When I married this man 8 years ago, I never would've dreamed that this is what our life would look like today.
When we got married, I (subconsciously) made a plan in my mind and decided God would be on my side and make my plan a reality. I "planned" to be pregnant around our 5th anniversary. I "planned" to fall asleep each night listening to soft baby grunts. And I "planned" to begin trying for a second child around our 8th anniversary.
This is how I had pictured my life, but it wasn't what He had planned.
Honestly, I never would've chosen to build our family through foster care if it had been up to me. I respected people who helped kids through fostering/adopting, but I never thought we'd be so deeply connected to the fostering world. Even when Bry would say things like, "I hope we get to adopt a child someday," I would smile, but inside I was wondering why he'd say such a thing when we'd be busy taking care of our own kids.
If it had been left to me, I would've never been brave enough to take the first step to jump into the fostering world and I never would've met our insanely amazing Little Lady.
Luckily, it wasn't up to me. It was HIS plan all along. God would be the one to define who our "children" were and He had a plan to pick them out and place them in our home.
I'm humbled and honored to take care of our sweet girl as long as He wants us to.
Even though this wasn't my original "plan," I couldn't help but smile tonight as I watched her sing her heart out on stage. I pictured her as a baby in diapers, crawling and rolling around the floor, as we celebrated our 2nd anniversary half-way across the country, not even knowing she existed yet. I thought about her first steps, the first time she rode a bike, and the first time she dressed herself for school (and how it must've been a sight to behold.) We missed those moments, but we will not miss out on them now.
We will soak up each step, each dance, and each note she sings off-key. For now, we will celebrate each moment with her because we don't know if it'll be our last. But then again, I'm not sure that any parent has this guarantee.
LL's quotes:
- "The polite thing to say is, 'barf.'"
- "You sound like my mom." (After I woke her up by singing her a good morning song.)
- "No, that's my crazy papa. I'm talking about my uncrazy papa."
- "My cousin said a bad word. This much of it (showing with her hands.)"
- "When I was three, I said a bad word and my mom put soap on my toothbrush. She said I'd be poopin' out bubbles."
- "I'm from Texas and I like sweet tea."
- "My PE teacher never wears a dress and she doesn't even do anything!"
"Mr. Matt's gonna be sad that he missed this."
Celebrating after her concert at our happy place!
LL's quotes:
- "The polite thing to say is, 'barf.'"
- "You sound like my mom." (After I woke her up by singing her a good morning song.)
- "No, that's my crazy papa. I'm talking about my uncrazy papa."
- "My cousin said a bad word. This much of it (showing with her hands.)"
- "When I was three, I said a bad word and my mom put soap on my toothbrush. She said I'd be poopin' out bubbles."
- "I'm from Texas and I like sweet tea."
- "My PE teacher never wears a dress and she doesn't even do anything!"
So sweet to see her holding hands and giggling with girls her age.
The great nursery rhyme disaster!
*******************************************************************************************************************************************
About Us:
We began our foster journey in mid-August 2013. We finished our classes in October, had our home study in early January, and we were licensed on February 7, 2014. After seven calls from CPS, we received our first placement, a 7-year-old girl (our Little Lady, or LL for short) on April 3, 2014. Thank you so much for taking the time to read about our journey through the craziness that is foster care. Most importantly, thanks for your prayers, love, and support. We hope to encourage fellow foster/adoptive parents as we document our ups and downs each day.
About Us:
We began our foster journey in mid-August 2013. We finished our classes in October, had our home study in early January, and we were licensed on February 7, 2014. After seven calls from CPS, we received our first placement, a 7-year-old girl (our Little Lady, or LL for short) on April 3, 2014. Thank you so much for taking the time to read about our journey through the craziness that is foster care. Most importantly, thanks for your prayers, love, and support. We hope to encourage fellow foster/adoptive parents as we document our ups and downs each day.
Key Posts:
No comments:
Post a Comment