Phase I begins!

Monday, June 11, 2018.  6:30-8:30pm.  My husband and I sit in a warm room with a few other couples.  "Orientation for foster and adoptive parents" is what we are signed up for.  Two pleasant ladies introduce themselves and begin to explain what the evening is about.

So much information.  It is real, honest, raw.  There is a huge need for foster and adoptive parents.  But this journey is not easy.  It is not a decision that is made lightly. 

I have walked this journey before.  I know what is like at least to some degree.  I have had two placements of my own.  I work with foster children at my day job. 

My husband and I learned more about what being foster parents look like and that it is a commitment and that we need to have a strong marriage and be on the same team.  We know we are called to this.  We know this is part of the journey God has called us to walk.   Our marriage will be made stronger through obedience to God's calling on our lives.

So there we sat.  Two hours later we filled out an application and turned it in.  The onboarding/intake worker is coming to our home on Tuesday, June 19, 2018.  We have officially begun the process.  The only way to stop the process from moving forward is with a written statement. 

We first thought of getting licensed for 1 child ages 0-2, but realized that that is such a limited age frame that we may not end with any calls.  I had previously been licensed for up to 2 children ages 0-4 and we decided that we would do the same thing this time around as well.  I was not positive how big the nursery is, but I am ecstatic to report that is large enough for at least two children! Could possibly even be large enough for three if we were to use bunk beds, but we are hoping to get licensed for youngsters who are too young for bunk beds.  This weekend will be spend breaking down a crib, moving it from my dad's house, and then rebuilding it in our home.

We have a few odds and ends that we would like to purchase to help make our home safer for children, but we pretty much have all that we need from my past experience.

So here we are.  Phase I beginning.  There are three phases total.  I do not recall each one presently, but the plan is to document this journey as accurate as possible right here. 

Stay tuned as we journey from two to more! I already went from one to two, and now our plan is to have enough children in our care that we need to purchase a Nissan NV van ... which holds 10 passengers in back and 2 in the front.  I want to be those people!