Well, we have received a call about a possible placement! It didn't take long at all. We actually didn't get licensed until the next day after the call. I was on the phone with the lady that did our home study answering a few questions when she informed me that they had a possible placement for us. My heart immediately started racing with excitement. I didn't really think it would happen so fast. Then, the details began to unfold. She said that it was a bit more than what we had decided we would do. We said in our home study that we would be willing to take a sibling group of 2 kids, one being around 2 the other a newborn. Our preference was to start with one to kind of get our feet wet a little. This placement isn't just one baby, it isn't even 2 babies. It is 3 children! She went on to tell me their ages which are 2 1/2, 1 1/2, and 2 weeks old. She gave me some sketchy details of their situation, and I said I would talk to Matt and get back to her.
Here's the crazy part....we've decided to do it!!!!! There's a ton of boring, awesome details between that phone call and our decision, but the bottom line is that Matt and I have an instant family. What are we going to do??? Pray that God will continue to provide for our every need and bless us as we jump headlong into the pool of parenting. I have quite a long list of things that we need. I will be posting it as soon as we know the genders of the children. We would be so thankful if those that love us would come alongside us as we begin this adventure in any way that you can. We are so thankful for our friends and family. That is 100% the reason that we knew we could do this. More details to come......
Monday, November 19, 2007
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Waiting
Why does patience have to be a virtue? I mean, really. I feel like I have learned that lesson quite enough, thank you very much. We went to our final meeting on Tuesday night, expecting to be getting licensed. We should've known better. At least if we ever go through this process again, we'll know what to expect. The girl that completes the paperwork to license us is out of the office the rest of this week, so we will be licensed early next week. It's just a few days, but it feels longer. After all, I've been waiting for this for 20 years.
We did ask at our meeting what the rules are about taking pictures and putting them online. I was hoping to be able to put pictures on here, but we won't be able to. So, you might be seeing a lot of shots of little hands and feet. Those are allowed, I think. I continue to remind myself that while this experience is different from most people who are becoming first-time parents, it's better because it's God's plan for us.
We did ask at our meeting what the rules are about taking pictures and putting them online. I was hoping to be able to put pictures on here, but we won't be able to. So, you might be seeing a lot of shots of little hands and feet. Those are allowed, I think. I continue to remind myself that while this experience is different from most people who are becoming first-time parents, it's better because it's God's plan for us.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Today's the Big Day
Today is a big day for us! We get licensed for foster parenting. Since we are willing to take emergency placements, we could seriously have a baby by the end of the week! It's great how God worked in Matt's heart to bring him to this point. As I mentioned previously, he was pretty dead set on only adopting a "true" orphan. After that initial meeting with CPS, we learned that to do straight adoption would take a long time and we probably wouldn't get a child younger than 2. It was at that point that we decided we would go with the middle ground and do foster care with the intent of adoption. Matt and I saw the extreme need for kids to be in a loving, safe environment. We really felt like that was something we could provide, even if for a short time. There is a chance with foster-to-adopt that a family member will turn up or the parents could get their parental rights restored.
I had this great conversation last March with Matt's youth pastor from high school about us wanting to do foster care. His wife was a social worker for several years before she had kids, so he has an understanding of the system. We were talking about that attitude of, "I just don't think I could handle loving a baby for a while and then give them back." He put into words what I was feeling, but hadn't been able to express to Matt. He said that instead of focusing on our loss and how it affects us, we should be thankful that that child was exposed for any length of time to our love and most importantly to God's love. And people ask us all the time how we are going to handle having babies come and go. That's just not the heart I want to have about it. That's making it about me and what I want. Ultimately, that child is in God's hands and his plans are so much better than mine. I may think that living with us is what is best for a child, but God may KNOW otherwise.
Anyway, I digress from Matt's heart journey. Before we started taking our training classes, we had decided that foster-to-adopt was the direction we were going. Then throughout the classes, we were told story after story about kids who just needed a safe home, even for a short while. So, by the end of our training, Matt was saying, "Let's do regular foster care. If any of those babies come up for adoption, we'll adopt. Until then, we will love every child that comes through this door for every second they are here." It goes beyond that too, as we continue to love and pray for children that move on, even if we never see them again. We know it will be hard. We know our hearts will break. But it's so worth it to be living out what the gospel of Jesus has called us to do!
I had this great conversation last March with Matt's youth pastor from high school about us wanting to do foster care. His wife was a social worker for several years before she had kids, so he has an understanding of the system. We were talking about that attitude of, "I just don't think I could handle loving a baby for a while and then give them back." He put into words what I was feeling, but hadn't been able to express to Matt. He said that instead of focusing on our loss and how it affects us, we should be thankful that that child was exposed for any length of time to our love and most importantly to God's love. And people ask us all the time how we are going to handle having babies come and go. That's just not the heart I want to have about it. That's making it about me and what I want. Ultimately, that child is in God's hands and his plans are so much better than mine. I may think that living with us is what is best for a child, but God may KNOW otherwise.
