Update!

A week ago I went to the Foster Family Orientation. I learned a lot about the foster system and how it works. They explained all the different branches involved in foster care and what parts they played in the foster and placement processes.

Their main goal is to improve the health and safety of the children and that’s why in most cases the children have been taken out of their homes. But the end goal is to reunite these children with their families either with their parents who have proven to have improved their situation or to an extended family member.

There are several ways to go about fostering…  Jeremiah and I would have chosen “Foster to Adopt”. To my knowledge they will try to place the children who will most likely need to be adopted because their family situation is not likely to get better. However even if this child was placed in our home and we’re working towards adopting them… there’s a chance that an aunt or some other relative of the child will decide to take the child. I believe at that point the family member must go through the foster application process and have their home approved to foster and if approved the child would be placed in their home. They want the child to be with family if that is a possibility. The non-relative foster family is basically a last resort.  This is actually happening to a family I know through church. It’s heartbreaking.

The lady who was leading the orientation made a special mention that the families who are looking to foster to adopt a baby (which we are) should be prepared for the worst. That was pretty discouraging. However I feel confident that if this is what God wants for us He will also give us the strength we need to get through it. With that said… we don’t know if this is God’s will for us yet.

Our church family at Northside Church of Christ has started an adoption fund for us without Jeremiah or I asking for help. This was out of the goodness of their hearts and the Holy Spirit moving them to do so. This has made me feel that God has something else planned for our adoption journey. I don’t know what that is... and maybe that door hasn’t been opened yet but I do know that I need to have Faith that God will show us the right way.  We would appreciate your prayers. We know there are decisions that we need to make and we need God’s direction to make them.

Thank you again for following our story. It means so much to us. We appreciate your support very much!

Danielle