Busy, Busy, Busy!

Wow!  Has it really been a month since I blogged last??  Seems like yesterday!

 The kids and I went to KC about 3 weeks ago and while we were there, Michael's grandfather passed away.  He lives about an hour from my parents so the kids and I opted to stay and attend the services.  We are so glad that we did.  It was so nice to spend time with all of the family.  I am very thankful to have married in to such a warm and welcoming family.

We also have been getting ready for our foster/adoption journey!  Our first homestudy is next Wednesday, April 9!  We are very excited!

We know that God is in control of this.  And that our plans are not always His plans.  We are excited to meet the kiddos that will be staying with us!

I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to those of you that have donated to us!  We have received clothes, beds, a carseat, a highchair, money, and more clothes.  Thank you so much!!

I will ask that you all pray for a few things specifically:

- There is a sibling group that has touched our hearts.  Our caseworker is inquiring about them.  They live in a different state.  They are older than what we "planned" for and there are more of them than we "planned" for.  But we would love for them to live with us.

- The kids that will be in our homes.  And their families.  That all would let Jesus take a hold of them. 

- Our family/kids.  It will be an adjustment.  We are not blind to the fact that it will be challenging.  But God is bigger than any struggles or roadblocks we might encounter.  Please pray that we will constantly remember this.

Thankful.  Blessed.

How can YOU help?

We have been blessed with so many wonderful friends and family.  So many of you have asked what you can do to help us on this journey.  We are very thankful for each one of you.  

I will answer this question in two parts.  

Part 1: More about our journey:

We have submitted our application and are waiting to be contacted about our classes.  In the mean time, we are getting everything ready at home.  We are getting licensed for 2 children 12 months or younger.  Any gender.  Any race.  We could get as sibling group or 2 kids from different families.  

There are 3 different scenarios in this process:

1.  A child (or children) are placed in our home as a foster placement.  They will remain in our home until their birth parent does what the state requires of them and they get custody of their child again.  This could be a short time (a few weeks) or long term (over a year). 

2.  A child (or children) are placed in our home as a foster placement.  The birth parents lose rights and the child remains in our home and is adopted.  

3.  A child (or children) are placed in our home directly for the purpose of adoption.  

Whether the children are in our home for a short time or forever, there are needs that we will have throughout the process.

Part 2: How you can help:

1.  Pray!!  

 Most importantly, please be praying for us, the kids, future kids, and their parents/families throughout this journey.  These kids will be coming to our home under circumstances that are less than ideal.  Before you do anything, please pray.  This is the most important thing.   If you are unable to donate in any other way, that is ok.  Please just pray.  

2. Monetary Donations:

We will get very little notice (possibly less than an hour) when a child is placed in our home.  Until that moment, we will not know the age, gender, race, or any other details about the child(ren).  

We are trying our best to be as prepared as possible (preparing a space for the child, carseats, clothes, diapers, etc...) but the bulk of what they need will be purchased after they arrive.  

If you would like to help by donating monetarily, you can click the "donate" button at the top left column of this blog.  

3.  Reasons for donating:

• We are going to be certified for 2 kids.  We will need to have duplicates of certain items before we can be licensed.  (cribs, car seats, etc...)  

• Your donations will help greatly in helping us meet requirements so that we can be licensed.  

All that to say, our expenses will come in two phases: preparation and when the children arrive.  If you feel led to donate to our fostering/adoption fund, thank you.

Please pray first.  And if that is all you feel called to do, that is everything!  

 

Thankful.  Blessed.

Getting Ready

We have been trying to get our home ready for new kids.  A few weeks ago we moved G into E's room.  It's been going pretty well!  The first few days, they both were waking up pretty early, but they have both started waking up at around 8:00.  It's been so nice.

We can get our home ready.  We can buy cribs and carseats.  We can clean and safety proof the things that aren't already safety proofed.  We can attend the classes.  We can have our homestudies.  But even if we do those things, are we really prepared?  Not without Jesus.

There are days that I think I am emotionally ready for this challenge.  And days when I am terrified.  There is a strong chance that within the next 18 months, we will have 4 kids ages 4 and younger.  It will be different.  But it will be good.  Because Jesus is good.  And Jesus is the center of this.

My prayer is that Jesus will prepare me emotionally for this journey.

He will.  He already has.

Thankful.  Blessed.

Here are a few pictures from school yesterday and today:

 We have been working on this apple tree all week.  The trunk is her foot, the leaves are her hands, and the apples are her finger prints.  :)

 Dot markers! 

