Conversation - with Meredith Priset - GRACE6:8 & the Heart of Foster Care

Welcome to the Church of the Lakes podcast, where our mission is connecting all to Christ to become healthy in God and courageous in love.

In 2026, we're emphasizing a kingdom mindset in all of our ministries and missions by being more like Jesus and countercultural in our living.

Today's podcast highlights one of our many foster care ministries at Church of the Lakes, Grade 68.

Let's join Pastor Robbie as he interviews one of the licensed foster care givers at Church of the Lakes, Meredith Priestett, who is Pastor Jared Priestett's wife.

Be blessed.

Hey everybody, welcome to Kingdom Conversations here at Church of the Lakes.

Today we have a special guest, Meredith Priestett.

Meredith has been gracious enough to come on and help us explore Graystix Day, one of our foster care ministries here at Church of the Lakes.

Now, Graystic State, if you're unfamiliar with it, is the umbrella ministry under which all of Church of the Lakes' foster ministries take place.

And over the past 18 months, Gracetix 8 has begun to really support foster families in our congregation through the launch of care communities.

What is a care community?

Why does this matter?

Well, we're going to explore all this today with Meredith.

Oh, and by the way, Meredith is our lead pastor's better half, emphasis on better.

So without further ado, welcome in Meredith.

How are you?

I'm good.

How are you?

I'm doing great.

Thanks for coming on today.

Um, I'm super excited to focus on our foster care ministries at Church of Lakes, as you well know, because you're so intimately evolved, uh involved with it, that foster care is something really at the heart of what Church of Lakes does with ministries.

Um, but I'm so curious, uh, you know, I how long have you been fostering Meredith and really what was the pathway for you and Jared to becoming foster parents?

Um, so we have been fostering now for I think about four and a half years.

Oh wow.

Um we started in 2021, I think.

Yeah.

Um, and so we actually like early on in our marriage talked about like one day fostering.

Um, we kind of had this idea in our head of doing it, like um, through the years, and it was just never really like the right time.

Um, you know, you get busy with life and things, and it never seems like a good time to start something like big like that.

But um it was during COVID, actually.

Jared came home one day.

I think he had been to some kind of meeting or something where there had been a prayer request with the like overloaded county system.

There's like so many kids needing homes, and he came home and he said, I just really feel called, like it's time, we just gotta start.

And I remember feeling a little overwhelmed because you know he tends to be the gas and I tend to be the brakes of the relationship, but you need both to function well.

Um but we went ahead and started the training, and um yeah, so we got licensed in October of 2021.

Okay, so like uh that seems like a fairly quick process, all things considered.

What what is the process like to go through, especially here in Stark County?

Yeah, so you um kind of get started um by go they usually have some kind of informational meeting for people who are interested.

Okay.

Um they have a set of training you have to go through.

I think it's like 30 hours or 40 hours of training, I can't remember which, but you have to do all this training.

Um, there's background checks, of course, you submit tons of financial documents, things like that to show like you can actually do this, you're in a place to do it.

Um, you have to write out your autobiography, fingerprints, all that good stuff.

Um and then once you've completed all the steps, you have to have a home study, uh, fire department has to come out, make sure the house is safe, things like that.

Um, then you eventually um get your license and then you're good to go, and they'll you know give you a call.

What's so interesting to me is that like all those steps in order to become a foster parent, none of those have to do once you have a placement, though, right?

Was there any transition in the amount of time when you first had a placement where you had someone actually in your home where the county was coming in and evaluating or supporting in that way?

Like once you have a child in your home.

Yeah.

So when you're placed with a child, um they're assigned a case worker for them, and then you also have a family resource worker.

And once a month you have to have your family resource worker come out and meet with you.

They kind of basically are there to make sure you're doing what you're supposed to do and also make sure you're being supported as a foster parent.

And then the case worker is assigned to the child.

Oh, okay.

And so they also have to come once a month and um, you know, check on the child, see them, make sure they're doing well, see what they need, things like that.

Um, and then also you can be appointed um a guardian adlitum or a CASA, which is with the court system more, and it's usually like an advocate for the child in court, and that's like a third person that might be coming out monthly.

Um, so I mean it can end up being quite a lot of people coming in and out of the house and checking on things.

Oh, absolutely.

But but I'm hearing you say it's a little bit of like a mix of accountability and it's a little bit of a mix of support.

Would you say it's 50-50 support accountability?

Is it like, does it shift one way or the other?

Um I feel like it's kind of depending on the time.

I don't know, it's hard.

Sometimes they're like super quick, sometimes it's long.

It kind of depends.

I mean, I wouldn't, I mean, yeah, I would say some you feel supported in some ways, in other ways, you know, it's just feels like you're just you know checking in, seeing what's needed.

Um, yeah, maybe about 50-50, I guess.

