The idea of fostering had been a calling in Elizabeth Watson’s heart from a young age, as she traveled on mission trips and experienced what it was like to help children in need. Through her professional career as a school counselor, she often made reports of child abuse and neglect to DSS, and wondered how she could be part of the solution and do more, as her heart hurt for these children.
Through conversation and prayer, Elizabeth and her then fiance Rob decided they would like to become foster parents one day after they had biological children and their biological children were older.
Soon after being married, the Watsons took the next step of getting involved with Hope Center for Children in Spartanburg, SC, where they were then living. While they weren’t yet ready to foster, they knew volunteering with supporting a nonprofit organization that helps foster families was a vital part of creating foster success stories.
Then, three years ago, the Watsons moved to Fort Mill, South Carolina when their biological children were 3 years, 2 years, and 6 months old. They also began working closely with another local fostering organization.
The signs it was time to start their fostering journey continued to multiply in the meantime. When their youngest child turned two, the Watsons decided to begin the licensure process with Epworth Children’s Home. While they had initially planned to wait until their biological children were older, they felt God calling them to do short-term/respite care as a bridge, until the time came to do long-term foster care.
Throughout the licensure process, the Watsons kept their decision to foster quiet so they could pray and discuss without outside input clouding their thoughts.
In spite of the many questions swirling around in their minds (How could they realistically take on more? How would their biological children adapt? Would it even be possible to help children in need while still protecting theirs? What would their families think?), the Watsons continued to feel like they were making the right decision for their family as they went through the foster care training.
After one especially emotional video that went into detail about some of the types of trauma children in foster care experience, Rob told Elizabeth, “It’s worth the stress. How could there be anything more important than this?”
By October 2023, the Watsons were fully licensed and shared the news with their family and friends.
They received their first respite call shortly after, which fell through, and then suddenly every call they received after that asked if they could take a long-term foster placement.
Shaken by this, the Watsons began to pray and seek God yet again. Was God calling them to get out of their comfort zone and become long-term foster parents? After three days of fervent prayer, the Watsons felt God’s answer was, “Yes”.
The very next call they received was for their foster son, Oliver (name changed to protect identities), whom they have been caring for ever since.
In the beginning, fostering was very hard. Between setting up therapy and specialist appointments for Oliver’s diagnosis of Down Syndrome, multiple meetings with DSS and Epworth, and the transition from three children to four, being foster parents was time-consuming and overwhelming. Yet, the Watsons soon forgot how hard fostering was early on because it became so worth it for them.
There were many reasons for the Watsons not to become foster parents, but the biggest reason TO do it outweighed all of the downsides – that “God’s heart is to help children in need, so ours should be too.”
The Watsons also had an amazing support team in place that carried, and continues to carry them, through their fostering journey – the Care Community through Good Shepherd Church Charlotte, in collaboration with Fostering the Family. This Care Community has provided the Watsons with weekly meals, babysitting, yard work, and most importantly, wrapped them in prayer and encouragement.
In the Watsons’ own words, “Prayers make a huge difference, as does learning how to ask for help. Ultimately though, if you’re doing the work of The Lord, why would He not give you what you need to do it? Our Fostering the Family Care Community is proof of that. They have been the most encouraging group of people. When times get hard, they are a constant light of Christ for our lives. We can do hard things. And we are able to keep that mentality because we have a group of people holding us in their arms along the way.”