Monday, July 09, 2012

New Chapter

So I mentioned in this post that we had a secret to share.

Sarah thought maybe it was my sister getting engaged, which is super exciting and I'll write on that later, but not it.

The news is that in a few weeks we will officially be licensed foster parents.

Yikes. I almost threw up just typing that.

To back up:

After we first adopted Tariku, Zach and I started talking about how foster care will happen for us one day. We always kind of thought we'd start it when the kids were older and then we'd be able to do some older children fostering.

But after about a year home with Tomas and Binyam we both realized we still had some room in our hearts for more children. So we thought we'd go to a foster care informational meeting and see what they had to say.

We left feeling like it was definitely doable and that now sounded like a good time. They said at the meeting that we'd start the 10 week classes in a few months and then go from there.

The next day we got a phone call, "Hey we saw on your sheet that you've adopted before so we were hoping you would start classes tomorrow."

The classes were every Tuesday for 3 hours each night, for 10 weeks straight. We needed babysitters and I needed a sub for one of my classes. Obviously without hesitation I responded

Sure!

And as is with most things like this, it ended up working itself out. Only one night did we have to leave early because Tariku fell off his skateboard and wanted to see a doctor (he was fine). Everything else fell into place.

The classes were long and sometimes really painfully boring. Because we had done so much education before our adoptions we knew a lot about what they were discussing.

We were disappointed to find they didn't do any attachment talk and very little education on privacy.

We were pleased to learn more about the birth family relationship and how it pertains to the foster family.

So in the end we will be dually licensed as foster and adoptive parents for a child 0-5yrs old. Any gender. If we are fostering a child who has parental rights terminated and they are a good fit for our family we will choose to proceed with an adoption. If not, we will do our best to love 'em while we got 'em.

If we get a placement and we can see that any of our kids are struggling in the least bit we will take time off from fostering and refocus as a family. With all things, our family is our priority and we are entering this new chapter with that in mind.

Of course I'm nervous and excited and want to throw up a little bit. Undoubtedly the thing I'm most nervous about is falling in love with a child/ren and then having to release them. After the classes, though, my mind has shifted and I feel better about that.

Because the thing of it is I really do believe Zach and I are good parents. I think God gives us all these places where our strengths can meet some of the world's greatest needs and this happens to be it for us. Parenting. We make mistakes, of course we do, but I think in some respects this is the thing I'm best at.

And so we go forward. Scared, excited, nervous, anxious, all of that. But we have each other, and our kids who are more excited than we are and we have a God who we really do believe is stringing this all together.

So for better or worse.

Onward.


18 comments:

cathy said...

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! This was our plan too but we had to give that up with our situation with miss Lil. Knowing you signed up for the ride makes me so incredibly excited for you. Your kids have so much love to give, as well. It will be amazing.

Gretchen said...

Oh, sweet friend. I love your heart, I love your spirit, I love your soul. I am so excited for all of you! You're outstanding and so full of the good stuff. I know you'll give your best to each child who comes through your door....

Anonymous said...

So happy for you. Can't wait to read about this part of your journey.

Meg said...

So excited for you guys!

K said...

yay yay yay! i can't wait to see what He has in store for your family next. :)

Cassie said...

We know what a blessing fostering can be to a WHOLE FAMILY. Prayers going up for all of u...

Captain Murdock {Godwilladd.com} said...

not to totally copy Kim's thoughts, but yay yay yay!!!!

I cannot wait to hear more as I see this as a possibility for our family sometime in the future ... keep us posted!

ChiTown Girl said...

WOW!! That's huge! I can't wait to see where this journey takes your family. Congrats!

Sha Zam- said...

Oh you really are effing that awesome aren't you. OVERFLOWING LOVE!!!

Becky said...

Congratulations! I'm not sure how I initially found your blog, but I've been reading for a while. We are a foster family and have been for 6 years. Right now we have a 7 month old that we've had since birth (in addition to our 3 kids.) It's a crazy ride, to say the least.

Becky said...

I signed in with my husbands email. I'm actually not Victor. I'm Becky

Becky said...

Also, we actually found that the court didn't believe us when we talked about a child's attachment disorder!

And they are supposed to protect your privacy, but sometimes they need reminding. -Becky

natalie said...

just started my job as a foster home license and adoption worker, and reading this was fantastic! you are leaps and bounds beyond the typical foster parents I experience, so yay! excited to see this goes for you :)

Jennie Peakin said...

Well you know how we have a heart for fostering/adoption as well. It's hard...all of it. You know this. Fostering is a different kind of hard even though we have been blessed to procedd with the adoption of our boys. We will be praying for you and please know that I am here if you need to talk at all. We foster moms gotta stick together because no one understands it like someone who is also going through it! Best wishes and so excited for you all!!!

Chatter said...

You & Z are awesome parents! And I'm so excited you are sooooo close to being done. I can't wait to see what the future brings for you & your crew :)
xoxo, C

Cindy said...

We are excited for you! Much love and excitement for your future.

fiddlehead said...

Truly inspiring.... I love how you love. How you open your heart and family up. And gosh, I am just so grateful that a child in need will have a home like yours to land in. You guys are so awesome!
Big hugs!!!

jayme said...

This is seriously awesome! It's a dream I have as well (though for the time being, our house is way too small to consider adding another body / bodies). I'm particularly interesting in fostering teenagers or harder to place sibling sets. It can be hard work (my sister was a foster child first, and we had a couple of other children placed with us as well. I also spent some time in the foster care system myself, so I've seen both sides), but it's also so, so rewarding. And I know that your family has so much to offer in terms of love and stability. I'm really excited about this new chapter in your lives, and I'd love to talk with you more about it sometime!