I just I'm just I I imagine that uh the caseworkers especially have got multiple cases where they could be overloaded if the system is overloaded with kids so much so that people are bringing it to the attention for prayer, yeah.

Obviously, there's there's an avenue where those caseworkers are also overloaded.

Um you know, uh as you said, uh Jared's the gas and you're the brakes, but I'm sure there were a lot of joys in those moments, uh not only just through the training process, but then when you first got your placement.

What are what are some of the specific joys you had through fostering?

Um, so I always kind of think to myself that the biggest joy of fostering is actually the kids themselves, getting to know them.

Yeah.

Um a lot of them are all of them are just like just regular kids.

And and it's I mean, there's so many now that I know that I'm like I'm so thankful that I got to know this person and that person's now my life.

Some of them I've been able to keep in touch with, others not so much, but it's really cool to like um, for example, there's uh one that we had or two that we've been like invited to birthday parties since or things like that.

Even after, yeah, like they're with someone else now, they're in a their permanent place, but like we still get to be involved.

Um, we get to stop by, like maybe pick them up, take them to ice cream, or um, I've gotten to have them come to camp and have them spend the night before camp and drop them off.

And so just to be, it's such a privilege to be see them like growing up and healthy, and that's really cool.

Oh, that is so Meredith, that makes me so excited, only from the standpoint of like these kids need advocates and they need, you know, just to be kids.

And it's so awesome that you guys, even after they've moved on into another situation, uh um, that you have the opportunity still to be connected to them like that.

But I'm sure there was a lot of heartache and regrets through this process too, especially early on.

Like fostering has to be one of the most overwhelming processes, like the biggest life change for any person is going from being not a parent to a parent.

Yeah.

And then you guys did that three times biologically, and then fostering on top of that, like I just like I'm going gray just thinking about it, right?

Yeah, I know.

Yeah, it came.

I mean, I it is overwhelming.

And I do feel like I remember when we got our first placement, I felt like I wanted to do it and I was glad to be doing it, but in like I had that feeling that even in just the pit of my stomach, I felt like this just ball of anxiety and like stress.

Um, it's hard to just have two people you've never met before, or three, or one, or however many, just suddenly part of your family, you the dynamics are different, you're trying to figure out the new normal, um, all the things that are needed.

Maybe you're not sleeping well because they're not sleeping well.

There's just a lot, and it can feel very overwhelming.

And then, you know, for us, everyone's in a different situation, but for us, you know, we do have three biological kids too.

So then you're also trying to navigate like personality conflicts and making sure, yeah, making sure that your biological kids are like feeling seen and spending time with them and not feeling like you're ignoring them and but also giving the same attention to everybody, and it can just it can be pretty overwhelming at times.

Well, and I'm sure the balance, uh, you know, I don't ever want to make it seem like it was quote unquote upsetting the balance, but certainly it took some juggling.

Yeah.

Right.

And like what what what are some of the things like inside the house, maybe uh through the school systems, things that you you know, as uh um regular parents may who may not be familiar with fostering, the things that just come innately, what are some of the things that maybe were a surprise that you had to figure out figure out how to make ends meet with foster kids?

I think um it for us, we have always had um school age kids.

So a big thing for me has been time management with like you know, working full-time and then we, you know, maybe they're all like wanting to be in a sport or in an activity or something, and you want to give them that opportunity, but it's you know challenging to get everybody where they need to be and also be like two places at once.

Um Meredith the taxi driver, right?

Basically, um that was uh challenging.

Um, also, I think I mean we had a situation where we had one child that was placed in the same class at school with another one of our kids, and looking back that I would you know would not have done that.

That was ended up being really difficult for I think both of them because they were then together all day long every day.

Oh wow, I didn't even consider that.

Yeah, but if you you uh everyone needs a break a little bit, right?

Right, and that was space.

Yeah, so navigating like even so when you talk about school, like navigating, you know, relationships and getting space and also having boundaries and all that good stuff is something to figure out for sure.

Did you feel like Meredith you had to sacrifice to make this happen?

Yes, I feel like um I heard a quote that I've always stuck with for this.

Um, and it's it's good to teach your kids to sacrifice for others, but you have to be careful not to sacrifice your kids.

And I've always kind of gone back to that when I'm trying to make decisions.

But yeah, I mean, I'm and I I have felt like we've made a sacrifice and the my you know kids have as well.

But at the same time, I feel like it was a good sacrifice.

I'm glad that we have made it.

I think it I think it's a worthy one.

Oh absolutely.

You have to have wisdom, I think, in knowing when is a good time to say yes and when's a good time to say no.

Yeah, your uh your husband always says, Jared always says, he's like, we're here to break cycles of dysfunction.

So because so often in the foster care system, it's just an endless cycle.

Yeah, it was mom was in foster care, the kids are in foster care, and if there's anything we can do to support them so that we can break the cycle of dysfunction, we're called to do that.

