“A moving insight into the lives of foster and adoptive parents, Simply Dedicated, offers a first-hand lived-experience viewpoint of the daily lives of parents striving to do their very best for children in their care.” Tracy Loken Weber

Tracy Loken Weber was already known for her work in the K-12 and adult literacy fields as a pioneer in transformational education through technology, collaboration, training, and reaching vulnerable populations. But it was when Tracy and her husband embarked on the journey to create a forever family that the true personal transformation began. As the road to become foster and later adoptive parents came into view, Loken Weber was called to use her voice to highlight the changes needed for true systems change within the foster care, mental health, and educational systems.

Loken Weber invited fellow foster and adoptive families from around the United States to share their stories in Simply Dedicated. These devotionals and lived-experiences provide an inside look into a day-in-the-life of a foster or adoptive family. From struggles to triumphs, true hope, faith, and love, these stories demonstrate the tremendous power of building trust and relationships that create the foundation for individual healing. Ultimately, Simply Dedicated offers powerful and emotional insight to working with children and their families through their healing journey. Each devotional encourages the reader to take a deeper look at their lived-experiences through reflection and prayer.

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Simply Dedicated is a must-read. It empowers the reader, warms the soul, lifts your spirits, and motivates you to be the change that is so needed in the world today.

Amy

MEET THE AUTHORS

Foster and adoptive parents are my superheroes! As an educator and a close friend of a foster and adoptive parent, Simply Dedicated is an extremely powerful collaboration of lived-experiences, providing a raw and emotional insight to the daily struggles and triumphs that often go unseen.

Simply Dedicated is a must read for anyone working with children who have faced challenges, especially viewing life from the lens of a foster/adoptive transracial family. I highly recommend adding Simply Dedicated to your book-club must-read list as it will provide further insight to all faith-based and first responder professionals including school administrators and educational professional development teams working to support children and their parents.

Simply Dedicated tugs at your heart strings, provides an inside view of what life is really like and will leave you inspired to help be the change. 

Traci Vaughn, M.Ed. Professional Educator

An Afternoon With Tracy Loken Weber

Praise for Simply Dedicated

These stories of personal triumph, joy, challenge and trauma reflect the challenges and joys in the journey of adoptive parents. Each day leaves a parent with more questions than the day before, but also more love and gratitude. Sharing the journey with others through heartfelt stories in Simply Dedicated is a needed tribute to those who’ve chosen to love so deeply, it hurts sometimes. 

Danielle Bosanec, PhD

“I appreciate the layout of Simply Dedicated. Each section is a tiny piece of humanity served with hope, love, and a prayer for daily peace of mind. Parents who want to feel the community and love behind fostering, God, and life, should invest in this book.”

Madeline Carrera, PhD

“Simply Dedicated is an exceptional collection of real-life stories and experiences from families who have embraced the blessings and challenges of opening their homes and hearts to children from hard places. This collection serves as an excellent resource for parents, caregivers, teachers, ministry workers, and community leaders. Readers get a glimpse of the struggles and triumphs faced by foster and adoptive families. The devotional thought that accompanies each story offers the blessing of spiritual encouragement.”

Pastor Steven Wagenknecht, Abiding Savior Lutheran Church, Weslaco, TX; South Central District WELS Special Ministries Coordinator

For those who ground themselves and their dedication to foster and adoptive children in their Christian faith, this book of reflections accompanied by Bible verses and prayers offers insights into inspiring faith journeys that rely on God’s love for the extreme strength it takes to parent children who have experienced trauma and need an adult to stand by them so they can heal. For some, the new perspectives on the daily tribulations of supporting these challenging yet deserving and ultimately loving children, will bring new strength and healing. With more than 20 years of listening to foster and adoptive parents tell their stories of challenge and triumph in supporting children to wholeness, I can affirm that the reflections in Simply Dedicated ring true and will offer comfort to those in the midst of the journey. I can imagine many keeping this book at bedside to find the strength to carry on the next day and to relish in the joyful times on the horizon. 

