Baptism by Fire

As you all know, we were officially licensed to be foster parents last Tuesday, the 20th. At that time we were told that the number of kids in the system had dropped dramatically in the last few weeks. The agency attributed the decline to a new law requiring Child Protective Services (CPS) to have a court order before they can remove a child from a home. Based on this insight, we were not surprised when we didn't have any calls from the agency in the last week.

And then came today...

I received multiple phone calls from the agency and ultimately Mr. Wonderful and I were presented with four different cases.

The first case was an obvious no because it was outside our basic parameters. Although we had peace that it was not the right fit for us, it was still hard to say no. Not only was it our first call (which is always exciting!), but your heart just goes out to these kids. And it involved a newborn (3 days old). Aghhh...tug on my heartstrings!

The other three cases were a better fit and so we have allowed the agency to submit our homestudy on all three. What this means is that our names are in the pool, so to speak, of families that are eligible for the particular case. The caseworker assigned to the case will narrow the pool of families down to three. If we make this cut, then our agency will send a representative on our behalf to a placement meeting. At this meeting all three families will be represented and ultimately one will be selected for the placement. By submitting our homestudy we are not committing ourselves to taking the child(ren) involved, even if we are selected. We are only saying we are interested/willing.

Exciting times! Uncertain times! We covet your continued prayers over each of these cases and the caseworkers involved. Please pray for wisdom as the caseworkers review each of the homestudy reports that have been submitted and make decisions on who will get the placement. Please pray for us as we patiently wait and trust on the Lord. Please pray for discernment as we learn more about the cases. We know God already has this all figured out and it is only a matter of time before He brings our child(ren) home to us!!

Thank you! I'll keep you posted when I hear more.

(Note: If you are confused by this process, so were we! It is quite different than what we originally anticipated, but I have been told by many that you have to be flexible with this system. I'm sure that this will be the first of many instances in which things won't play out exactly the way we anticipate (or were told, for that matter).)