People mean well, but sometimes their words sting:

• “Wow, you’re such a saint.”
• “I could never do what you do.”
• “Do you really think of them as your own?”

What I wish more people understood is:

I’m not a superhero. I’m a man who said yes to something hard.

And that “yes” didn’t make me special — it made me surrendered.

I don’t need a pedestal. I need prayer.

I need a friend who’ll listen without trying to fix.

I need a church that understands trauma and doesn’t ask, “Why doesn’t that kid behave?”

I wish more people saw foster dads not as fill-ins or backups — but as frontline warriors.

Guys who bear emotional burdens silently.

Who carry fear, grief, and hope all at once.

We’re not the stereotype.

We’re not always stoic.

We’re not immune to discouragement.

We’re fathers in the truest sense.

And we’re doing our best, with the help of God, one day at a time.