And you guys are obviously stepping in and bridging that gap and trying to break cycles of dysfunction.

But Meredith, you can't have done this all alone either.

I mean, I just heard you say that trying to get four kids from one activity to the other, it's just not possible.

Uh can you tell me about some of the support that you received early on and what that looked like when you first started fostering?

Yeah, so I would say early on, like really early on, I I didn't really know many other people doing it.

I was kind of on my own, I felt.

Like I didn't have a lot of people.

You didn't even like even in the training class.

How big was the training class?

I mean, I did meet people there, but they didn't, they weren't like people I were in my c community.

Do you know what I mean?

Like I they were like people, like maybe I met a couple from Alliance, they were awesome, but like I don't live in the same town.

And so we would text.

That was helpful.

It was helpful texting people that I've met and asking advice and stuff.

But as far as like, and so that was a huge support, I guess, just like relationally, but as far as like practical support, I did feel pretty like I mean, it was kind of overwhelming.

Um, but then um about two years into it, we had a sibling set come live with us.

And um, there was one time I remember where they had come, they had left and they had come back very quickly, like suddenly, right before we went on vacation, and it was like very unexpected.

And like all my coworkers got together and got us a gift card to go out to eat before vacation, and like it was just such a helpful thing.

Um, there were people from church who offered to help do a little bit of driving for like practices or things like that.

And then um a guy that I work with um at where I work, he had offered to help one of the kids go to like a sports camp that summer so that he could be in athlete to try something with athletics.

He got him cleats, he like really helped me out because I didn't know what I was doing, and so all these little things started coming into play of people just like kind of helping me navigate life with like six kids suddenly, and it really made a huge difference.

I'm just like I don't believe in coincidence with Meredith.

I don't either.

Like, did you feel God's wrapping his arms around you in those moments?

I did, absolutely, I did.

That's awesome.

I mean, certainly uh God works through uh other people, uh and I know you agree with that, but it's it's so much fun to see it happen when people are, you know, kind of trying to hold it together, right?

Yeah, for sure.

Um, and and you know, the transition then, Meredith, like that organic support was from people who loved you, who cared you, and uh noticed it, right?

Yeah they took a leap of faith saying, Oh, you know, Meredith is I we need to come and surround her, right?

And I'm Jared's the exact same way.

We need to come around and surround Jared with the love and support he needs.

Um you know, how how has Grace Six Eight then, which is now starting to step up into that role, you know, that whole the whole idea of a care community was birthed kind of around the support system and structure, right?

Some of it's logistics, right?

Mm-hmm.

Huge part of it is, yeah.

I think that it can look different for each family receiving it, but for like for me, for example, um that's a huge part of it.

I there's people in our care community that I reach out to now, like, hey, I have to take so and so to practice this Tuesday, but I have to take my other kid to practice at the same time.

Would you be able to take, you know, and um it's extremely helpful.

And it makes it not only helps me, but it helps the child because then they get to be involved in an extracurricular activity or a sport or something that they might not have the opportunity to do.

And I'm not trying to like clone myself, basically.

Yeah, there's only so much you can do.

Yeah.

Uh and you certainly don't want to deprive one kid over another because you know, we want to give them all the opportunities to do what they want.

Yeah, just have be a normal childhood.

Even if even if we don't know how to kick a soccer ball or do ballet, right.

Right.

Um, you know, uh, but there's gotta be more than just logistical planning for the support.

Like what I heard from your coworkers, like you know, the gift card, yeah, that that was nice monetarily, like sure.

But it was really the gesture of being like, we love and care you.

Like, how have you felt that love and care through Grace 68?

It's not just through car rides and help, right?

Um, yeah, like it's huge.

Um, so the meals are amazing because I and but it's really like the it's not just the meal, but it's the person who's checking in.

What are the kids like?

You know, oh, I made them these special cookies for Valentine's Day or whatever.

You know what I mean?

Like there's like there's definitely thought and care behind it.

Um, there's several people who, you know, check in, like, how can we pray for you this week or this month?

What are the big things going on?

Um, do you need anything for Christmas?

Like they got Jared and I a gift card to go out to eat for like a date or you know, that was really thoughtful.

So it is, you're right.

It's logistics and help with meals and stuff from time to time, but it's also just feeling like there's people who are care who that I can reach out to if I'm in a jam and I really need help or um and just knowing there's people praying for us as well.

Yeah, I it's like there you you're checking all the boxes on the bingo card.

It's logistics, yes, but it's emotional and spiritual help as well.

Yeah.

Um, do you I'm sure you know the answer to this, but like do you see the benefit of the care community as extending the length of your ability to foster?

Yes, absolutely, because I will say right now I feel pretty like stretched about where I can go, but I actually just like messaged our worker and I said, Hey, I think we could be open for one more child because I know that I have a care.

