|
Part 1 Could I please watch a 2 year old girl and 5 year old boy for the first two weeks of December? 😫
Sorry, but NO WAY!
December? The most wonderful, and epically crazy time of the year? Out of the question! ❄
The foster mom sounded perfectly lovely, and I wanted to help her out, but the timing was poor.
We’d been doing respite care (giving foster parents a well-deserved break) for the better part of a year. It was a great, bite sized way to help our society’s most vulnerable which we searched for the right kiddos to adopt.
But we were feeling a little burnt out, and ready to take it as easy as possible over the holidays.
So, when my phone rang that November, I promised to talk to my husband and let that foster mama know. But, in my heart, I had already decided against it.
But as I waited for an opportunity to talk to my husband after work, I felt increasingly uneasy about my decision. And when I made it a matter of prayer, the answer was loud and clear. Do not turn this down!
Message received! I texted that foster mom and told her that we would provide the respite care. Then, realizing that I hadn’t already, I asked her for the kiddos’ names.
When she told me, I nearly fainted. The names were familiar…
Our goal from the time we became licensed was adoption. Respite care was our training ground and way to give meaningful service while we read every adoption recruitment email carefully.
But we were striking out. These children were all beautiful, wonderful, and precious. But they weren’t ours.
Then, one day, we saw an email about a sibling set. Something about them struck my heart. The boy looked so familiar. Could this be it, finally? Were these the kids we’d been looking for? 💖
We inquired about them, chatted with their adoption recruiter, and ALMOST applied.
But, somehow, in the process, the fire in our hearts went out. Something didn't feel right anymore.
We did not send in the application.
Then, a few months later, that foster mama called. And when she named the children I had agreed to watch, guess who they were?
Yep! The very same two!
Dressed in my apparently very memorable red coat Zac and I went to pick them up.
They were absolute magic. Sweet, funny, silly, and smart. Seriously, they were the best kids ever!
Which is my way of saying that by the third day, I knew that they were “the ones.”
|
