More Changes

  Because life just wasn't exciting enough, we are now foster parents.  We essentially want to adopt, but adoption is expensive and something we just couldn't sink thousands of dollars into at this moment.  The suggestion for fostering came from some friends who had gone through the foster process and ended up adopting their daughter.  We got the looks of "what are you thinking" and the advice to be careful and guard your heart from the possibility of loss.  So we with lots of prayer and support went forward with all the paperwork and background checks and home visits.  Not to mention the classes we had to attend.  Long, all day classes explaining the process and hearing the horror stories of children who have been so exposed to awful things, and you wonder if they will ever recover.  It took a good 6 months to get everything finished and turned in.  There was constant prayer that we would be placed with a child that would not only bless us but that we could be a blessing to them as well.  There is no magic equation that tells you how long you will have these children or what the outcome will be.  When we started this process we spoke with friends and acquaintances who had been through this process and our counselor who actually had adopted her daughter and has counseled children in foster care as well as foster parents.  We were advised to stick to our guns on what we could deal with, age wise and needs wise.  We have chosen to accept children 0-4yrs old on the premise that if they eventually need adopting we are open to it.

  We waited and waited for a call wondering if we had been approved or if something had popped up while they were reading our home study that they wanted more info on.  Who knew? The foster care system is like most other government systems, slow, the workers are over worked and there are several hoops you must jump through.  It was funny reading our eloquently written home study,  the social worker who did it did a wonderful job and all the things I thought would be issues were made to sound like strengths.  My husband being deployed so much meant he would be able to relate to these children in ways no one else could.  And things I thought were not a big deal actually got a lot of write up.  Like family that were not the best support system but never mind they lived far away.

  Finally one friday in June as I was putting my boots on to take Chloe to riding lessons we got a call.  They were on their way to pick up a 4yr old little boy who they believe was mildly autistic.  I put the phone on speaker and we listened again and glanced at each other and said yes.  They brought Kayden to our house essentially gave us his bag containing a few diapers, one extra outfit (winter) and some random toys, a cup of noodle soup and cheetos.  The investigator who brought him gave us a placement agreement, which we signed and a voucher for clothing and she left.  We have spent the past month and a half learning what this little guy needs and understands and getting him to try new foods.  It has been hard to say the least, you have to think he was with people who were not making the best choices for him for the last 4yrs and now he is put in this house with strangers.  It is trying at times because he gets what I like to call stuck on things.  We have noticed wonderful progress with him though, with some diet changes and some consistency and just being able to run around and enjoy nature and help us with animals.  One social worker stated he liked placing kids up here in the mountains, he said it seems to be therapeutic, maybe it is.