Yesterday, I started my foster care training classes.
And in all honesty, I was a bit overwhelmed.
There is so much paperwork. So, so much paperwork. Like a 3-inch stack of paperwork.
And I get it---the state needs to make sure they aren't sending these children from their own unsafe homes to someone else's unsafe home. It makes sense to me why they need to know so many details about my life.
But that doesn't make the task any less daunting.
I have classes every Saturday for six hours for the next 5 weeks. Thirty hours of training. And when I originally signed up for this, it kind of fell into my lap. I wasn't sure if I should start foster care training yet and I kept praying about it and instead of God sending me confirmation during those prayers, He sent it to me by working everything out for my children these next five weeks and finding out that the classes are held at my own church building.
It fell into place more smoothly than I ever could've imagined it.
And because of that, I know this is what I am supposed to be doing at this time. I know I was supposed to be in that class yesterday, learning about the ups and downs of the foster care system.
I got to meet people in my same situation and people in completely different situations and the beauty was that we were all there for the same thing---to help other children.
The reality of this is starting to sink in for myself and my kids. Every day, they ask if I'm done with my classes and when we are going to start fostering a baby. I know we have months more to go but I also know how fast those months can fly by.
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Orientation
Today I went to my first step of foster care training---orientation.
It was a big step for me---huge actually---because I've talked this talk for almost two years. I've googled foster care over fifty times and read up on what foster care might entail and talked to my kids about the possibility of opening our hearts to more children.
But it was never the right time.
It always felt like the right thing to do at the wrong time.
And so I waited.
And prayed.
And then one day recently, it felt like the right time to look again. I thought, "Maybe I'll just call an agency." And when that seemed to fall into place, I thought, "Well, maybe I'll see if the classes would be a possibility with my divorced co-parenting schedule." And when that fell beautifully into place, I signed up for an orientation in my area.
And today I spent two hours in a room of people, some married and some single. Some looking to foster and some hoping to adopt. Some becoming certified for a kinship placement and others who just want to open their hearts and help those children whose blood relatives cannot at this time.
I met a few people but mostly, I stayed quiet. I didn't ask any questions. I just took deep breaths and soaked it all in. I was reminded of why I'm doing this and I was reminded of why it won't always be easy.
But being easy and being worth it are two different things in my mind.
Because some of the bravest, hardest decisions I've made have been the most beneficial for myself and for the people in my life.
And this brave decision, the decision to foster while being a single mama getting a degree in education, it isn't a decision I've taken lightly.
And it isn't all about us.
When people have told me that it will be too hard or that they could never do this, I tell them, "Think about how hard it is for those children who are in the foster care system. The difficulties this could possibly bring to me are slapped back into perspective when I think about the difficulties they are experiencing."
This isn't about me.
It is about them.
It was a big step for me---huge actually---because I've talked this talk for almost two years. I've googled foster care over fifty times and read up on what foster care might entail and talked to my kids about the possibility of opening our hearts to more children.
But it was never the right time.
It always felt like the right thing to do at the wrong time.
And so I waited.
And prayed.
And then one day recently, it felt like the right time to look again. I thought, "Maybe I'll just call an agency." And when that seemed to fall into place, I thought, "Well, maybe I'll see if the classes would be a possibility with my divorced co-parenting schedule." And when that fell beautifully into place, I signed up for an orientation in my area.
And today I spent two hours in a room of people, some married and some single. Some looking to foster and some hoping to adopt. Some becoming certified for a kinship placement and others who just want to open their hearts and help those children whose blood relatives cannot at this time.
I met a few people but mostly, I stayed quiet. I didn't ask any questions. I just took deep breaths and soaked it all in. I was reminded of why I'm doing this and I was reminded of why it won't always be easy.
But being easy and being worth it are two different things in my mind.
Because some of the bravest, hardest decisions I've made have been the most beneficial for myself and for the people in my life.
And this brave decision, the decision to foster while being a single mama getting a degree in education, it isn't a decision I've taken lightly.
And it isn't all about us.
When people have told me that it will be too hard or that they could never do this, I tell them, "Think about how hard it is for those children who are in the foster care system. The difficulties this could possibly bring to me are slapped back into perspective when I think about the difficulties they are experiencing."
This isn't about me.
It is about them.
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