I can hardly even believe that it was ONE year ago today that Little Man was brought to our home and joined our family!!!!!!!!! Back then he was a 5 1/2 month old BIG boy who actually assimilated pretty well. I remember the initial item that stopped him from crying was a red bulb on the Christmas tree that he could see himself in :) The first month he was with us are almost a blur as we adjusted to having an infant in the house and especially because he was SO SICK with asthma problems. We had so many Dr. visits that month it was crazy! Of course things settled down and he became part of our family. He has changed so much and is developing into quite the little character! He's not a baby anymore and he is looking more and more like a big boy!
Never in my foster care fantasies did I imagine that our first foster care placement would be this long. I'm not really sure what I expected, but I think I was expecting more of what my friend has had her first year...12 kids! Obviously God has us each on the path that He has planned for our separate families but we certainly have had different experiences for sure!
I have learned so much in the past year...there have been very hard times...there have been fun/easy times...there have been moments where I want to scream at the system...there have been moments when I have tried to encourage workers with tangible efforts to "keep going" when their job was "too much." There have been times when I have cried at the very thought of having to say goodbye...there have been times where I dreamed of the day I could announce that Little Man would be a permanent member of our family! I never imagined the emotional rollercoaster that foster care has turned out to be, but I know that this rollercoaster is from God and we are along for the ride to do as He wants us to!!
We have no idea how much longer Little Man will be here with us (hopefully we'll have a bit more of an idea after Friday) but we will cherish each and every day we have with him and even if he does return to his parents someday we will never regret having the blessing of him in our lives for however long God had him here!!
Sharing the life experience of becoming foster parents to the least of these!
4 comments:
Hi M, nice to meet you! I am linking to your blog and look forward to hearing your reports as well. You have a great attitude about caring for him while he is yours...and hoping for the best. I try to do the same. Would love to know about what the perm hearing means for your process. We don't have something by that name in our county.
Nice to "meet" you too :) A permanency hearing is basically a hearing to look at the case again and either continue with reunification as the primary goal, or it could be changed to adoption, or a couple others that are less likely such as relative care or guardianship. We are praying for God's will, but (not so secretly)we are hoping God's will is for us to adopt him :)
Okay, got it. Our county leaves reunification as the primary goal throughout the process and adoption is a concurrent goal the whole time. I hope God's will for us both is adoption! :)
it goes fast. i hope you get good news, no matter what that looks like.
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