We've been reading up all week and praying about the possibility of opening up our home to an infant or toddler. This is exciting, but also very frightening - mostly for financial reasons. I know God will provide (or will provoke us to drastically change our budget and spending habits), but it's a little overwhelming to think about going from our current lifestyle to an extremely tight budget basically overnight. Bring on the ramen and Campbell's soup. :) This would also mean figuring out daycare, formula, oh yeah - and how to take care of a little tiny baby. That's kind of a big deal.
We've heard a couple comments already such as, "Don't you have really tough jobs?" and "Wow-isn't that going to be kind of hard with your schedules?" We know that we have the ability to be more intentional about building a family than other people might be, but however God brings family members together, the family is still more important than work. YES. Our priorities will need to change. Our hours will need to change. How I spend my time at work and at home will need to change. BUT... just because we get to "plan" for our family, that shouldn't mean that we don't have the right to put our family above work. I don't know if that makes a lot of sense, but it's something Bry and I have both been convicted about lately.
Status: Seriously re-working our budget and praying about the age of a child we'd be able to take care of
I know this is an older post and you have decided on your age range now, but just some info if it's helpful...We're in Texas (programs probably differ a bit in different states?) and have a two year old and one year old placed with us. We get daycare paid for through CCS (Childcare Services) and we are on WIC (Women Infant Children) which covers 7 cans of formula a month for baby girl and also things like cheese, juice, fruit, bread, etc for brother. The formula especially is worth it. These services are normally available to low income families, but children in foster care automatically qualify. So, if you ever take a baby down the road, you might look into these. We then use their monthly reimbursement from the state for clothes, diapers, etc. :-)
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