Today Jessica and I are officially licensed to be foster parents. Jessica got the call this morning and we are so excited. We began the process back in July and still have a few classes left but we have completed all the requirements for licensing. This is such an exciting time in our lives and I am so excited about this step that we are taking to help children in need.

We won’t have a child for at least a week and a half because tomorrow morning we are leaving on vacation. Jessica’s parents have been gracious enough to invite us to stay with them in Blue Ridge, GA at a cabin they rented for the next week. With all the expenses we’ve undertaken, there’s no way we could have afforded a vacation this year. Luckily we’ll have this last getaway before we begin our adventure in foster care. I’m really excited. The next few weeks should be interesting.

I hope to write more here and use this space to chronicle my thoughts and experiences in foster care. There are a few rules. Unfortunately I can’t post pictures of any children we care for and I can’t write their real names. So I’ll be making up names for the kids we care for just so I can still talk about it all. We are starting with only one child age 2 or under. We’ve learned what to expect. We don’t expect to get a perfect kid. We know that the child may be hurt, even at such a young age. We’ve been learning tools to use in helping the child to behave and be happy. We’ve been learning about working with the natural parents, the case manager, and guardians. There’s a lot of things that we have to do, but every single bit of it is worth it if it means one single child will be blessed by it.

People often say things about fostering that really frustrates me. I will try not to rant to much about this but I hope it will help you to think a little about your attitude towards fostering. The number one response that drives me crazy is when someone says, “oh I couldn’t do that, it would just break my heart when I had to give the child back.” You are saying you wouldn’t want to help a helpless child because you are afraid it will “hurt”? Are you serious? If you would care that much for the child, you are exactly the type of person these foster kids need!

I hope I can share some great stories with you as we move forward. Realistically, we could have a child in less than 2 weeks. Everything will change in my life, I know that. Hopefully as a result, everything will change in the life of a child too.