Linda Hall, Director, Wisconsin Office of Children’s Mental Health and the Former Executive Director of the Wisconsin Association of Family and Children's Agencies

This work – a collection of stories, experiences, and philosophies – from and for those who have dedicated their lives to helping the most vulnerable of our children, is both inspirational and practical. We who help these incredible parents navigate just one small part of a much larger ocean of complexities that surround the children in their care, are well-advised to read some of these accounts to be reminded of the 24/7 nature of their work…and their resilient love.
William Seymour, PhD Licensed Psychologist

“ Simply Dedicated is a book that provides transformative insight, words of understanding, and hope for persons immersed in supporting children from hard places.  The authors provide a raw insight to their lived experiences, as each chapter presents a personal narrative, moving reflections, and suggestions for solutions for parents, social service professionals, educators, family, and human services staff, and other individuals who could benefit from learning about the intense and overwhelming life experienced by children of trauma and those who surround them. The reader could turn to a topic that may address their current situation, or read the text as a whole to expand their sensitivity and knowledge of trauma.  These chapters provide hope, focus on an individual’s ability to thrive, and inspire professionals to gain a clearer understanding of home life.  The appreciation for the pervasive and often lifetime influencing impact of trauma events on trauma victims comes alive page-by-page.  For professionals providing instruction and training for beginning and in-service teachers, the combination of authentic scenarios followed by guiding questions, Simply Dedicated offers a powerful resource and tool that can be used to expand the skills and knowledge of beginning to understand children who are coming from hard places and have experienced adverse childhood experiences and trauma. The format of the book is designed to illustrate the overwhelming sense of joy and unique accomplishment felt by individuals who see the sparkle return to a child’s eye or the aha look of a student who “finally gets it”.  While in the same story, the reader also gets a glimpse into the challenging road faced by children, parents, and professionals who form the circle of care around each child coming from hard places.  Each chapter contains reflection questions encouraging dialog between caregivers and service providers. Finally, the insertion of spiritual readings and insights serves as a source of help and hope for the reader.  Simply Dedicated is a page-turner and a must-read by all first responders, pre-service and professional educators, physicians, caregivers, early childhood, and faith-based communities.”
Kathryn Smith, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota-Bemidji

“For those who ground themselves and their dedication to foster and adoptive children in their Christian faith, this book of reflections accompanied by Bible verses and prayers offers insights into inspiring faith journeys that rely on God’s love for the extreme strength it takes to parent children who have experienced trauma and need an adult to stand by them so they can heal.  For some, the new perspectives on the daily tribulations of supporting these challenging, yet deserving and ultimately loving children, will bring new strength and healing.  With more than 20 years of listening to foster and adoptive parents tell their stories of challenge and triumph in supporting children to wholeness, I can affirm that the reflections in Simply Dedicated ring true and will offer comfort to those in the midst of the journey.  I can imagine many keeping this book at their bedside to find the strength to carry on the next day and to relish in the joyful times on the horizon.”
Linda Hall, Former Executive Director of the Wisconsin Association of Family and Children's Agencies

“Simply Dedicated is one of those books that should be required for future social workers, child, and family therapists, and other mental health professionals.  This book is amazing at giving you a real, honest, and personal glimpse into the lives of the families and children that we often only get a short assessment or rough draft of their lives. Simply Dedicated dives deeper into their lives, giving you an unedited, real, and emotional look into the whole child and family system that these parents try to navigate.  As a mental health therapist, I often enter clients’ lives with the perspective of: “How can I meet them where they are at?” And “What impact am I going to have on their life because my experiences will shape my therapeutic experience with them.”  This book leaves an impact on your heart and how you view the parents, kids, and family system as it relates to your role and impact in their lives. Even if for a moment, you can leave a lasting impression!  God calls on us in ways that we may not know how or why we are called, but we are chosen and we have a huge purpose.  We often do not realize the impact we make on the lives of the families we interact with, but we do leave a lasting impression on their lives.  Simply Dedicated is more than a book about experiences, it is a glimpse into the lives of families who are strong, parents who are determined to provide for their children, and children who are resilient and have unimaginable strength to overcome the adversity they face from a system that doesn’t fully understand their needs and ways to support them.”

Latoyia Webb, ICT Child, and Family Therapist,

“I just LOVE Simply Dedicated! Authentic testimonials are so effective!”

Pattie Godsell, Wisconsin Adoption & Permanency Support Program