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
The outpouring of love and support we received from my awesome Sisters in Christ has been AMAZING! The very next morning, after the girls were placed in our home, I began receiving phone calls, text messages, and FB messages from my beautiful friends, offering to do whatever they could to help. It was an amazing and beautiful picture of The Church rising up and responding just as God intends. I saw The Church in action it was and continues to be a huge blessing. God does not leave us alone in what He calls us to do, we have experienced that first hand.
Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life Psalm 54:4
As I look back over the last 10 days I can see God's hand over every single minute. It worked out perfectly despite the fact that I had to travel out of town the very next day after our placement. I left my awesome husband home with our 20 month old, Joshua and our new sweet little "E", the baby. The older little "J" would come with me and my precious friend and colleague, Teri to the Together for Adoption Conference. It is there that people poured into her, it could not have been more perfect. They spoke truth into her little life, and she has wonderful memories of many "firsts". Most importantly she learned from my awesome Sisters in Christ, that she is loved, special, and beautiful and most importantly she is loved by her Heavenly Father. It was a beautiful picture of God's love being poured out on little "J". I have been blessed to walk alongside beautiful women of God. I am humbled by each one of them and honored to call them friends.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. Psalm 139:14
The flurry of activity is finally dying down. All required appointments and meetings are now complete. Fall break is coming to a close and we will settle into a routine with our new family. We don't know how long we get to love on these little girls....but we know that God is with us every step of the way. There is one goal and that is reunification, because that is where they belong, with their Mommy and Daddy. As I look ahead and wonder what all of this will look like in three or four months I wonder where my heart will be the day we say good-bye. I can't think ahead that far...instead I rest in Him, knowing that anything that comes to me passes through my Father's hands first. He already knows the ending....and does what is best for us, so we will do what we are called to do, no matter what that looks like. We trust in Him every single day, knowing He is right there with us in the happiness and the sadness that is this journey of foster care.
Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Psalm 34:8
Blessings,
Roberta
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