We're doing it!

Road trips are good for something!  I have always been a woman who would LOVE to have her husband bring up her passion in life in conversation rather than me doing it, but never thought it would happen.  Holy cow, did it happen today, totally outta the blue-children!  THANK YOU LORD!  We're doing it, we're in the process of adding ourselves to the Foster Care list in addition to the Adoption Only list we've been on.  We are ready to open our home at a new level and hope to be able to provide the energy and encouragement and shelter from all things physical, mental, emotional and any other need the kids will need when they come into our temporary home.  This step we are taking is going to require some additional training and education so keep us in your prayers as we transition these next few months! 

HE is Working on our Hearts

WOW! What a dream:)  I am so glad that I have put all this in God's hands and been waiting on His timing.  I never would have thought Pedro and I would be SO on the same page...Hip Hip Hooray!  I just keep watching, sitting back wondering when he's going to change his mind, but I think he's really ready.  I just had to lay off "Mommy Mode" and let his desires develop and well fancy that ~ God's been working with him:)  Thank you Lord for what you have done with our relationship, our communication, our conversation, our love, our desires for you, our desires for each other, our satisfaction in life, our goals with you as the Center and now what I have been praying for over several years...what seems to be a collective desire to raise children in your presence and focus on your glory and what you want for them.  Peacefully the conversations of Fostering have crawled back into our conversations on a regular basis and we are certain that is the next step we are supposed to go, so hold on with us as we begin this next roller-coaster ride!

FYI, in case it hasn't been clear until now we have been on the Adoption Only lists, so we will only be contacted if kids are ready for adoption, but our hearts are ready to open earlier and provide a home for kids that may not be available, but still need a loving home for a period.  So we are hoping to meet with the agencies this week about transferring our names over to the Foster lists and pray for God's timing yet again on when the children will come into our home!

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We have an appointment on Monday morning, keep us in your prayers!

In HIS Time

Lord, we're not quite sure what you have in store, but we sure know it's worth the wait...on several different topics right now!  My favorite quote of the week is, "I was thinking, it sure would be fun to have a little rug-rat running around here."  Thank you Lord for what you are doing in our lives right now and what you have waiting for us around the bend!

Helping Hand

I always poke around Craigslist for jobs/gigs to see what's out there and last week I found a listing with the word "Respite Care" in it.  I was curious since this is a very new concept to me that I have learned in my recent exposure to Foster and Adoption.  So I clicked on it, read it, applied for it, interviewed for it and met the precious little boy I'd be working with, got the job and had my first day today!  What a precious time I will have with this family and this boy.  I thought I'd learn a lot, but I'm going to learn more directions than what I expected.  I expected to learn all about this little boy and how to best help him, but I am already learning how to be a Mom as well.  This Mom is SO precious, I don't know if I have ever met another woman who doesn't somewhat raise her voice even a little or show some little bit of annoyance when she has called her son's name about 5 times without a bit of response...WOW...and this is her oldest boy, not the one I'm helping with.  She amazes me!  God had something else in mind for me to learn on this very part time job that I didn't even expect...patience beyond patience:)  I hope I can put that into practice this next week as my nephew comes to spend the week with me!
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Yesterday was another GREAT day with my new little friend!  I am learning sign language and am being forced to catch on fast - it's great and he is so very precious.
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I'm nearing the end of my time with my little friend.  His mom had a baby so she was given extra hours for extra help during that time so my couple months are nearing their end and what an experience it has been!  I hope to continue helping on an as needed basis for this family, they are so caring!

Host Family for Brazillian Student

Well, our first child might not be from a foster environment, but a student exchange program!  Since we figure we'll be waiting for a while, we have put in our application to be a host family for a student starting around February or so...it's only for a few months.  I'll post an update once I know more.

We found out he's arriving August 20th, so we're excited to meet him! Two other families will be hosting him before we get him and we get him during the time he graduates from HS!!! Celebration in June:)  I'm really looking forward to it.

Special Olympics

I volunteered at the Special Olympics a couple weeks ago and it was so fulfilling.  I'm finding ways to fill my void.  I just love seeing people happy and more and more I'm realizing, I just love seeing people who wouldn't have had a chance without love to be happy (i.e. those at the Special Olympics and those in the Foster Care System).  I know this process is going to be long and heartbreaking, but something tells me no matter how sad I am right now that it will be the right decision in the long run.  We could try to adopt from anywhere, but we have made the choice to adopt from the foster system so we can really make a difference.  I've been recording and watching these "Adoption Stories" and I am in tears nearly every case...I don't even watch the international adoption ones, so I only watch the domestic ones or foster system turned adoption cases and I cry every time.  It is so awesome to see those parents become the official forever home for these kids.  I absolutely can't wait until it's me, Lord I'm ready when you are!

