Last Friday, March 18, I received a call from the director of our agency that Heath and I are officially licensed foster parents. As you read in my last post about our journey, we were wavering in our decision on if this was the path we were/are supposed to go down. We came to the conclusion that we will keep moving forward until the Lord shuts the door.
So with some reluctance, I turned in our final paper and literally got a phone call 20 MINUTES later telling us we are licensed. Yes, it happened that fast!
As it would be, 72 hours later we received our first phone call from our caseworker asking us if we would be interested in doing Respite Care for a 2 month old for 4 days.
In my head I was laughing, thinking that's nice of them to ask but we will probably need to pass. I'm not sure why I was thinking that was so ridiculous of a thought to bring an itty bitty baby into our home for a few days. After all, isn't that what we signed up to do by spending the past 9 months of turning in paperwork? Isn't that why we have spent hours in trainings?
I told the caseworker I would call my husband and we would give her a call back in a few hrs with an answer. I didn't even call Heath because I knew he was going to say no. I just texted him this "Just got a call for respite care of a 2 mth old for 4 days. Ha!" His text back to me was "If you think we can".
Wait what?
So after a few hours of pondering this, I called the case worker back and told her yes and then got very, very excited!
Sweet baby D was with us from Saturday thru last night (Tuesday). Here are some things I learned from these past 4 days:
1. Baby D is the most precious, sweetest baby ever.
2. It is possible to fall in love with a little one in just a few days.
3. The foster system is not near as scary as I thought it would be.
4. Foster babies are normal babies.
5. I actually remembered how to take care of a newborn!
6. It was VERY difficult to say goodbye to her.
I think the Lord knew I needed these 4 days to clear up a lot of fears and misconceptions I had about the foster system and foster children. I'm still not 100% at peace or confident about us going down this path. There are still a lot of fears and questions I have, but this experience could not have been any better.
"Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before." Joshua 3:4 God knows this path is scary for us because it is uncharted territory for us. We've never walked this way before, but He will show us which way to go!
Please pray for Baby D! She is actually transitioning back to some blood relatives in a couple of weeks. Her AMAZING foster parents, who ministered to me so much these last few days, were hoping to adopt her. I am desperately praying that Baby D will be abundantly protected and comforted and have a peaceful transition.
Love her so!
12 comments:
crying tears.... down my face. at work.
love you friend!
I know she was so blessed to be in your care for 4 days. Praying for everyone involved. Love you!
I've been reading your blog since Kelly's Korner. I loved this post. I had my doubts lately if we were supposed to foster although I had clearly heard God's calling. I loved how you described Joshua 3:4. I hope you don't mind, but I want to put it on my blog. I usually leave it closed, but I have it open for a little just so you can read it if you would like. If you decide that you want to keep reading it just comment on a post with your email and I can send you a password.
Janelle, what a journey y'all are on. Know that you are covered in prayer by many! We won't stop! Thank you for being obedient even when it's scary.
Girl, fostering is CRAZY SCARY!!! If you weren't scared you wouldn't be normal. ;) God will honor your obedience to follow Him even when it's hard and the future is uncertain. It does my heart good to know this first experience was a good one for y'all.
love you so much! what a sweet post. Baby D was so blessed to have you care for her for those days.
We are at the end of the licensing process and there have been a few times I have thought "What in the world are we doing?!" and everytime God reaffirms the call He placed on us to foster. It may be one child, it may be 100, it may cause us more heartache than joy, it may be we add a permanent addition to our family, or we may never see the children again. So many unknowns!
We don't know anyone else going through this process. I am thankful through the internet to hear from and about other foster families.
What a blessing for you both that you said yes! :)
Wow. No words.
Awesome!
what a joy!!
God is so faithful in confirming His call for us.
I love that He ministered to you through this sweet little baby
I will be praying for baby D and as always lifting up you and your sweet family!
Much love
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