Over the past month, a handful of people have asked Austin and I for an update on our foster care process, so we thought we would take time to share with you, who have become our village. We share with you because we are trying to be transparent throughout the process, especially as we ask you for continued encouragement, prayer, and support. In case you didn't know, before moving from Ann Arbor, Austin and I were in the final stages of receiving for our foster care license. Seriously, like one single home study away. Unfortunately, our licensing worker quit right before that one single home study, which forced us to start over with a new agency when we moved to Evart. We are now working with Eagle Village to obtain our license. I used to work at Eagle Village as a youth specialist before going back to school for my MSW, so it has been nice having a sense of familiarity and knowing the organization.
When we moved, we had to donate all of the items that were donated to us because we had no way of moving or storing them. In fact, the morning of our move, we even sold our kitchen table (thanks Craigslist) because our trailer didn't have any more room. Some things we lost in the move were our crib, stroller, infant carseat, and a few toys. Thanks to our village, which now also includes generous strangers who have humbled us beyond words, many items were donated to us as we started preparing again. We are finding that preparing our home in Evart is a little more challenging than preparing our already-to-code apartment in Ann Arbor. Yet, as first time homeowners, we hope it is an opportunity to learn more about fix-it-yourself and do-it-yourself projects. Tonight, after learning earlier today that we should be licensed within the NEXT 2 MONTHS, we started painting "the foster care room." Pictures of our gender neutral, DIY, repurpose anything we can find for free, nursery/room will be coming soon! Also, we are trying to be intentional in all of our preparations, and tonight that included talking about how God was preparing us for such a time as this even in our singleness. The urgency to foster was made clear to me during my time working in residential treatment, working with girls who had "failed" up to 23 placements, and for Austin it was during his sophomore year of college after working a summer at SpringHill. I thank God that I get to do life with a man whose passions are intertwined with mine. We are still in need of the follow items if you no longer have use for them at your home: *Infant car seat *Booster seat *High chair *Fire-ladder for upstairs bedroom *2 baby gates *3 sets of clothing for both genders ages 0-7 *Toys that are appropriate for children ages 0-7 This process has truly humbled us in so many ways. Experiencing support from family, and friends, who at times, are apprehensive of our decision to embark on this journey, because of their immense love and care for us, is another testament to God's provision and faithfulness. We may never be completely ready for this process, but as our neighbor who has also fostered and adopted shared, these children are never ready to be orphans either. We believe that God has called us to open our hearts and our home to His children as we stand in the gap for children who often fall between the large cracks in today's foster care system.
1 Comment
Kati
1/21/2015 10:44:01 am
This is so exciting you guys!!! So excited for the two of you, and how lucky will those children be to come across a set of foster parents that are in it for the right reasons! I would send an email out to our coworkers at work, they are very generous and often have a lot of items to donate.
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May 2019
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