I Feel BLAH!

God says WAIT!  That's totally not according to MY timeframe, but I prayed for it to be on God's timeline and I guess now is NOT the time.  So I'm thankful to have some very specific children to pray for now, but it has been confirmed today that they will not be our children.  I love you all and will continue to pray for you for who knows how long.  I felt like you were mine and that I lost you, but I pray you will find wonderful homes to nurture your needs soon.  I love you all.

I waited for the Lord on high...I waited and he heard my cry...

Well, we went to meet with an Adoption Social Worker today to hear about specific circumstances and it was so great to begin a new part of this process of adoption.  We both were able to make it, so that was really great to share.  We just need to pray for the Lord's timing on EVERYTHING.  We're still gathering info, so we'll see how things go!

Let the Rollercoaster begin!

I've been calling this journey a rollercoaster since we started the PRIDE classes because they take you through such great emotional and logical evaluations of what you can handle.  Well, yesterday our Social Worker said "You're about to BEGIN the best rollercoaster ride we've ever been on!"  Those are words I have been eager to hear from a Social Worker because since I last wrote, we have learned of another situation that is available to us.  We are being blessed beyond measure right now to have the call last week about a 2 yr old little boy be followed up with another call about a sibling pair of a 2 yr old little girl AND a newborn!  We meet with the Social Worker next week to get all the details and to begin making any serious decisions toward parenthood!  Please pray with us as I pray for these children and our marriage.  FYI, an immediate praise is that I have been able to use all of this to discuss God with some family members that have never made it easy in the past, please pray God will use this process to show them HE IS RISEN!

Roller Coaster

We received our Foster Certification certificate in early February and since then I've been thinking..."just pray and wait."  So I've been pretty patient knowing that things will happen in your timing, well, I don't know what you have planned, but sheesh!  Last week we received a call from the Placing Social Worker to touch base with us and let us know we were officially in the system.  This was great to hear since we have heard of people who waited years and when they finally looked into it, there was no record of them in the system.  UGH!  So she asked me questions about how we want to serve with them and I informed her of our decision for adoption only situations at this point.  She agreed that was a good fit for us at this time and that we would not be hearing from her for a very long time and "she hopes to cross paths with us again."  SO, my heart sank, yet I knew this was as it should be! 

Well, yesterday Pedro got a call from the county asking if he had been contacted about a child or if I had...he responded "NO."  So we're asking more questions, but I am praying for the child to continue to be cared for according to their needs and that whoever is blessed to adopt this child, that they will come to love and hold him/her no matter what the situation is!  I also pray that God will carry me through this because I'm already attached. 

Keep Praying!

I've always known I want a baby, but as my heart is broken, remolded and remade I think about this life as more than just about ME...thanks to my husband who keeps reminding me that the route we are choosing makes IT "about the kids" not about us.  I am so thankful every time he reminds me of this and as I continue to educate myself more and expose myself to more stories and think "about the kids" I can't help but feel led to the older kids who will "term out" and even more so the boys who could be awesome men of Christ in their homes when they get older if only they were given the chance to be loved!  I love you Lord and thank you for putting yet another direction for us to think about "on the table" and if this is the road we follow we are already praying for it.  Thank you for this roller coaster since it will be such a satisfying ride once it comes!

We got our Foster Care LICENSE!

Thank you Lord for getting us this far, we were so excited to get the Foster Care License this morning knowing that this means we are that much closer to adopting!  We want to adopt more than do Foster Care at this point in our life, but from what I understand we will need to be foster parents for six months before being able to begin the adoption process.  We are asking for prayers for the children and the situations they are in leading them to us as well as preparing us for the situations that will arise in front of us.

First Networking Encounter

We got invited to our first get-together for Foster parents and social workers of all types.  It was amazing to see a room filled with people who work full time taking care of the children in San Luis Obispo county AND to think that they split that group in half...it is so sad to know that there are that many children in this county who can give that many people so much work.  I am so thankful for all of them and enjoyed meeting the Foster parents that I was fortunate enough to talk with.  One lady has had about a dozen children and another couple had only just been certified less than a year ago and had fostered their first baby!  It was so fun to hear from both of them:) 

It sounds like our paperwork is on it's way through now, hopefully there won't be anymore hickups along the way!  I continue to pray for our children and the situations they are in and those that will bring them to us.  Lord keep them safe and prepare them for us just as you need to. Amen.