Our latest adoption update – are we fostering or what?

So many of you sweet blog followers email me and ask about our adoption journey. The fact that total strangers even care about our adoption journey just blesses my socks off.  Thank you.

Well, we continue to just take this longgggggggggggggg process one day at a time. We started this adoption journey 2 years ago next month. Who would have thought we would still be waiting?

A few months ago, we were very interested in a 2 year old girl that was in respite care and the mother was wanting to have her adopted because of her own health problems.  It seemed like a perfect situation for us. They were asking for apen adoption with the biological mother (which is our heart’s desire) and it was reasonably close to home.  It was an emotional roller coaster for several weeks as we saw pictures of the little girl, opened our hearts to the situation…..and then found out the biological mother appeared to be scamming the agency. Ug.

So, that door is, for now…. closed.

And moving right along…..

My husband and I finished our 9 weeks of STARS training last week.  It’s the required training to make you into “professional parents” as our instructor puts it. Ha! As if there is such a thing.

I was sooooooo  dreading the class. I was dreading the topics discussed in the class.  I was dreading the whole thing. But it wasn’t bad at all. My mother, who deserves some crown of glory, and my stepfather watched our children on Tuesday nights for 9 weeks straight. This act of service may not seem like alot to you…….unless you’ve babysat my Ava…..need I say more?

So every Tuesday night for 9 weeks I have got to ride a half hour away from home with my husband (can you say “uninterrupted car time”???).  We got to learn a lot, then drive another 1/2 hour home.  It was almost like a date night, according to my friend Shauna, but in a twisted foster-care-training sort of way.

I was complaining to the Lord at the beginning of our 9 weeks that if THIS was not the path He has for us to “please Lord….don’t waste our time with making us take the foster care classes”.  I was completely convicted when I heard the Lord gently tell me, in the way that only He can….that learning is NEVER a waste of time and we are surrounded by hurting, broken, angry children every day.  We just need to look on our own block, in our own neighborhood….and love on those kids.  They may not be “in the system”, but there are kids everywhere who are broken, angry, confused….and the classes really delved into why kids act the way they do. 

I, in my own arrogance and naivety, would have thought that with 3 biological kiddos….I would understand kids. But, I understand HEALTHY kids. I understand kids who have HEALTHY parents.  The class really opened our eyes to a world that we know very little about. And for that….I am grateful.  It was NOT a waste of time.

And so, as we finished week 9 last week….I was almost sad it’s was over.

We’ve had another home study from the social worker. She hasn’t been writing ferociously in red ink….so I think we are good on that end.

We have a few things to tie up like another round of fingerprinting (don’t get me started on why—basically they can’t use the private agencies prints or results. The state needs their own set of prints!) and putting together an “emergency bag”.

And then we wait until November when we can take our 12 hours of SPALDING training. This is the portion of training that will allow us to adopt from the foster care system.

And then we just wait.

And we pray.

And then we pray some more.

And I will need to make time to remind myself that I can trust Him.  He loves my bio kids even more than I do.  He sees the beginning from the end.  He sees my imperfect family and loves us anyway.  He knows I am a weak woman, but He promises to give me strength thru whatever He asks us to do.

We’ve cast our nets before the Lord and told Him we are AVAILABLE (thank you Pastor Curt for that great message a few weeks ago).  We really cannot do much else.

We could still get a call from our private agency to adopt a newborn (just last month we had 2 more birthmoms look at our profile).

We could be asked to foster a child (did I mention I am terrified?).

We could be asked to adopt a child from foster care.

I have no idea how this is going to work out.  But the Lord does. He has prepared our hearts and we trust Him.

Thank you for standing with us in prayer.