- November 23, 2024
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Lindsey Bryant has a passion for kids — and not just her own. Over the last three years, she has fostered eight children, one of whom she’s currently in the process of adopting.
“The need is there,” she said about fostering. “It’s a calling. I know it’s a calling on my end. Just making the impact and the change, even if it’s temporary.”
It’s a full house for Bryant and her boyfriend, Brad Thomas, who live in a six-bedroom home in Palm Coast with seven kids — ranging in age from 9 months to 17 years — and two adults, currently. They’re able to foster four children at a time.
Bryant’s two biological children, Timothy and Sydney McCue, have learned to embrace their mother’s passion for fostering children.
“It’s so chaotic,” Sydney, 14, said. “It gets tough, but if you think about what good it’s doing for them, then it’s all worth it. ... Once you grow bonds with them, it’s a lot easier.”
Thomas, Bryant and Sydney and Timothy McCue will soon be taking their first mission trip together. From July 22 to July 29, they will be working with orphans in Anchorage, Alaska, where they’ll build relationships with them through arts and crafts, alongside Graceworks Alaska, an organization that facilitates mission trips to unchurched areas.
“I’m really excited,” Timothy McCue, 17, said. “This is my first mission trip. I’ve heard a lot of really good things about mission trips, and I’m excited to help the kids as much as I can and talk to them about Jesus and everything.”
In an effort to meet locals and spread the news of their upcoming mission trip, Bryant, Thomas and six of their seven children attended the farmer’s market at European Village on Sunday, July 1. The kids passed out flyers detailing the family’s trip and invited people to support them financially and through prayer. Bryant said it costs $1,500 for each of the four going on the trip.
Thomas said that while he never pictured fostering so many children, Bryant’s passion for it has made it an easy lifestyle transition.
“I’ve always loved kids and loved being around kids,” Thomas said. “If I left it up to (Bryant), she’d have 100 kids in the house, so I have to be more of the voice of reason and say we should take on these many, we should take on this particular child. So, it’s good. We’ve had a lot of people who have supported us through this whole process.”
Sydney said she’s learned from how her mother shows generosity to others.
“Just be patient with the process,” Sydney said. “It’s all worth it. Be selfless.”
Bryant hopes her family’s story will inspire others to foster children.
“People’s biggest thing is ‘I can’t foster because I wouldn’t want to give them back,’ or ‘It would be so hard because you’d get attached, and then you wouldn’t have them anymore in your life,’” Bryant said. “The biggest thing is you’re giving that child at least that month or that two months or that year, a time that they don’t have to be in something that they weren’t supposed to be in. You can at least give them that safe and stable environment for the short amount of time or the long amount of time that is needed. That’s what keeps me going: is to be able to reunify (the children) back to a mom or a dad or a grandma or grandpa.”