Anyway, I digress from Matt's heart journey. Before we started taking our training classes, we had decided that foster-to-adopt was the direction we were going. Then throughout the classes, we were told story after story about kids who just needed a safe home, even for a short while. So, by the end of our training, Matt was saying, "Let's do regular foster care. If any of those babies come up for adoption, we'll adopt. Until then, we will love every child that comes through this door for every second they are here." It goes beyond that too, as we continue to love and pray for children that move on, even if we never see them again. We know it will be hard. We know our hearts will break. But it's so worth it to be living out what the gospel of Jesus has called us to do!
Monday, November 5, 2007
Preliminary preparations
Tomorrow we become officially licensed to do foster care. It occurred to us this weekend that this could possibly be our last weekend without a baby to take care of. It's so overwhelming to think about. This is so not the way that I saw myself becoming a parent, but this is what God has for us and that is way better than any plans I have.
Just a little history for those that don't know. I've known since I was like 5 that all I really wanted to do when I was big was to be a mommy. I'm big now and that is still all I want to do. Matt and I decided to start trying to get pregnant two and a half years ago. After about a year of trying, I was ready to start thinking about adoption. Luckily, I have a very level-headed husband who seeks God's plan more than he seeks Rebecca's plan. Wow, the more I write, the more I realize I should've started this blog long ago so I wouldn't have to give so much background. You really can ignore this whole history part. I want to record it for myself more than anything. Anyway, early this year, Matt decided that he was ready to start thinking about adoption. We went to a meeting that Child Protective Services does for prospective foster parents. We went thinking about doing simply straight adoptions, mostly because Matt felt pretty strongly that he wanted to adopt only true orphans. I tried convincing him that kids in the foster care system are the orphans that Jesus talks about just as much as the ones whose parents are dead. It took this meeting to finally convince him. We sat there listening to the incredible statistics of children in the foster care system. It's a horrific thing what drugs have done to our country, but that's a thought for another day.
CPS works with a coalition of about 20 agencies in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex to recruit and train foster parents. It was there that we found out about Covenant Kids, one of these agencies. When we got home that night, we looked up their website and were immediately impressed. Our decision was easy to make. We sent off for more information from CK the next day. We were required to attend 6 different training classes that are scheduled over the course of 2 weeks. Of course, being married to a youth pastor made that impossible. It took us 4 months from that first meeting with CPS to make it to our first training meeting. From there, rather than the normal 2 weeks, it took us 2 months to complete all of the classes. It just gave us more time to prepare as individuals, as a couple, and to prepare the people around us.
Throughout all of the classes, we filled out mountains of paperwork. Once that was complete, we had our home study. Now, 2 weeks after that, we are ready to be licensed. We've set up a crib, bought a stroller/car seat combo, and prepared as much as we know how.
Our plan is to take in a child that is between the age of 0-2. That is all we know. We don't know the sex, the ethnicity, or the exact age. Our hearts desire is to put flesh on our faith by ministering to and loving the orphans of our community. Many children could come through these doors, and that is the point of this blog...to introduce you to them. In the days that follow, I will probably be recording more boring background for my own memory's sake. But hopefully soon I will have a baby to tell you about! I can't wait!!!
Just a little history for those that don't know. I've known since I was like 5 that all I really wanted to do when I was big was to be a mommy. I'm big now and that is still all I want to do. Matt and I decided to start trying to get pregnant two and a half years ago. After about a year of trying, I was ready to start thinking about adoption. Luckily, I have a very level-headed husband who seeks God's plan more than he seeks Rebecca's plan. Wow, the more I write, the more I realize I should've started this blog long ago so I wouldn't have to give so much background. You really can ignore this whole history part. I want to record it for myself more than anything. Anyway, early this year, Matt decided that he was ready to start thinking about adoption. We went to a meeting that Child Protective Services does for prospective foster parents. We went thinking about doing simply straight adoptions, mostly because Matt felt pretty strongly that he wanted to adopt only true orphans. I tried convincing him that kids in the foster care system are the orphans that Jesus talks about just as much as the ones whose parents are dead. It took this meeting to finally convince him. We sat there listening to the incredible statistics of children in the foster care system. It's a horrific thing what drugs have done to our country, but that's a thought for another day.
CPS works with a coalition of about 20 agencies in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex to recruit and train foster parents. It was there that we found out about Covenant Kids, one of these agencies. When we got home that night, we looked up their website and were immediately impressed. Our decision was easy to make. We sent off for more information from CK the next day. We were required to attend 6 different training classes that are scheduled over the course of 2 weeks. Of course, being married to a youth pastor made that impossible. It took us 4 months from that first meeting with CPS to make it to our first training meeting. From there, rather than the normal 2 weeks, it took us 2 months to complete all of the classes. It just gave us more time to prepare as individuals, as a couple, and to prepare the people around us.
Throughout all of the classes, we filled out mountains of paperwork. Once that was complete, we had our home study. Now, 2 weeks after that, we are ready to be licensed. We've set up a crib, bought a stroller/car seat combo, and prepared as much as we know how.
Our plan is to take in a child that is between the age of 0-2. That is all we know. We don't know the sex, the ethnicity, or the exact age. Our hearts desire is to put flesh on our faith by ministering to and loving the orphans of our community. Many children could come through these doors, and that is the point of this blog...to introduce you to them. In the days that follow, I will probably be recording more boring background for my own memory's sake. But hopefully soon I will have a baby to tell you about! I can't wait!!!
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