Support comes in all shapes and sizes. Tangible, emotional, spiritual...Roger and I are surrounded by every single kind by so many people. Some might weigh one kind of support as more valuable than another, but I don't. Without a balance between the 3 I know there would be a noticeable gap that I would long to have filled.
Tonight I'd like to give a shout out to our parents. Both sets of parents support us in all 3 ways and I couldn't feel more blessed.
Knowing I can call my mom or dad and ask them to watch the kiddo, knowing it would be more than supervision, is awesome. She won't just be safe physically, she will be tenderly loved and cared for, played with and built up. She'll be safe emotionally and spiritually too. She was bouncing and skipping her way to the car, filled with joy from her time with my parents and THAT is an enormous blessing. So thank you mom and dad for reaching into the heart of a little foster girl and filling it with love and happiness and healing. Your impact is huge. Your loving service so very appreciated. We love you guys. =)
On the yon east coast we have our other set of parents. Distance doesn't stop them from being involved in our care of neglected kids by any means. Today we received a giant box (seriously it was like 20 pounds) of clothes for our 6 year old FD from Roger and Carol and it was filled with adorable clothes. So much pink and purple, every kind of cuteness you could think of. =) On top of that we get messages of love and prayers sent across the miles. It's incredible. And so so meaningful.
The outreach to us and our foster kids is not limited to our parents of course. My brother and sister-in-law, in fact all of our siblings encourage us to keep up with it, even when it's hard. The moral of this story? We're blessed. Super super blessed...and honestly without these friends and family in our lives I don't think we'd be able to stick with it. God knew exactly what he had equipped us with when he called us into this. Thanks, God =) I appreciate you too.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Saturday, August 18, 2012
And the gift goes on (aaaaaand on) and the gift goes on (aaaaand on)...
It's interesting how the growth of experiencing foster care has not been exclusively ours. It's very much like our entire community of friends and family grow along with us. A couple weeks ago a friend of mine was at an event with me at my foster agency and said that fostering is never something she would be able to do personally. My response was that she reaches these kids and has a huge impact through her support of Roger and I and our close friendship. Truer words were never spoken. Okay, that's not exactly accurate. The Bible is full of true-spoken words...but I liked mine too. =P
The first go-round of fostering was like a painful mess we stumbled in to. Lots of growing pains to experience and chaos and frustration ..all that good stuff that makes life interesting. Or something. Along with all of that craziness we felt isolated from our friends and even family. It was probably similar to a drowning sensation. Everything smothering joy out our lives. It felt that extreme anyway. I think for those of you who were a part of our lives during that time and knew how the boys were when we first got them, it is a relatively fair assessment I think. On top of that we had NO idea what we were doing both with the kids and with the whole messy system that is foster care. Suffice it to say, that was a learning experience I would never go back to change. Haha. Truly.. I learned a lot of things about myself; some that were encouraging and some that I was not so proud of. All necessary.
Fast forward almost 2 years into foster care and here we are with our second real placement and it feels so different. The kiddo (a 6 year old girl..just the 1 =P) is easy, our friends and family have been supportive in just the right way that has meant so much to us, and the people working on the case are reasonable people that answer my questions and seem to be working in the best interest of the child. That last part should seem obvious, but it isn't always. Some of the people that are part of "the system" can be horrifyingly dense. Anyway though, I had friends calling me saying they'd love to get together or help watch the kiddo if we needed it, inviting us to mini golf, inviting us to their house to hang out..family offering to run to pick stuff up at the store for me, also offers of dinner together, flexibility in timing of things (yep I'm pretty much always running later than our planned time to leave for work but dear Becca is so patient with me =) )...it's incredible. We didn't know what we needed as far as support was concerned and neither did anyone else. Now through life experience with it all it's as though these people that love us are growing in understanding right along with us. I love it! and even more than loving it, I consider myself SO very blessed by all of these people who support us in a million little and big ways. Who could even fathom this kind of community? I would have never imagined myself where I am today.
I am amazed, I am thankful, and I love you all very much. =)
The first go-round of fostering was like a painful mess we stumbled in to. Lots of growing pains to experience and chaos and frustration ..all that good stuff that makes life interesting. Or something. Along with all of that craziness we felt isolated from our friends and even family. It was probably similar to a drowning sensation. Everything smothering joy out our lives. It felt that extreme anyway. I think for those of you who were a part of our lives during that time and knew how the boys were when we first got them, it is a relatively fair assessment I think. On top of that we had NO idea what we were doing both with the kids and with the whole messy system that is foster care. Suffice it to say, that was a learning experience I would never go back to change. Haha. Truly.. I learned a lot of things about myself; some that were encouraging and some that I was not so proud of. All necessary.
Fast forward almost 2 years into foster care and here we are with our second real placement and it feels so different. The kiddo (a 6 year old girl..just the 1 =P) is easy, our friends and family have been supportive in just the right way that has meant so much to us, and the people working on the case are reasonable people that answer my questions and seem to be working in the best interest of the child. That last part should seem obvious, but it isn't always. Some of the people that are part of "the system" can be horrifyingly dense. Anyway though, I had friends calling me saying they'd love to get together or help watch the kiddo if we needed it, inviting us to mini golf, inviting us to their house to hang out..family offering to run to pick stuff up at the store for me, also offers of dinner together, flexibility in timing of things (yep I'm pretty much always running later than our planned time to leave for work but dear Becca is so patient with me =) )...it's incredible. We didn't know what we needed as far as support was concerned and neither did anyone else. Now through life experience with it all it's as though these people that love us are growing in understanding right along with us. I love it! and even more than loving it, I consider myself SO very blessed by all of these people who support us in a million little and big ways. Who could even fathom this kind of community? I would have never imagined myself where I am today.
I am amazed, I am thankful, and I love you all very much. =)
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Into the Wild
We got another placement today! It's a 6 year old girl and so far I think she's pretty great. I'm nervous to say that too soon because our first placement was great the first night and it went quickly downhill from there. But she seems super bright, pretty happy-go-lucky, and all-around manageable. It could also be that since there's only one of her it's not quite as stressful with 2 of us. I see hints of the argumentative side of her, but hey..what 6 year old doesn't argue? Seriously..I'm asking. I have no clue. Haha.
On that note...Roger is going to be gone tomorrow early afternoon for 4 days and 4 nights. THAT isn't what I could call awesome. lol Perfect timing to get a new placement, huh? I will say I'm quite comforted knowing that if I asked, he would come home immediately to help. He's just that kind of guy =) The awesome kind.
So far the transition with this new little girl seems to be really smooth and I'm so thankful for that. I pray she has sweet, peaceful dreams and it continues to go well. I also pray for her mom and that she will have the strength to do what it takes to take this cute little kiddo home.
Stay tuned for how this progresses... =)
On that note...Roger is going to be gone tomorrow early afternoon for 4 days and 4 nights. THAT isn't what I could call awesome. lol Perfect timing to get a new placement, huh? I will say I'm quite comforted knowing that if I asked, he would come home immediately to help. He's just that kind of guy =) The awesome kind.
So far the transition with this new little girl seems to be really smooth and I'm so thankful for that. I pray she has sweet, peaceful dreams and it continues to go well. I also pray for her mom and that she will have the strength to do what it takes to take this cute little kiddo home.
Stay tuned for how this progresses... =)
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