An Introduction

I have delayed writing this post for months. I didn't and still don't know where to start. I decided to jump in and just write even though it will be imperfect.

This is a part of my story and I'm so thankful and humbled as I look back over it. God has been so good to me. 

About a year and a half ago I found myself standing before a really big life transition. One season was ending and I was struggling with what to do next. After much thinking and praying. I realized that my passion was for children. The more I read about foster care and witnessed it firsthand with my foster nieces and nephews, I realized that was it.  I wanted to not just volunteer twice a month, I wanted to be in the middle of it.
In the state of Texas there are checks to make sure the foster parents are good citizens. Agencies do their best to determine if the homes they license are made up of loving people who genuinely want to care for children who have experienced trauma as a result of abuse, neglect and rejection. If you are genuine and pass the checks, as long as you are willing, you can foster. Good news for me!
I started the training in August, got a one bedroom duplex in September. Fixed it up, took CPR and First Aid, turned in a bunch of paperwork, bought a fire extinguisher, the Fire Marshall came and did an inspection, the health department came and did an inspection, I bought a crib and my sister-in-law gave me a bunch of other baby stuff and then she and my mother overwhelmed me with baby clothes. Finally, in the end of November a nice woman came and did the home study. This is the final check and a little more in-depth. They ask a lot of questions, look at your house and really just want to make sure you know what you're getting yourself into. She seemed content with the answers and me as a person--so much pressure! Then she said it would be about a week until I could be licensed. Then it was another week and another one. Finally it was the end of December and the holidays. I guess this was not going to happen in 2015.
Rewind to January of 2015. I very rarely make resolutions, but this time I did. The number one resolution was to become licensed as a foster home. And this was finally a resolution that I worked hard to see through. I sat at my kitchen table on that Thursday afternoon, December 30th and resigned myself to the fact that I would just have to keep waiting and move on. It really wasn't the end of the world, but discouraging. Miracle of miracles, my phone notified me at 6:05 that I had an email from the agency. I opened it to the wonderful words that my home has officially been licensed and that they would now call me whenever they had a possible placement for me. I cried. Overwhelmed that God had heard my prayers and in such a simple thing like allowing this to come through after hours on the last workday of the year. I had made sacrifices, spent money, energy and tears on this venture and it was finally closer to becoming a reality.