An Update: Part 1

March was a blur of prepping our home and cramming in late nights and fun times that G and I knew we’d not be able to maintain once we became parents. At the end of March we were SO, so blessed with not one but TWO gift showers! One was given by a group of girlfriends I know from work and have acquired otherwise during the near six years we’ve lived here in Wichita. This shower was beautiful and did nothing short of making us feel loved, supported and encouraged! The girls outdid themselves with amazing details! The next was given by our friends at church. We were showered with gifts, gift cards, food, and then were prayed over by mighty men and women of God who so desire to journey with us in this adventure! For this special weekend, G’s parents, my mom, sister and niece and nephew came for the weekend. It could not have been any more special!

We nearly dropped the cake!  Thus our dramatic faces!

The second weekend of April, Grant and I took a trip to Austin to celebrate the first birthday of our nephew and to celebrate the ever-nearing arrival of our niece! We’d been saying that this long weekend would be our last hurrah as a childless couple, but I don’t think we knew just how right we were! The weekend was just great- sun, live music, time with family, good food, more family, kids and babies, parties…it was really a blessing.

Me and the sibbies at the Delta Spirit concert- SO FUN!

We returned on Monday and I made the decision to take off work on Tuesday so finish the last of our requirements so that we’d get approved by KDHE (Kansas Department of Health and Environment) to be a licensed foster care home. Our appointment was set for Thursday, April 19th at noon. On Thursday, G and I both went to work feeling confident in our home and excited to make things official! Well, our appointment went smoothly and we gained a few small chores that we needed to complete for approval, but overall we’d done very well! Phew! I suppose that was a good thing because we got a call that day at 2:30 to take two kids. What the?!

Our first call was for two boys, both very young. I told the intake worker that we’d accept them, hung up and called Grant to let him know. No sooner had I told a few co-workers about this development, I got a second call from an intake worker asking if we’d be willing to take a six year old. I told her we’d be unable to because we’d committed to caring for the boys. Just twenty minutes after declining this placement, I got another call letting me know that a kinship placement (meaning a close family friend, extended family or someone who has a close relationship with the family) had been made for the boys and they wouldn’t need us. Whoa. Really? I called Grant to let him know and sat feeling bummed and completely deflated. I caught my breath and allowed myself to exit the rollercoaster I’d been on for the last two hours and resolved to thank God for this grace he’d extended those boys.

I’d JUST regained my resolve to get back to work when my phone rang yet again. But this time was different. We were asked if we’d be willing to take on two kids, one boy and one girl. They are nine months and two years old. For the sake of their privacy, on our blog I’ll be calling them Little Man and Baby Girl. Grant and I do very little without first discussing it with one another thoroughly. In these cases, we’ve had to have a plan in place because usually an answer is needed right away. Per our guidelines, I told the intake worker that we’d take the kids. So I called Grant-again.

My mind went into this weird mode- I was thinking calmly and clearly. Like, completely calmly and clearly. I called friends and cancelled plans for the evening, apologized and explained why I was doing so. I called the doctor and scheduled appointments for the kids (just in case their shot records were not up to date, they would need to be immediately in order to get them into daycare), I called daycare and informed them about what was going on…I made a mental list of things we’d need in the home immediately for a baby and a toddler and then I packed up my work stuff knowing I’d be out the next day-home with our new kiddos.

When I got home, Grant was in full-on “Holy cow, things are about to get real here,” mode. Pacing, nail-biting, beard-stroking. I gave him a list of tasks to do-we were down to 40 minutes- to prep the room before the kids arrived. He completed them as I sat on the couch ordering our paperwork in our notebook. When he’d finished and I had too, we had only a couple of minutes to spare. We sat on the couch together to pray and the emotions flooded us. We thanked God for giving us such an incredible opportunity, we begged him for wisdom and for love-not our own falliable human love, but His perfect love-to share with the kids. We held each other and cried tears of excitement about the days to come, sadness at the loss of “just us” which we’d now known for seven years and loved dearly, and fear of all the many ways we were certain we’d screw up and require grace. There were some tears of nervousness in there too.

The dogs barked moments after our amen, signaling their arrival. Our Little Man and Baby Girl.