Adoption Journey: Foster Class #3

This week was a little different. We started the evening off talking about building family relationships and bonding. It was good stuff cause it was a lot of practical "how to" and "what to do" and I love that kind of information. I like lists and checking things off that list. We also talked about how kids might react when they are dropped off at your home and how you can help them cope. It was rich and heavy and good.
We got a very quick run through of the whole "legal" process. We talked about each step that CPS, our agency, lawyers, judges, and us have to take once a child is removed from their home. (That was hard to keep up with) This process is messy and unpredictable, and all I kept thinking is that God is perfect and that we will need lots of prayer and support.
The last half of the evening was a Q&A with current foster and adoptive parents. This was a rich and enlightening time. I loved hearing stories about families who opened their home to foster babies and had two newborns placed into their home in 2 weeks (They ended up adopting both). It broke my heart to hear stories about families having to "give up" the babies and kids they had welcomed and loved so much. It was good to be reminded that this journey for me and our family will be trying at times and that I HAVE to be ready to depend solely on my Heavenly Father when it gets really hard.
I remember having a moment when I thought "Jen why the heck are you signing up for this? Are you freakin' CRAZY?" But I was quickly reminded that God wants to use our family to love and help these babies and their families. That might mean we have a baby in our home for a short amount of time or a really long amount of time before they go back to their biological families. But if it means that for the time they are in our family they experience Jesus love and are prayed for daily then it will be worth it. It will be worth if it means one little baby and family gets to see Jesus in our little family. All the possible and probably inevitable tears will be worth it when I get to hold and pray for a baby who has never been prayed for before(like EVER).
The weeks are going to continue to get heavier and heavier, but Adam and I continue to feel at peace with our decision to adopt through the foster system and continue to see God's perfect hand in it.

Here's what you can be praying for us:

1) Organization of the tons of paperwork and appointments we need to finish
2) Continue to pray for our kids and their hearts as they try to understand this process
3) Adam and I continue to talk about our fears and frustrations and JOYS
4) Please begin to pray for the families and the babies that we will have in our life sooner than later

We're still aiming for being certified in April and that could literally mean we get a call for a placement THAT DAY! (That means I could have another newborn or older baby in 2 months.)

*There are over 118,000 children available for adoption in the US Foster Care System.