Kingdom sized goal!!!

You can check out these links for more information on this amazing goal ...
www.hishandshisfeettoday.blogspot.com and here for more information :)

Training three...

Moving right along....tonight was interesting because we talked a lot about loss and grieving and what that looks like in our own lives, and then how that manifests in children. Our trainer was talking about how with each horrible experience that happens to a child (while still with their birthfamily) a hole is created and they come to you with "holes" that need to filled up. We try as foster parents to close up or fill up those holes with love, comfort, affection, etc and just when they begin to trust you, someone(could be a family member or friend) knocks them off that ladder that they just started to climb. Every situation is different and every child will have different needs and those needs will have to be responded to in different ways.

For the next week we need to get things notarized, complete our radon test, and get fingerprinted, oh... and more homework..gotta love it right? Man...I thought adoption had a lot of steps and "stuff" to complete, but that is a piece of cake compared to all this stuff!! LOL!!!

Needing to prepare!

So as part of last night's "talk" we were told that we need to set up a room for the baby (or toddler) that will be staying with us. This will require some room switching, and we need to get a crib and dresser for the child. We are keeping it to any child 2 or younger because of the ages of our own children. If you have either of these items or anything baby that you are interested in getting rid of, please contact me! :) We sold/gave away all of our baby stuff over the past several moves! :(

Homestudy

Tonight we had our first homestudy visit! We really like our FDS :) Tonight was mostly paperwork and we walked around the house looking for potential things the health inspector might note. The only thing that we have to work on is that all chemicals and medicines need to be under lock and key. We will probably have to switch the boys bedroom to the office area because there is no window and "they" may have a problem with that. Other than those things, we are on track :) We received more paperwork tonight and were notified of a new 3 week training course on Sat. with no childcare. She's going to see what she can do for us, because Mr M. can't take another 3 Saturdays off (he's in charge)!! Anyway, it was so cute because at the end we were setting up our next visit and our FDS asked "what time is good for you?" A. chimed in and said "Ummm...9:30" LOL!! Too cute :) The boys did GREAT!!! Thank you Lord!!! They both charmed her socks off!!

Training number two!

So this past week's training was a bit more interesting but definitely more draining! It is really interesting to see the the variety of people in the training and how we all react differently to the situations/content presented. For those of us with kids it is totally different than for those without kids. It is even more so for us since our children are adopted. A video was shown that was mostly text but with the sweetest child's voice saying things that broke my heart. She spoke of going to visit her birthmother and upon returning to her foster family she wet the bed for days from her anxiety about that...pulling her hair out...not knowing who she would go with when (FDS, care manager, foster mom, birth mom, who?) There are a couple of us in there with small children and we were all teary when the video was over. It is so difficult to ever imagine that our children would be taken from us and that is what they would go through. Who wants to think of their child being alone, scared, and hopeless? At the same time, it is important that we "feel" so that we understand what the birthparents are going through. We also went through an exercise that made it very real to all of us that particular stressors in our lives could land us in that position. Not every situation is full of abuse or neglect. Sometimes people lose their job, can't pay the bills or put food on the table and "accidently" take that anger out on whoever is closest..a child? :(

This MAPP training is definitely eye-opening and yet very difficult! I am so grateful that our county requires this 30+ process to prepare us for foster parenting. Many counties across the country require no such training and the foster parents are "thrown in" with very little preparation as to how to deal with such issues. It's hard but WORTH IT! Seeing that video really made it real and makes me want to provide a safe, loving and protective environment for children even more!

What is TRUTH?

This past Sunday our pastor talked about how what we pour into our lives and what we are surrounded by dictate our reality and what becomes "truth" to us. Of course if we surround ourselves with worldly things and "buy into" what the media tells us about ourselves, that will become our truth. We need to chose to surround ourselves with Godly men/women, seek their counsel, and above all us pour into ourselves the Word of God for what TRUTH really is. It made me reflect on the children that are in foster care and what they have heard all their lives, and what they believe is "truth" based on what they have been told. "You're such a bad kid, you're no good, you're not worth it!" Of course those are mild in comparison to many of the stories I have already heard. It breaks my heart, but at the same time I am honored that God has chosen our family to pour into these children HIS truth and how valuable they are to Him (and us!)!!! God is showing us some pretty amazing stuff already and we just started!! :)

Homestudy...already!

We have officially been assigned our FDS or Family Development Specialist! She called today to introduce herself and set up our first homestudy visit. I thought it was going to start later down the road in training, but nope! We have our first appt. a week from today...at bedtime no less!!! I hope the kids can hold it together!! We have our mound of paperwork almost complete! I hope to turn it in tomorrow, but that may not happen. I have to make copies of everything "just in case." We are well on our way :)

Training Number one!

Last night was our first night of training. I think it is going to be a very interesting class not only because of the content, but also because of our trainer! LOL! She's quite...how do I say it?...energtic but abrasive and Mr. M called her bossy-LOL! The first night was pretty much getting to know everyone. We had to play a game where everyone got a card with a situation on it and you were either the foster parent looking for a particular child, or visa versa. We had to walk around the room and try to find our best possible match. I unfortunately got the card that said "I am a 15 year old girl who is looking for an adoptive family who doesn't mind that I am sexually active." Yeah..that was fun walking up to strangers and saying that-LOL!!!

We have homework every as well and we got a HUGE stack of paperwork to fill out...well Iwill be filling most of it out, except for the papers marked specifically for Mr. M :)! So...that is what will be occupying most of my time for the next two weeks. The kids have to draw pictures including a foster child in the family. The boys have already done this and I dictated what each of them wants to teach the baby :) A. wants to teach the baby to crawl, how to play video games, and how to walk on it's feet. I. wants to teach the baby the monster dance and he wants to rock the baby and change it's diaper :)

One down 9 to go! :)

New Blog!

Many of you switching over here are already familiar with our family, but I wanted this journey to be a public blog so I could connect with others and together we can walk thorough this journey of foster care! I was going to switch over and make this our family blog and just not use names, but I got a little spooked when I heard about a picture from a family blog being copied and the child being listed for adoption! I just want to protect all involved, so for that reason this will be a blog of more information and not many pictures and certainly no full names to protect our children as well as the foster children that will grace our home :)

For the rest of you who are not familiar with our family I will do a small sort of introduction....

Mr. M is my awesome husband of 8 years. Together we have adopted our two sons, A. who is 5 (adopted domestically) and I. age 3 (adopted from Korea). We live in FL and I will begin homeschooling A. in just a few weeks! We serve the Lord with passion and want to glorify Him with and through our lives!

We are on the very beginning of this journey! We start the MAPP training classes on Thursday so I will be sure to post about that whole process as well the homestudy and beyond! Please leave a comment and let me know who you are and what brought you here. :)