 She is really starting to be able to follow the directions on the card and build her letters!

 Tuesday we stamped apples with paint.  I drew stems on them and cut them out.  We used them today to make patterns.  It's so fun to watch her progress in her learning!

 She put the ABCs in order.  There are so many fun games we can do with these bean bags!

 Writing the letter A

 We read the story.  As I read, if she saw an A, she would use her yellow dot marker to put a dot on it. 

Apple seed counting and number matching. 

Thankful.  Blessed.

High Museum of Art

The first exciting part of today is that I dropped off our paperwork for fostering/adoption!  Yes!  So excited!!

Secondly, we decided to take a field trip to the High Museum of Art.  Every Thursday is Toddler Thursday. (Free with admission or membership).  There is a story and a craft.  Today was our first time.  E really enjoyed it.  We also took a trip around the museum and saw a painting by her Daddy's favorite painter.  Mark Rothko.  She liked it!  So much that she even licked the painting.  When her Daddy found out he said, "Has your daughter ever licked something worth a million dollars?  Mine has."  Ha.  Silly girl.  No damage.  No harm done.  

Here are a few pictures of our day....

 

Thankful.  Blessed.

Join me please

Last night in our church community group (http://crosspointepeachtreecity.com/), when sharing prayer needs I had an overwhelming desire for something very specific.

Last week, I shared that we are entering the fostering and adoption world. (click HERE to see that post). We are very excited about this.  I have asked many people for prayer for specific things.  Our family, our kids, the kids that God will be placing in our homes.  I neglected to mentioned a HUGE one.  Last night I felt an overwhelming urge to pray for the birth moms of the kids that will enter our home, whether for a short time or permanently.  These moms are broken, like I am.  These moms need Jesus, like I do.  Their circumstances will not allow them to continue parenting for a short time or forever.  They will have to say goodbye to their precious babies either temporarily or for a very long time, maybe forever. 

I cannot even begin to imagine saying goodbye to E and G.  Even for a short time.  It breaks my heart to think about it.

Please pray for these mamas.  Pray that Jesus will grab a hold of them and comfort them.  Pray that they will come to know Jesus and that they accept the grace that Jesus has for them.  My heart is heavy for these moms.   Please join me in praying for them.

As I sit here watching my sweet girl doing her "lessons" on the computer, I am thankful. 

 E loves doing her "lessons" (as she calls them).  We subscribe to ABCmouse.com.  It is fantastic.  This program taught her in 20 minutes how to properly use a mouse.  I was amazed!  It is not very costly and such a great program for kids!

 

 Today was our math day.  We did other things, but math was our focus.  E drew gumballs in the machines and we made a book!

 If you are homeschooling, save all of your egg cartons!  Ask your family to save them too!  We use them for so many activities.  Addition!

 See??  Egg cartons!  Counting!

 

We finished days 5 and 6 today in our book.  We are excited to put it all together tomorrow!

Thankful.  Blessed.

New Adventure for our Family!

For several years, Michael and I have both felt called to adopt.  Over the past few years we have talked with families that adopted through private agencies, from another country, and through the state of Georgia (DFCS). 

After much prayer, we both feel a peace about pursuing adoption through the state of Georgia.  We understand that DFCS is not an adoption agency.  We will actually be in the foster-to-adopt program. 

This simply means that we will be able to provide a safe and loving home for a child until they are reunited with their birth family or until they are in need of a permanent placement through adoption. 

If asked several years ago if I would feel comfortable having a child in my home for a time, bonding with them, and then having to say goodbye, my answer would have been an absolute no. 

Through conversations with friends and a deeper understanding of Christ's love for us, I have started to understand that while selfishly, I would not want to say goodbye, providing a child with a loving home for a short time that teaches them about Jesus is better than that child possibly not being in a home that loves Jesus at all.  (Run on sentence, much?). Thankfully, the Holy Spirit has softened my heart over the past few years.

Last night was our first meeting and we are very excited to start on this journey.  It will not be easy every step of the way.  We understand that.  There will likely be very trying times.  We are ok with that. 

Please pray for us on this journey.  Pray for E and G.  Please pray for the sweet children that will be placed in our home, whether adopted or not.  These sweet babies that will call me mama will likely not start out in my home and will not grow in my tummy.  I will not have control over the protection of these babies.  Thankfully, Jesus does have that control.  Please pray that God would protect their bodies from all of the things that the world might throw at them. 

Thank you, friends.  We will update as we progress in this journey.  We will share what we can.  :) 

Thankful.  Blessed.