I saw the name of our social worker pop up on my phone and planned to just wait to see if she left a message, thinking that she was just following up on some piece of information she needed. But even though I was watching a friend's three kids in addition to my own three, I decided to find a somewhat quiet corner and take the call. She said, "I'll start with the good news..." then went on to say that she might have a child for us, and describe his age, race, and a little about his family situation. The "bad" news was that he lived about an hour away, had two other siblings, and a judge was likely to rule twice-weekly visits with his mom and possibly an additional visit with his two younger siblings. The visits alone would be a pretty big time commitment for the kids and myself, may impact our normal schooling routine, and other activities. So now was where the proverbial rubber met the road- what did we sign up for? Do we expect all elements to fit perfectly into our lives, or are we willing to make some sacrifices, to change our schedule, to be a little uncomfortable, to take risks? We were told that the family (or just mom- not sure) were in court right now, and we need to make a decision about whether we would take this older boy by the time the case was finished in case the judge ruled to remove the children from the home. Matt and I talked over the phone, I talked to the kids, and they were ecstatic- they made a banner for him, cleared off the dresser and bed that has been reserved for a foster chid in our home. A couple of hours later, we heard that the decision would be postponed until tomorrow. Matt and I discussed more about how we would work out myself and our oldest daughter still going on a planned trip over the weekend. We wanted to make sure he felt safe and comfortable, but also for the stability and long-term plan of our family, we knew we still needed to have special times with each of the children and other friends/family. Along with that, we had to go about our normal plan the next day, not knowing whether or not we would have to cut out on something to go and pick up this little boy. I was very transparent with the kids about how I was feeling very excited to finally get the chance to put into practice all of the training and paperwork, care for someone in need, and for us to learn more about loving others. I also knew that if we 'got the chance' to care for this child, it meant that he was separated from his parents, and that was heartbreaking too. So the kids and I prayed that God would know what is good and right to do, and that we would be ready to serve when we were called- now or later. I was very thankful to even have the chance to pray for a child specifically by name, to pray for these parents, and learn a little bit more about how things might start off. I got a text around dinner time saying that the judge ruled not to remove the children from the home. Our kids were the most disappointed of all, and we talked out loud to ourselves, as to them, that we are trusting in God's protection and justice to be served, either now or in eternity. So it ended up being a quick 24 hours with a few exciting phone calls and texts, lots of prayer, and reminding ourselves of why we feel God is calling us to fostering.
Next steps:
1. Be ready for another call by confirming that we have some substitute care providers in town that could help us continue a lot of our normally scheduled activities with or without children, and help those that would be most affected, like our homeschool co-op, picture how things might change with the addition of another child.
2. Attend an adoption orientation, to start creating a profile for multiple agencies to be able to refer children to us that might need a permanent home.
3. Keep praying :)
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