The decision to foster a child doesn’t come easily.

Sure, the desire may be there, and the perceived calling, but making the transition from thinking about it to actually doing it is no easy feat.

For one woman, the desire to foster a child is something that had been on her heart ever since she can remember.

Autumn Moore, a mother, and wife who lives in Oklahoma, already had a family of her own.

But still, the idea of fostering a child into her family seemed right.

Autumn has a friend from church who works in the foster-care system.

She told her that she was interested in fostering a child and that if she ever found a girl that might be a good match, that she should let her know.

Autumn felt drawn to foster a teenager–something that many potential-foster parents have some hesitancy about.

Even Autumn wasn’t totally sold on the idea… at first.

In a piece she wrote for Love What Matters, Autumn says, “I mentioned I’d always wanted to foster and that my heart was with teenagers, BUT I was hesitant since I still had a younger child at home. At the time, I didn’t know how a teenager would influence my younger child. Side note: this seems to be a very common fear that people have in fostering teens, but I have discovered that teens are just teens. They’re not scary. They’re just older kids who still need unconditional love.”

Eventually, a text came from her friend at church saying that there was a girl that Autumn may be interested in.

The girl’s name was Mara.

Autumn spoke with Mara’s caseworker and felt drawn to foster her.

However, her husband, Josh, wasn’t as sold on the idea as she was.

But the next weekend at church, something spoke to Autumn and her husband.

The pastor played a few clips from the movie “Instant Family” which is a movie all about adoption and fostering.

Autumn burst into tears immediately, right there in the church, and it was then that Josh realized just how strongly his wife felt about this.

He decided that they should start the process of fostering.

Later that week, Autumn drove to the foster-care center to meet Mara for the first time.

They talked in Autumn’s car and she asked Mara to tell her her life story.

Before Mara could even finish, however, Autumn had to stop her to let her know that she had already chosen her to be her daughter.

Just three weeks later, Mara showed up at Autumn’s house with her caseworker and all of her belongings, ready to move in.

It didn’t take long for Mara to become part of the family.

As Autumn puts it, “The dinner table became ‘comedy central’ as she and our other teenage daughter, Kaylee, started cracking jokes just about every night. Our family loves to laugh and can be a bit sarcastic, so Mara fits right in.”

Needless to say, Autumn’s decision to foster Mara was the right one.

She says, “The thought of Mara not being there with us made me sad to even think about. I couldn’t picture our lives without her. And I didn’t want to.”

To follow along with Autumn’s story you can find her on Facebook, Instagram, and also her blog.

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By B.T. Swezey

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B.T. Swezey is a contributor at SBLY Media.