Still Vacant

Well, we got an update from our case worker today regarding the 10 month old we had submitted our home study for. They have made a decision about the home they want to place her with and it appears our home was not among the list of chosen homes. So we remain on the vacancy list for now.

We are both anxiously awaiting that next phone call to ask us to take another placement, so every time the phone rings I jump! :) Hopefully if it is one of you on the other line, I don't sound too dissappointed it isn't CPS. :) Just kidding, we are so thankful for our friends and family and the support you have given us that we are very happy to talk to you all! 'Till we have more news, keep those prayers coming and we will do the same!

Revelations 3:8

"I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name."
When God leads you to the edge of the cliff, trust Him fully and let go. Only 1 of 2 things will happen,either He'll catch you when you fall, or He'll teach you how to fly! God closes doors no man can open and God opens doors no man can close. Have a blessed day and remember to be a blessing....

You take the good, you take the bad....

Ok, I know that it is a little corny to use a "Facts of Life" reference for the title to this post, but I felt it was appropriate for this update! Friday was the last day we had our first foster child in our home. Her case worker came to pick her up around 3:30 pm and then she was gone. That's the bad...who knew you could get so attached to a little one in just 9 short days? Patrick and I both cried for a good solid hour (almost two!). Then we picked ourselves back up and said "we can do this!". Though I know we will never forget the children that come to stay with us (as is evident by the impact this first one has had on us in such a short time), we also know this is what God has lead us to do. We have to be ready for the next little one that needs us - no matter how long that may be. We reminded ourselves of the blessings we have been given to continue on this journey and remember the support we have from all of you to keep moving forward. So this weekend we took that attitude of just that...moving forward. There will be a special place in our hearts for all of our foster children and we know what that feels like now. We know we will miss them all dealy when they leave us, but are better prepared for how that will impact us going forward. We know we are ready for more!

So this morning I informed our case worker that the pick-up went well on Friday and we were "vancant" again (they have a vacancy list that they put our names on when we are ready to take another child). I told her to go ahead and add our names to the list and we would make ourselves ready for the next one (emotionally and physically). Our case worker emailed not too much longer after that about a 10 month old healthy girl who is considered a legal-risk placement. That means (we discovered) that the parental/guardian rights have been terminated and the parents/guardian are appealing that decision. In the mean time, because this little one had been placed with a grandmother, she needs a home to go to while this is all sorted out. We have submitted our home study for consideration and hope to hear something by the end of this week. This particular situation means this child may be up for adoption if the appeal is not granted. So we leave it in God's hands this go round. If she is to be our special little one, then we will gladly take her. If she is supposed to just stay with us for a ltitle while, then we will enjoy her while we can! We hope to know if we are chosen to have her in our home soon and will keep you all updated. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we take this one week at a time (and one day at a time most of the time!).

We got THE call!

So most of you have already gotten the email we sent out about THE call we just got! We are very excited to be taking care of a very precious little girl who was born on 9/17/08. She is going to be staying with us until October 10th. Though we only get to have her for a short while, we are very excited to get the chance to take care of her. We will certainly enjoy the little bit of time we get to have with our temporary guest (angel!).

UPDATE: On October 10th our temporary "little one" went to live with a family member. Her case worker picked her up at 3:00 pm. Though we knew it would come, today was a difficult day - even after only 10 days with her. Despite how hard it is to see her go, we both know in our hearts this is exactly what we are supposed to be doing. We have been blessed with the tools (a home, a strong support group, a natural love for children, guidance for the right thing to do) to allow us to do these things. How could we not continue when it is so clearly laid out for us that this is His plan for us? So we will push through what proves to a quiet night (too quiet and despite not gettig up for feedings we still won't likely sleep soundly) and (anxiously) await our "turn" to do this all over again. God Bless you Little One.