We began our new journey of foster care in July, and had our first baby soon after. She was such a joy to our hearts. We picked her up from the hospital and it seemed so surreal. I have never been to the hospital to take home someone else's baby, nor had I ever peered into a sweet tiny face and not recognized anyone. I know that sounds wierd, but every time I have been to the hopital to see a newborn, the comments seem the same...she looks just like...I could not say that. I did not know her mother or her father or any of her siblings. I did know ,though, that she was fearfully and wonderfully hand-crafted by her heavenly Father, and my prayer is that she will grow up to resemble Him. That is my prayer for all of my children. We only had her for 4 days and, we took her to meet her forever adopted family. What an amazing experience! Her mom, dad, sister, and grandparents met us at the door with sobs of joy! I had the same reaction when I saw my babies for the first time. Her mother still keeps in touch and send me pictures.
Our next little boys we had only for a week while their foster family took a break. They were brothers and were 9 months and 21 months!! They were a few weeks shy of being a full year apart. A few hours after we had them the 21 month old was already calling my momma. It was so sweet and sad all at the same time. He gave the sweetest hugs, and gave us plenty of laughs. I was completely exhausted after their brief stay and vowed to never again take 2 at a time.
Our last little one we took for what we thought would be a week, but ended up keeping her for 3 months. She was a bundle of love! She ate well, and slept well, whihc makes for a happy "middle mom". She was moved to another foster home after the 3 months that we had her, so that she could be closer to her mother. She stayed there for about a month and was moved again to an aunt. Her mother was allowed to move in with the aunt too, which is a good situation for the both of them. I talked with the mother last week, and they are both doing great.Foster care is such a gut wrenching work! Yes, your heart falls in love with every child you have, even if their stay is brief. This should be the reason that you do this kind of work not the reason that you shouldn't. Trust me, there are many families that do foster care that don't fall in love with the kids...it's just a way to pay bills. If you are the kind of person who fears your heart couldn't take it, you are the right person for the job. Your heart can take it because God promises that he will equip you for every good work and that all things (even letting go) are possible through Him. I don't know how he does it, but he just does. He is faithful to his promises. It's up to us to leap out in faith and let Him do his job.
After we let go of our last one, we put our house up for sale and decided that we wouldn't take any more children until our house sold. Well ,we are months down the road from that and we still own our house. Nobody wanted it, except us. UGGGH. We are trusting the Lord to provide all our needs, and he is trusting us to be faithful with our money. Things are working out well.
In the meantime, our boys started wrestling, and our girls started basketball. There is not a moment to breathe, but we love the activity. I also started homeschooling Haydn. No big deal! So literally, I find myself gasping for air at times. I have always wanted to homeschool...well maybe not always, but since I was in college. I am not sure what made me want to do it...my brief work in the school system or my hate for getting up early? Either way, it is a desire that I tucked down deep that I had to let out. We are in our second month, and I really enjoy it. I wake up with a purpose, and can't wait to jump in. We have our moments, but it seems like we are growing in many ways other than head knowledge. But, we are growing in head knowledge, at least I am.
We start our day out with Bible reading...we are reading the bible through this year. Then it's on to math, grammer, spelling, writing, history, science, art, recess...We don't do all of these everyday, but we make it through the necessities: reading, riting, and rithmatic. My favorite subject BY FAR is history. I love a good story from the past. We are studying the ancients, and are almost through reading The Odyssey. I hope Odysseus makes it back to Ithaca. His queen must be desperate for his return.
I love watching the kids learn, and most of all I enjoy seeing them working together to learn something new. Haydn helps Livian learn her letters and Livian is good at guessing Haydn's math facts. When she guesses the right answer it sends both of us into a good laugh. I am not sure how long we will homeschool, but I hope we will be stretched, and come out on the other side with more fruits from our Father. As far as continuing to foster, I think we will only be able to take kids for a breif stay here and there, at least until I get my feet under me. I know this post does not cover a whole year, but it hits the highlights.
