“She’s
precious.” That’s the description I got
on the phone of the little girl that needed a placement. This all happened so suddenly. Just hours before, I was working through
finding out the process with E was going to be long, as well as coming to grips
with the probability that God more than likely had another plan for me. I had mixed feelings. I knew deep down I needed to move forward,
but at the same time, I felt like I was letting E down in allowing another
child to be placed with me. There were
so many things running around in my head as I heard the social worker say, “She
just turned four years old. She has
blonde hair and blue eyes. She doesn’t
have any behavioral or medical issues. I
think she would be a perfect fit for you.”
I didn’t have many other details.
I wasn’t sure what brought her to me other than drugs, and I wasn’t sure
how long I would have her. Even so, after
hearing all these things, it just all of a sudden seemed clear. I knew this was the next step in my fostering
process. I said yes. And a few short hours later, she arrived at
my doorstep.
To say I was
nervous was an understatement. I had
been preparing for this moment for months, but the knowledge it was finally
happening was enough to make my heart feel like it was beating out of my
chest. I was pacing back and forth in
the kitchen watching out the window for a car to pull in my driveway. Finally, one did. I watched as the car door opened and the light
inside the car came on. I could see her
in the back seat, dressed in a navy and pink outfit with sparkly little black
boots. She was adorable. She didn’t even seem scared. She was extremely talkative. She was laughing and asking about what toys I
had. I was absolutely dumbfounded by how
well she seemed to have transitioned, even after the first few minutes. The social worker only stayed a short time,
then I was left alone with little “A.”
We went upstairs so I could show her around. She immediately began looking through the
miniscule amount of toys I had accumulated and found something to play
with. We sang songs, fingerpainted, and
pretty much did whatever she asked to do.
I finally got her to sleep, then went to bed in awe. How many months had I spent taking classes,
completing paperwork, painting a bedroom, decorating it….all for this. It was finally happening! I don’t know how long it took me to fall
asleep. I was nervous about the next day
and what I would find out in court. But
all I knew at that moment was how happy I was that I said, “YES!”
*Follow-up
with E: Less than two weeks after I took A, my friend that was fostering E told
me she was pregnant. Because of the
stress she was under with E’s behavior and family situation, as well as a
medical condition, she was requesting that E be placed with another family. At that time, I didn’t even have a
choice. There was no way I could parent
two foster children alone…not right now, anyway. I was sad.
But mostly, I was relieved. I
thought back to when my wise friend told me to seek peace and God would make it
abundantly clear what I should do. My,
how she was right.
I felt like God unfolded my story just as HE
wanted it. It definitely wasn’t my plan
a month before, but He changed things. I’m
so glad He did.
No comments:
Post a Comment