From Foster Care to the Pastorate: Celebrating 10 Years of God’s Faithfulness at TCE
In February 2021, our foster daughter was reunified with her mom. Just a few weeks later, we received a call from our senior pastor that would change everything. He asked us to step into an interim role while the church searched for a new Spanish-speaking pastor for The Crossing en Español.
At the time, we were actively planning to move to Texas in search of more affordable living. We had a realtor in Houston, had toured beautiful homes, and were preparing to take a big leap toward financial stability.
So when we stepped into this temporary role, our mindset was clear: this was short-term.
We interviewed several incredible pastors to fill the role. And yet, with every interview, we were asked the same question:
“Why aren’t you two staying?”
We’d laugh and say, “Oh no, this isn’t for us.”
But the seed had been planted.
Around the same time, something strange kept happening with our Texas home search. Properties that had been sitting on the market for over a year would suddenly go into escrow the moment we made an offer. It didn’t make sense... unless something bigger was at play.
Then came the shift we didn’t see coming.
We sat down with a few of the core volunteers from TCE to hear their stories. They shared the hurt and hardship they had walked through in ministry and how, despite it all, they stayed because they felt God calling them to.
We left that meeting stunned and silent. It was one of those moments you don’t forget.
That Sunday, without planning it, Steve and I both said what had been quietly growing in our hearts:
“I think we’re supposed to stay.”
The rest is history.
And through it all, one truth has become incredibly clear:
God was preparing us for this.
While the details were different, we realized how deeply our experience as foster parents had shaped our approach to pastoring. In foster care, we learned to love children who were walking through invisible pain. We learned not to rush healing or take resistance personally. We learned how to show up with stability, compassion, and grace, even when trust was hard to come by.
And that was the exact posture we needed stepping into a church community navigating its own unspoken wounds. We weren’t coming in to “fix” anyone. We were there to listen, to love, to walk with people as they processed and healed in their own time.
Fast forward to today:
TCE just celebrated 10 years of ministry.
Ten years of God’s faithfulness.
Ten years of lives changed.
Ten years of people finding hope, healing, and purpose in Jesus.
Yesterday, we celebrated that milestone with joy, tacos, laughter, and a deep sense of gratitude. And if that wasn’t enough, we also got to celebrate two major goals we had set as a church:
We set out to raise $130,000 to build a boys home in Cambodia through our partnership with New Hope. Not only did we meet our goal, we exceeded it.
We set a goal to collect 1,000 pairs of shoes for kids in our local community through our “Kicks for Kids” initiative. Again, God moved beyond what we imagined.
Seeing God show up like this is not only incredible, it’s humbling.
We’ve been reminded that He truly does more than we ask or imagine. That His timing is better. That His redirection is never random.
Maybe you’re standing at a crossroads right now too. Maybe a door you wanted closed before you could walk through it, or another opened before you felt ready.
Trust Him.
He’s not random. He’s intentional.
He sees what you don’t, and He’s preparing you, even in quiet seasons, for something you can’t yet imagine.
“The Lord will guide you always…” —Isaiah 58:11
He did for us.
And we believe He’ll continue to guide us for the next 10 years and beyond.
We’re just getting started.
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