Foster Care Here We Come

This is an insanely long story, but here it goes. John and I decided to officially start the process to become foster parents. 

John and I have always wanted to adopt. [That story is really a whole other story which we will get into later.] Last year about this time John and I decided we would spend the year doing research and making a financial plan for international adoption. We said by summer 2014 we would be filling out applications and hopefully have an agency selected and our plan mapped out. Well, as you can imagine, life happens. The events of that summer had nothing to do with any single part of our carefully laid plans. John started a new job, we survived a challenging house hunt and move, I started a new job, we started with a new church. Life really took a left turn on us. By Summer's end we realized little had been done or researched.  I remember heading to the bookstore before a long bus trip back to DFW in August. I grabbed an array of international adoption books. By the end of October dust had settled on the books and we were looking at each other as if to say "we better figure something out stat." We both felt the urge but had little to no information and ultimately no plan.  We started looking at our fiances to see how we were going to come up with $30,000-$50,000. 

My dad had come for a visit and I decided to break the news to him. I told him we were really getting serious about international adoption.  Dad got quiet then asked, "Why not domestic adoption? Why are you so focused on international adoption?" Sadly my response was something like this..... "uhhhhhhh, well ummmm". Yeah. Not really a great reason. So I did what any good wife would do and said, "Hey husband, why international adoption?" John's reasons (which ultimately were the same as mine) can be summed up into 2 things: 
      1. We thought international adoption would make things less tricky with biological parents. 
      2. International families are super cool. For real.
 It didn't take us long to figure out that the Holy Spirit probably didn't move us in that direction, and if it had, it certainly was not for those reasons. So then we asked ourselves the hard question: Why not domestic adoption, specifically older children (toddlers to school age). We prayed a lot and talked constantly. Both of us were really troubled because it felt like we might actually be called to something we had never even considered in the first place. Something that intimidated and scared us. 

John and I started to research foster to adopt. I was reading a friend's incredible blog and she mentioned the Orphan Care Conference she was going to. It took me about 10 seconds to text her and tell her I wanted to go. She was so encouraging and helpful. I registered John and myself and away we drove, all the way over to Tyler, TX. We went to the conference and experienced one of the most intense emotional weekends I have ever had. It was amazing. The conference speakers didn't say anything about fostering and adoption being easy or sell us some bill of goods. It was honest, loving, Christian brothers and sisters who shared their stories with us. The day was a whirlwind of motion and emotion, and totally unforgettable. John and I cried and laughed on our 2 hour car trip home. We decided to each take time to pray and decide what we wanted to do independently. Neither of us of wanted to be responsible for convincing the other of something, so we took the week. Friday night we had a dinner date. I tend to be pushy so I asked John to tell me first because I wanted to make sure I didn't bulldoze his thoughts or feelings with my ideas. We found we both wanted the same thing: to be foster parents. That was at the beginning of February. 

In the last couple of quick weeks, we prayed, did some homework on agencies and DFPS, met with other foster parents who are friends of ours, prayed a bit more, and here we are.  This week we had orientation with Methodist Children's Home and have officially begun the process. We plan on submitting the application this week, sending home pictures next week, making some various home repairs next week, and so on. We met the amazing social worker who will be our case manager and asked her thousands of questions which she patiently and eagerly answered. 

The road is long and full of lots of training, paperwork, interviews, and appointments. Our case manager's goal (and ours) is to be licensed by June. Quite a tall order, but a challenge we couldn't be more excited about. I really cannot think of a better way start our Lenten season. While part of me is completely flabbergasted at the short time it has taken us to get this far, I can honestly say it must be divine intervention, or inspiration at the very least. I cannot think of a choice John and I have ever made this easily and decisively. Something about it just feels like we are in the right place. Now this doesn't mean we aren't terrified. We are, in fact, incredibly nervous and anxious. This is not what we had originally planned for, but as a wise friend once told me, "If you want to see God laugh, make your own plans." 

We hope you will pray for us and with us, and also pray for children we may have in our home one day. I'm not sure we will ever be ready, but we are willing to provide a loving Christian home and we are certain God will honor our efforts.