First of all, I just have to say a huge thank you to all of you who have encouraged us with your support. So many of you have blessed us with your prayers, and I am convinced it is your intercession for us that has made all of the transitions go as smoothly as they have. We have been HUGELY blessed as our friends and family have expressed their excitement for us and have loved us by loving our kids. We are overwhelmed by your love and support!
Many of you have asked where we are in the process of adoption at this point. So I’ll give you a brief update. From the time the kids were first placed with us our goal has been adoption, and, though not “risk free,” the social workers for their case have been very confident that we would be able to do that. There is a hearing set for the end of July to terminate parental rights at which point the adoption plan (us!) would be presented. If no one contests then we could potentially finalize the adoption in September. In the meantime, the kids still have visits once a month with their grandmother. They have had one visit so far and have another one coming up on Monday. Please pray for them (and us) last months visit brought with it some rocky transitions and we are not sure how these visits will continue to affect their transition into our family.
Our prayer right now is that the termination will not be contested and that we will be able to move ahead towards adoption! Obviously there are a lot of things that we could spend many anxious hours worrying about in this whole process. Another foster mom told me recently that the whole process of fostering and adopting has made her realize above all that her kids are not her own- they belong to the Lord. As much as I want to claim these two little ones as my own, this whole process forces me to see that they are a blessing from the Lord, given to us for a time. And whether he gives them to us for several months or for a lifetime I need to hold that blessing with an open hand. Please pray as we learn to trust the Lord with our kids!
In the meantime, we are learning to take things one day at a time; to do what is best for our kids today and to do what honors the Lord today. So our days are filled with bubble blowing, alphabet singing, ball playing, tickling (let’s be honest temper –tantrums and time-outs), glorious nap-time (!!) and lots of cuddling.
Right before we got the kids, Josh asked a friend if we were crazy to take on two kids like this. His response was that, yes, quite possibly we were crazy, but that in the process our joy would multiplied. And he was right. Because despite a crazy, overwhelming 8 weeks, and despite the fears that threaten to take hold at times, I would not trade anything for the joy that has been ours these last 8 weeks.
