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!!!