Foster care and adoption are beautiful callings—but they're also marked by heartbreak, hope, and holy surrender. In this deeply moving conversation, Elly Marroquin sits down with Dr. Allen & Rhonda Tennison to talk about what it truly means to love children for a season and trust God for their future.

Dr. Tennison, who serves as the Theological Counsel for the Assemblies of God, and his wife Rhonda draw from years of ministry and personal experience as they open up about their journey through respite care, fostering, miscarriage, and failed adoptions—sharing how loss became the doorway to compassion and purpose. They unpack the differences between fostering, fostering to adopt, adoption, the vital role of the local church in supporting families in crisis, and the spiritual and emotional preparation needed to open your home—and heart—to a child.

Whether you're exploring foster care, adoption, or simply want to better support those who do, this episode will remind you that every act of love plants seeds of healing that God will grow in His time.

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TIME STAMPS:

00:00:00 Welcome & Meet Allen & Rhonda

00:03:42 How Loss Opened the Door to Foster Care

00:04:40 Discovering Together for Good and the Power of Respite Care

00:06:40 Fostering vs. Adoption: Understanding the Difference

00:08:46 Why the Church Should Be at the Center of Foster Care

00:13:40 When Adoption Plans Fall Through

00:18:53 Healing After Heartbreak & Finding Hope Again

00:24:40 The Cost of Loving Deeply: "Parenting Is Choosing Heartbreak"

0027:05 Trusting God When You Have to Let Go

00:31:22 Saying Goodbye: The Bittersweet Side of Reunification

00:37:10 Preparing Spiritually and Emotionally to Foster

00:42:43 Partnership in Marriage: Knowing Each Other's Strengths

00:45:53 Preparing with Intentionality & Creating Moments of Connection

00:52:53 The Church's Call to Step Into the Gap

00:54:36 Closing Prayer for Families & Future Foster Parents

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