We have had Baby Girl on what is called a "Fictive Kin" placement. But we were still pursuing our foster license. Seems like it has taken us forever! But I took one cat and one dog to get vaccinated today, and I think that is the last step we have to do! Tomorrow is the last home visit for the home study. Then we just have to wait for the home study to be finished and CPS to get us in the system. We have been told by the 16th, we will be official foster parents! WooHoo!!!! It is a grueling process, but well worth it! Really nothing is hard, just time consuming. If you are considering it and live in the West Texas area, PLEASE take the classes and see if this is for you. Our are is in dire need of foster families! Our children are having to be sent to Abilene and other areas because there are no homes available here. That is so traumatic on the older children...they lose everything familiar including their town and school!
Becoming official foster parents doesn't really change much except we will have more rules as we will be under Buckner and not just a "friend of the family" watching their child. It also means we will receive the stipend from the state to offset costs. I always thought it was small potatoes, but actually, it is a very helpful amount. Obviously we would do it regardless, we have been for almost two months, but the reimbursement will come in handy as she grows and needs more clothes, more toys, etc. We are thankful!
As part of finishing the process, we had to decide how many children we want to be licensed to take and what ages, etc. Obviously race doesn't matter to us. In our state, you can have up to 6 children including your own. If you go over 6, you become what is called a "group home". These are not looked on with favor by CPS (so we have been told), and you also usually have to take in older kids. So we know we want to stay at 6 or below. This means we could only take in one more child. We haven't totally made our decision, but as we talked tonight, the things to consider are many. One, we aren't an easy going family evidently! Madison coming threw all our systems into chaos. I can't imagine doing that every time a child comes in and out of our home the way some foster families do! My hats off to you guys! The other major concern is transportation. We do not have a car that seats 8. If we took in another child, we would have to take two cars everywhere we go as a family including vacation! God would have to bless us with a different car if we were able to even go on vacation. We can take two cars, but that presents problems as we do quite a bit of driving to our parents' houses which are 30 and 50 miles away. That is a lot of extra gas with two vehicles. So we will continue to pray and seek God. The nice thing is that even if we make a decision and then change our mind, we can amend the home study. The important thing is that we do what God leads...not what "makes sense".
Those who know me, know what I would do! I would take them all! I still have a little dark girl on my heart! Have no idea if that is God or just some left over 'issues' with Eden and Addy. But I trust God will reveal in time. Today has enough trouble of its own! :) For now, I know that God has blessed me with five amazing children that I don't even begin to deserve! As for a number 6? Well, the verdict is still out! And after tomorrow, we will have the option of adding number 6 pretty easily! Pretty exciting...and scary! So The Journey continues......
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