Foster Care

I know I have been focused on other things and have not mentioned foster care in a very long time. The main reason I have not mentioned it is because any steps we were taking to be foster parents has come to a hault. There are fears on foster care Dustin is not ready to face, giving a child back after parenting them for a year, is one of those fears. I have to admit that giving a child back scares me as well. We also feel there are things we need to take care of before brining a foster child into our home.

It seems that this door is closed for now. I am not sure why God has allowed it to be closed but I do know it is His will. That brings me to a verse that often comes to mind because it seems like that is all I am doing these days. I will have to admit though, it is not always patiently I am waiting.

Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry.

Our list...

Since I love to make lists I thought I would list the things we need to get done to the house before we are ready to welcome children. Here it is:

• Living Room: finish painting, put curtains up, steam clean floor and furniture
• Dining Room: Paint and steam clean carpet
• Mud Room: New light
• Spare Bedroom: Paint, new flooring and clean out
• Nursery/Toddler Room: Clean out
• Other: finish putting windows in, replace some outlets, child proofing

Wow, it does not look like so much when I type it out! Since I have a 4 day weekend I am hoping to finish the living room and get moving on the spare bedroom. I want to start the nursery but I would like to get a crib first.

My Purchases

I started purchasing items we may need for foster care. I went to some rummage sales to get clothes and anything else I could find. I chose rummage sales because I wanted to get clothes for boys and girls from infant to 6 years old. I found some really adorable clothes all look new. I could not believe the prices! They were great!

I also found everything to set up a nursery. Now all we need is the crib. It is a Noah's Ark theme. I got all the bedding, decorations, a stool, diaper holder, etc. for only $50. I was excited about that since I really wanted to so that theme and it matches the color the room is already.

I think it is very difficult to plan for an age range. When someone is pregnant they know they are getting an infant but we have no idea what we are getting except that it will be in our age range.

At times, my excitement wanes. However, at other times I am excited. I wish my emotions were more consistent.

Is this real???

I cannot even begin to wrap my mind around the fact that in less then 6 months we could have little feet running around our house. I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that I am purchasing children's clothes, preparing a nursery and preparing another children's bedroom. Is this real?