a short time, the family had grown from two kids to four, and all were under the age of four. They bought a minivan to fit all the car seats, but Beth says they spent a lot of time at home in those early months, and then the COVID-19 pandemic happened.

As they helped the girls grow and thrive, they navigated all the intricacies of foster care, including caseworker visits, doctor appointments, court and family visitation. Beth shared her gratitude for the staff at PCHAS, especially Sara and Stephanie, who gave them top-notch support every step of the way. They also connected with other PCHAS adoptive and foster families.

Two years into fostering, the court decided the girls would not be able to return home. The state asked Beth and Travis to adopt, and they excitedly said, “Yes!”

Four years after they started fostering, the family feels settled in their roles and loves the family God created for them. We asked them about advice they would share with others thinking about adopting or fostering. Beth and Travis were quick to say:

• We often hear people say, “I don’t think I could…,” “I’m not sure…,” or express other thoughts about the unknown, but you can do more than you think you can! God made us to do hard things! There were a lot of hard things to endure during our foster care journey, but God provided equal amounts of joy and care for us all.

• It’s not what you gain as a parent by adopting a child, but a humbling experience of putting yourselves aside to serve and love a child that needs you.

• Even if you don’t think you can adopt or foster, there are many other ways to get involved and make a difference. You can get certified to babysit for foster families, sit with newborn babies in foster care who are in the NICU, donate clothes and gear to foster closets, set up a meal train or do a grocery run for a new foster or adoptive family.

With connection, education and faith, Beth and Travis became family for two amazing little girls. If you’ve ever considered adopting or fostering, we hope you’ll take the leap of faith and Connect With Us. You can call 281-324-0544, email fosteradopt@pchas.org, or Join An Online Info Session to learn more!