I don't think I would have said that if I didn't have a care community, but I was able to say that because I know I do have a care community.

So like when if we do get called for another child, I know there's people I can reach out to.

Oh, sure.

Like, hey, okay, we got this so and so wants to try, I don't know, swimming or something.

Like, would could we get some help with rides or maybe it's I don't know, just things like that.

There's people I know ready and waiting to help.

So that's awesome.

It absolutely makes a difference with what would you say to someone then who's considering fostering now, now that uh through Grace 6A here at Churchill Lakes, we have an opportunity to surround them with a care community.

What would you say to someone like certainly you're not gonna tell them it's easy, right?

Right, no, it's definitely not easy, and it's definitely but it's I always think like there's a there's some things are a good hard.

You know what I mean?

And it's a good hard, like it's hard, but it's good.

And but I feel like with the care communities, it's doable, and you it's you're not gonna be drowning as much as you might have had you not had that support.

Do you do you ever feel uncomfortable when you're in the fostering system like that?

I I'm just so curious because like we live and like look, you know, it's suburbia.

Everything is about comfort.

Yeah, it's comfort financially, it's comfort and and pleasures, it's comfort and everything, food.

Right.

Um, like certainly you've been stretched probably to an uncomfortable level.

Um you know, fostering does it for all the right reasons, though.

Yeah.

Right.

We see so often in scripture Jesus say that we need to serve the least and the last and the lost.

And I think foster kids unfortunately fall in all three categories, don't they?

Yeah, I mean it's a definitely, I think, a very vulnerable population.

And I think if you care about some of the you know major like social issues, yeah.

Kids in the foster care system pretty much touch on all of those issues.

We're talking like education, poverty, um, I mean, you name it, like health care.

I mean, there's pretty much you're really reaching people that are in need of support and but it's actually walking the walk, right?

You know, so many times when it comes to social justice issues, everyone's really good at talking the talk, but walking the walk and actually stepping in and bridging the gap, right?

Yeah.

Um yeah, I'm so I'm so incredibly grateful for you and many of the foster families within our own congregation that we can help support.

The only other thing I'd left that I want to I want to really focus in and ask you about is um, you know, foster families, not every single one of them has the opportunity or the the want to adopt.

Right.

Um, what does the transition plan look like for a kid that's in foster care?

Because certainly their goal is to, you know, there's emergency.

You just said it, you said earlier, there's emergency placements where kids come and go and then come right back sometimes if it's not right.

Like, what's the ultimate goal of foster care if you're just fostering?

Yeah, so the goal is reunification with our biological family or with I mean, well, if it's safe though.

So, like you're I mean, I did not get into foster care to adopt, you know.

I wanted to be a sort of a bridge or a fill the gap and just be sort of a safe place to land for a child that needed somewhere safe to go while mom and dad or grandma or whoever like did what they needed to do to make a safe h home.

Um, of course, sometimes that doesn't happen, and sometimes there is a need to adopt.

And um I will say I don't think that it should necessarily be something you feel pressured to do if you're not feeling like that's the right choice for your family.

But um I don't think that it's healthy to go into it necessarily with the desire to I mean the goal is to support families and get kids back home safely.

But I do think going into it realistically there are times when that just isn't possible.

Now I know one of our ministry partners that we partner with Hope Ridge um they really do a great job of creating even reunification spaces within that are you know neutral spaces where uh you can certainly bring your foster kid and then the biological parents for visitation.

And the county does that too.

Like there's there's mandatory visits they have usually if if the parents are able and willing to do that.

But it it's it's so fantastic that you're able to help bridge the gap with in mind that this kid is um your responsibility perhaps but it's still someone else's quote unquote child and here we are fostering for that and the parallels run so similar to scripture like the the greatest parallel is Jesus right I mean certainly uh biologically related to Mary right yeah but not Joseph and stepping in and fostering you know Joseph so graciously um committed to that role of an earthly father knowing that it was really Jesus you know the heavenly father that really holds all the cards at play.

Yeah there's there's such a great responsibility and Meredith thank you for doing that and with Jared you know creating a safe space for kids and thanks for helping us flush out a little bit of what Gray 68 does and can do for people and I just want to encourage anyone um who's considering becoming a foster parent that they come and check out Grace 68.

Yeah we have lots of uh I thought I believe we have six care communities that are up and running right now.

I don't actually know but well uh and I know we have seven foster families uh that we currently are working with to help make ends meet through Gray 68.

But if if you're ever interested in talking to someone about how, you know, some more in-depth questions, please get in contact with us here at Church of the Lakes.

We love to connect you and tell you more about why breaking dis uh cycles of dysfunction is so important as we try and do justice and love kindness and walk humbly with our God.

Thank you so much, Meredith and we'll talk to you soon okay thank you.

All right thanks.

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