Being a foster parent is certainly something that has its rewards. It’s not that there are challenges involved as well, but when you foster, it’s like you are constantly allowing love into your life.

Nobody knows the joys of fostering more than Dominique and Kevin Gill. They are foster parents who live in Nashville, Tennessee, and they enjoyed fostering children but they didn’t have any desire to adopt.

One day, a boy named Andrew came into their lives and it changed everything. That was in 2018, and it wasn’t long before they had fallen in love with Andrew, despite the fact that he was hesitant to show love in return.

Andrew had already been in the foster care system for four years before he came to live with the Gills. He was six years old when his biological mother and father lost their parental rights and his other siblings were adopted immediately.

He was 10 years old when he met the Gills and he was angry. Dominique said: “During his first week with us, he sat in his room with the door closed and looked at old pictures. He didn’t want to talk. People would read his file and get scared away. But I knew he was a good child who had experienced a lot of trauma.”

His foster brother broke the ice one day and asked him if he wanted to play video games. The two of them began sharing time together doing things they loved, including eating pop tarts.

After a while, Andrew started coming out of his shell and he grew to love his foster family. There were two adoption attempts that didn’t work out, so the Gills took things to the next level.

They surprised Andrew by wearing matching shirts and asking if he would join their family forever. He said yes! Officially, they became a family in July.

What a beautiful story, and one that really helps us to see the importance of showing love at all times.