Jepp and Lisa Johnson answer a few questions to tell us their own Foster Care Story:
1.What caused you to want to become involved in foster care/adoption?
God has put a passion in Lisa’s heart to adopt children since she was a young child. Jepp was later introduced to the idea of adoption by Lisa after they were married.
This journey for us is a walk of faith doing what we feel called to do. When we look at our children…all of our children, we can’t imagine life without them. Every child deserves to have a loving forever family whether it is their birth family, foster family, or adoptive family
What was your first experience with foster care/adoption like?
Our first foster placement was 2 sisters; ages 11 years, and 2 months. The older child was in a shelter home, and the 2 month old was in a licensed foster home. Our Licensing Agency, Agape, called to ask if we would be interested in taking this sibling group because they knew it was important to be able to have the children placed together. However, at that time the girls rights were not severed, but we said yes and we knew our lives would never be the same. We met the girls on a Saturday at the CPS office, and we were also able to meet the placement family of the 2 month old. The foster mom of the 2 month old could not speak very much English and required some translation. She asked Lisa if she was a Christian and Lisa said yes. The woman started to cry saying that she had prayed for the children to go to a Christian family. We may not have communicated well verbally, but our communication was from the heart. The girls did not come with very much but we were blessed by unexpected gifts from our friends.
How long have you been involved in foster care/adoption and how has it affected your family?
At the end of 2010 we decided to have a no regrets life and live life to the fullest. This meant to not hold back on the desires of our hearts. One of those desires was to adopt so it was time to step out in faith. We started the foster and adoption journey in 2011. In 3 short years our family has increased by 5 children; ages 11years, 2 months, 2 days, 6 weeks, and 2 days. We have 2 partial sibling groups because we believe it is important to keep siblings together. One of our foster children has some health issues that require many trips to Specialists. We love him and have seen him through many struggles. If he is able to be adopted we will say yes because that is just who we are. Our family is a lively one and at times we experience sibling rivalry, temper tantrums, juggle doctors’ appointments, and kids’ functions. We have a pretty good routine and are very organized which helps things run smoothly.
To what extent has your family embraced this work?
Our family is very passionate about children being placed with forever families. Many children in Foster care have experienced so much loss and heartache and it is our desire for every child to be in a loving Christ centered home. We have also started a Foster/Adoption Ministry at our Church to bring awareness to the need for families to open up their hearts and their homes to the many children in Foster Care. We have been asked to speak at PSMAPP classes and usually bring 1 or 2 of our children with us. Our oldest adoptive daughter wants people to realize from a child’s perspective what life is like in foster care and how important it is to have her sister with her and a forever family that she feels safe with.
You’re constantly giving of yourself, to whom do you look for inspiration?
Our faith in the Lord is very strong. Before we even started this journey we prayed for God to bring the children He desired to place in our home. We also prayed for the children because we knew that their lives were not easy ones. When we started this journey we never imagined our family this size and we truly feel we will be blessed with more siblings/children in the near future.
Describe your first adoption experience?
After we received the girls the months passed, court dates occurred, parental rights were finally severed, and we adopted the girls on October 31, 2012. The adoption day was filled with tears of joy. Since this date we have also adopted our son and we are in the process of adopting his sister. Our Licensing Specialist has come to many of the children’s court hearings and is always present to offer love and support on Adoption Day. Another plus about adopting children from the foster system in the Arizona is that all of our adoptions have been free.
What one thing would you like prospective families to know about fostering/adopting?
One thing we would like to share with prospective families is to be very honest with your Licensing Agency. Your Licensing Agency needs to know your family dynamics to best match you with a child to have a positive experience for everyone involved. Agape Agency was very good at listening to the desires of our hearts, meeting our family, and reviewing our application to know which children would be a good match for us. It is also important to have family discussions so everyone is in agreement with fostering and adoption. We were very open with our two biological girls during this process so that we could prepare them as much as possible for the children that would be entering our lives. We discussed things such as what feelings they may be experiencing, whether they be good or bad, especially after the honeymoon period was over. We also would recommend family meetings to openly discuss what is going well and what things need to be worked on. Open communication is very important.
