While We're Waiting...

The road to becoming a foster family isn't an overnight thing. It takes time...lots of time and patience. Sometimes there are snags and bumps in the road which make the process to finish even that much longer.

So, while we were waiting for everything to be finalized, we signed up to babysit and for respite care.

 Babysitting a foster child(ren) is a short term thing you can do for a foster family. It usually entails just a few hours with NO overnight care so a foster mom can run a few errands while kid-free or a dad can spend time with an older child without chasing a little one around. It very much like regular babysitting.

Respite care is more involved. It can be a few days to a few weeks and usually includes overnight stays. It's an opportunity to give a foster family a longer break or take care of their foster children if they are not able to bring them along. We had the pleasure of helping a foster family out with their precious little one for 3 weeks while they visited their grown children in China. After T-baby went home, we had the pleasure of doing respite care for just a few days for another sweet little one whose family was recovering from a sickness they did not want T-man to get.

 Respite care is an awesome way to 'get your feet' wet in regards to foster care. You don't have the full-blown responsibilities yet, but you have enough to get a taste of what fostering is all about. For many, it can be a springboard into full time foster care.

Perhaps you haven't been called to full-blown foster care, but maybe, just maybe, you have been called to babysit or to do respite care. There is certainly a need for these things and doing this for a foster family would be such a blessing.

And so it begins...

We were licensed around October 2016. 

The process to become a foster family began long before this tho. God began working on our hearts years before getting us ready to take the leap into the foster world. The need for foster families is so great. There are children out there who needed someone to love them, care for them, stand in the gap for them, and perhaps even be their forever family. We couldn't let one more day go by without doing something to make a difference. 

Sure, we could sit back and let others do the work, after all, maybe being a foster parent wasn't MY calling...I had 2 busy kids to care for and they were finally at the age where they were fairly independent. I actually had time to get the house clean (and keep it clean), meal plan, cook, take on a few hobbies, and even read books again. I was comfortable...very comfortable...except for that small voice growing louder with each passing day telling me...'but I didn't call you to be comfortable'. 

I felt like something was missing and slowly my comfort eroded away and was replaced by the feeling of urgency and the need to DO something. ...So, my husband and I began to go through foster care training. We started making needed changes to our home to get it ready for fostering. And right at about 1 year after attending an informational meeting, we were officially a foster family.   

So, what about you? Is God calling YOU to do something? Maybe it's not fostering, but be sure, God HAS called you to make a difference in the lives of others. So, get out there are do something :) 

All the Little Starfish

So...if you haven't heard, we are now an official foster family...hence the name of my new blog. If you've ever heard the starfish story, then you'll know exactly why I chose this name. And if you haven't, then please see the picture below for an explanation.

No, foster families can't save every child, but we CAN make a difference in the lives of these precious children and, hopefully, in the lives of their bio families as well by sharing the love of Jesus Christ with them.