Time to Step Up!

During our training today our case worker told us of a story of a nine year old girl who was in the foster care system, and while in care, her biological mom died in a fire (she was running a meth lab in her home). The case worker took the girl to the funeral, where there was a chapel FULL of relatives there who were mourning the loss of the girl's mom. Can you imagine having a large "family" like that but still no one is willing to take you in - talk about rejection. First by her mom who neglected her child which caused her removal in the first place, then by family not willing to step up. Some even had the nerve to ask the girl for her contact information so they could "keep in touch". (the girl ended up "aging out" of the system when she turned 18)

The segment we were studying was on Separation, Loss & Grief. One thing I've heard over and over is no matter what a child has been through, they almost NEVER speak about their parents in a negative way and will defend them no matter what. Regardless of the circumstances, removal from their home is a tramatic experience for most kids.

I'm struggling right now with judging people who would do this to a child, but that's another fight. Our fight right now is to help save some of these kids.

Life at Rio Bend

We'll we're almost fully unpacked and settled at our new home at Rio Bend. It's such a huge blessing to have room for everything and for everything to have a place. Hopefully I'll soon have time to actually get it there, but in the meantime, we are enjoying our new community. Most of all, we are enjoying our incredible neighbors. Since we're not licensed yet, we've tried to make ourselves available to provide some respite care to the families out here, even if it's just taking someone to the pool while their babies nap, or allowing them to go out on a date night.

The agency we've decided on is Arrow Child & Family Ministries . Things are moving along quite well, and today found out we can probably be licensed by the 30th of this month, and could get our first placement as early as the 31st. We also found out how desperate the need is for foster families willing to take "older" children. "Older" children were described as ages 10 and up. Usually when they're that old, their parents have already terminated their rights to the state, so these are children that no one is fighting for. Another huge need is for foster families willing to take in sibling groups. This are exactly the kinds of kids we've been praying for and know God is already preparing our hearts for them.

Thank you for your continued prayer for our family during this process. We covet your thoughts and prayers for the children that will be in our care.