Jen Lilley Talks Foster Care: ‘We Have to Plant Firm In Our Faith, and Fight for These Kids’
By Movieguide® Staff
Actress Jen Lilley shares four children with her husband Jason, two of which they adopted out of the foster care system.
However, when they first got married, Jen and Jason said that they agreed not to have children.
“Our journey into foster care is… kind of long. Before we got involved, we had decided we didn’t want to have kids,” Jen said in a video posted to her YouTube channel.
“It was like a revelation, she was in the bathroom getting ready probably for an event. And I said, ‘You know what? I really don’t think I do want to have kids,” Jason added. “She came out of the little walk-in closet, so excited, and was like, ‘Me either!’ It was too easy back then. It was so easy.”
However, their ambitions of a household all to themselves changed after meeting a young girl named Shanae, a transitional age youth.
“God does want you to be blessed, but I think that we have defined what blessing looks like based on what we want blessing to look like,” Jen said.
However, the couple began to realize that their perspective had to shift, and that came after hearing Shanae speak at a luncheon in Los Angeles.
“Here in L.A., we make up 10% of the children in foster care,” Jen said. “Our one city, makes up 10 percent of the children in foster care for the whole nation.”
Jen felt passionately about foster care, and encouraged her husband to attend the luncheon with her.
“Later on in the luncheon, there was this panel of someone in fostercare about to age out,” Jason recalled. “And one question asked was, ‘How has the Church played a role in each of your stories? One girl, named Shanae… Her answer, basically, was, ‘I don’t really see how the Church has stepped into my story.’”
“I felt instantly, ‘If that’s not sin, then, what is?’ I told, Jen, ‘We need to do something,’’ he added.
Shanae would eventually end up in the home of Jen and Jason. But she said that she was scared at first.
“After me sharing at the luncheon, I felt kind of scared. Like, ‘Is somebody really going to be there?’ When Jen and Jason welcomed me into their home, I was scared and nervous and anxious. But I’m telling you, I went to sleep that night anxious, nervous, and scared, and I woke up the next morning, like all that feeling and anxiety went away. And it’s a feeling that I can’t even explain.”
“Like, wait. What?! How does all this stress and, and anxiety goes away in one night? I’m like, this is God… This is God. I can’t explain. No other person could do that, but God,” she continued.
Jen and Jason quickly realized their role and ministry in caring for children in the foster care system. Currently, the couple have four children,Kayden, Jeffrey, Julie, and Jacquelin.
After adopting their first son, Jen and Jason also had two biological daughters and a new passion for helping children find homes and families.
“The Church has retreated. And we have to stand up, plant firm in our faith, and fight back for these kids,” Jen said in the video. “We have to put them behind us and fight for them. When we’re talking about foster care and adoption, there’s so many Bible verses that we like to throw around.”
“So these are not verses that I say like a cliche, or something that belongs on a pillow. But James 1:27 says, ‘Pure and true religion is this, before the Father: taking care of widows and orphans in their distress, and remaining unstained from the world.’ That is our call as a Church. We’re all called to foster care.”
“Not all of us can foster, but all of us are called to do something about foster care.
Their relationship with Shanae has also grown, through the healing power in God, from that first luncheon where they met.
“Shanae has been wonderful. She has stretched me and grown me in amazing ways. She is a joy to host. She is incredible. She has the best laugh of anyone I’ve ever met. She’s funny. She’s practical. She’s wise. She is incredible,” they said.
“A lot of times, we come to God praying, ‘Should I, you know, do this? Should I do this?’ And it’s really easy to miss the fact that everything should be in love. If your motivation is love, I think you have a yes…And that’s all I’m gonna say.”
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
