Foster Care Update!

I am attempting to write this post from my phone because my computer is acting like a dinosaur and will not open up the page. After being frustrated for over a week I gave up. I have exciting news & needed to update on the Foster Care front. Let me preface this by saying I realize there are typos & hopefully I can go back to fix them. Right now I'm about to lose my sanity trying! This past Wednesday night was our first home visit from a DFCS worker! I was really frustrated with the run around and lack of information I was being given so I contacted a friend of my brother-in-law who works at DFCS & offered to help if we needed it. We weren't really sure of her title, but he thought she was pretty high on the chain & knew she would look into any concerns we had. I finally e-mailed her & told her our whole story of taking classes & not being contacted or given any direction. She apologized & promised to look into it. I honestly was expecting her to say "Oh just wait a few weeks, they're busy..." what she came back with (the same day, might I add) was "I looked into it & you've been turned over to an independent agent to complete your home study." Ok great, at least we know we weren't lost on someone's desk! Well, the next day I got a call from the independent agent who wanted to schedule our first home visit & had already sent out references to 4 of the people on our list! When she sent me the packet of paperwork I had to fill out there was a paper in there with DFCS management staff listed. Oh, the sweet lady who helped get the ball rolling was the regional director! Whoops! I felt bad that I threw an employee under the bus to her big boss, but I seriously didn't know! Anyway, what's done is done & I'm thankful my brother-in-law knows people in high places! ;-) The appointment was Wednesday at 5:30 & I was a basket case of crazy trying to get everything clean & organized so she wouldn't put a big red X on our file! I was mostly concerned with the room that will be the Foster Child's because it's currently an office with a closet that was FULL of junk! My precious Mom, sensing my crazy, took Tuesday off to help me organize and I was beyond grateful! We ended up leaving my desk & office stuff on the room & just putting the I un-assembled crib in there so she would see we have it. Once the time finally came it all went well. I have to say I was beyond grateful for two sweet girlfriends who reminded me that this whole journey has been orchestrated by the Lord, why would he fail me now?! They were so right, why do I always do that to myself? One of them shared this verse with me which I need to have plastered all around me. "THE LORD WILL FIGHT FOR YOU; YOU NEED ONLY TO BE STILL." Exodus 14:14 How amazing is that?! It calmed me and lessened my anxiety more than she could've known. So when 5:30 finally rolled around I was ready! Little One had a bath, dinner on the counter, a new craft, lap desk and a DVD all ready to go since she isn't much for playing independently & I was SO worried she would come interrupt 541 times. She did amazingly well though & even though it lasted 3 hours she was awesome the whole time! I knew she would be, but you've always got that "what if?" in the back of your head. The lady doing the study was very inviting and warm & didn't make us nervous at all! She was actually very positive & acted like it would go fairly quickly on her end. Once she types up our file, inputting all the info from the "book" we gave them during our classes, the info from our references & the other crazy amount of stuff they've collected. She'll have to come back once more and the only suggestion she made was that we put the crib together so she can say we are ready to go! She of course doesn't know for sure what will happen, but she seemed to think we may be a good fit for newborns because I don't have to send them to daycare & can keep them at home for the six weeks before they can do day care. She said most foster parents work outside the home and aren't able to foster new babies. How cool would that be?! It sounds like a LOT of work, but I would love it! :-) So that's it for now. We just need to do a few little things and we're good to go! Who knows how long it'll take to get with DFCS and sign a few papers to be added to the list once the study is approved but that will be the final step! We've just got to remember that it's in the Lord's hands & He has it all under control! Thanks SO much to all of you who have been praying for us, thinking about us &/or have checked in with us through this process! We are grateful for you!!!!