Cindy Stirling’s life has always revolved around kids. The eldest of six, she grew up looking after her younger siblings. After high school, she enrolled in Seneca to begin training for a career as a cop—she figured it would be a good way to protect children—but she dropped out after a year to take a more direct approach as a residential counsellor with Community Living, a non-profit for people with disabilities. In 1985, she met her future husband, Ross. He, too, had abandoned one profession (he was in insurance) in favour of a kid-oriented career, working at a centre for youth with mental-health problems in Oshawa. Stirling would pick him up from work before dates, chatting with the teens while she waited. Soon after, she enrolled in family and rehabilitative work programs at Humber and George Brown, and began a new career in social work.

The Stirlings married in 1986. For them, the decision to foster was obvious. Through their work, they’d seen how many kids needed loving parents, and what happened when kids didn’t have them: they might get into drugs, drop out of school, end up on the streets, end up in prison, end up someplace worse. Caring for kids was part of their identity, more than any nine-to-five would ever be. They were good at it, and it made them feel good, too.

For a year, the Stirlings ran and lived in a receiving assessment home, where kids would stay while children’s aid societies decided where they should be placed. Most kids were only there for months or weeks, and as soon as Cindy and Ross formed bonds with them, they’d be gone—reunited with their biological families or placed in foster homes. It was a painful cycle, like ripping the scab off a wound just as it began to heal. Cindy and Ross wanted to make a long-term commitment, so they applied to become official foster parents. The process was a months-long ordeal: probing questions about their personal lives and habits, home inspections, reference calls, and criminal and medical background checks.

Asking for prayer for my brother suffering with stage 4 cancer. Dear Lord give him relief from the pain he has most of the time on his chest. Help him with the side effects of the medication and to try to eat meals. Trusting in God always. Thank you to all who lift up my request in prayer