It has been 34 days since my wife and I got our license to foster little ones in need of placement from Child Protective Services. November 5th we got our license and our first placement in the same day. CPS placed two little boys with us and I loved them instantly. It was a truly magical experience. Nothing could have prepared me for how different life would be. Other than being overly tired, life seemed so much fuller than before. I spent all day looking forward to spending time with them.
We received word on Tuesday December 2nd that the boys would be moving to custody with a family member. It seems in many ways like a very fine placement. However, I was personally devastated. It's not everyday that miracles walk into your life. Thank the Lord Jesus that they don't walk out very often either. My parents came into town at the drop of a hat and helped us pack up and even more than that, supported us on that horribly difficult last night. The morning they got picked up, I cried all morning and all the way to work. I almost did not make it through the day. My wife somehow survived actually putting them in the car and watching them drive away. Even the thought, makes my legs weak.
I do not and never will regret having those boys in my home. My wife summed it up for me this way, "Those boys deserve someone to cry over them." I pray wholeheartedly and without reservation that those boys are perfectly taken care of and never want for anything. I trust God to watch over them.
A few days later our case worker called us and apologized. She had been out of town and no one updated her on the boys' new placement. She said that she would have come and helped with anything. She said the first time this happens is the hardest and to that I hope she is right.
Today, she called us with a new placement, a 10 day old preemie baby. As soon as the call came in she was putting us down for placement. Before CPS even had all of her paperwork filled out, she was on the phone with my wife asking us if we wanted to foster her. Of course she said yes.
We did not get to take her home tonight due to a paperwork snafu, but we will have her in our home tomorrow. I got to meet her tonight and change her little preemie hiney! That will probably be my favorite diaper change of all time. I know that dealing with CPS holds no promises, but while she is with us I will adore her and treasure every moment of every day.
If the boys had not moved to a new foster placement, our name would have been nowhere near the top of the list for this new precious baby. I strongly believe that fostering is our spiritual calling now and probably forever. God has slowly opened the way for us to undertake this opportunity and I cannot wait to see what the future holds.
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