It has "officially" begun....we received our approval as a state approved foster home on August 23! From that point on we waited....excited every time our home phone rang. The home phone that is required for a state approved foster homes. But it never rang with the caller id...Department of Child Services. We have anxiously waited for our first placement...knowing full well that it was all in God's perfect timing. He would decide when and He would decide exactly who would become part of our family...if just for a little while.
We didn't receive any calls until the last week of September and that week we received THREE calls. Unfortunately, we had to say no to the first two....that proved to be difficult, more difficult than I had anticipated. Immediately thoughts raced through my mind. Were we supposed to say yes and we didn't? Were we more concerned with our comfort than we should be? We both wrestled with our decision knowing we had really good reasons to say no...it didn't fit with our family at all. But knowing that really didn't help us feel better about saying no. Our only desire in this journey is to be obedient, to do what God has called us to do for His children and to provide a safe, loving, Jesus filled home to children who desperately need that in their lives. The question lingered in our minds for days.
One late afternoon while I was at work, that same week, my cell phone rang with that same prefix...and I knew it was DCS once again. That was the call we had been waiting for....the one God had just for us. We know that, because we both said Yes, immediately! There was no anxiety, no question....we could do this placement. A few hours later we would welcome two precious little girls into our home. Our journey into foster care began October 2nd. It has been a whirlwind of activity. It has definitely not been easy the last week and a half. God has had to press on me, once again, that this life is not my own. I gave up the comfort and security of a life lived for me a long time ago. The journey of this new life has been so much better than I could have ever imagined.
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20
