Well…..the Faith Dress has made it’s appearance. (If you haven’t read the story of this dress, you may want to read that first. Or not. Whatever. I take no hostages on this blog.)
I’ve mentioned a few times the calling that both Mike and I feel that God has called us to foster children. Our desire is to foster and eventually adopt. (If we could do straight adoption, that’d be swell too…..I’m not limiting God)
We had our FIRST home visit last night with our caseworker that we met for the FIRST time last night as well. Now, this home visit was very different from what others I know that have fostered have experienced. We are working through Cherokee Nations instead of DHS (dept of human services) and so far, everything they do is worlds apart from how DHS does it. Everyone I know of that has gone through DHS had their foster children BEFORE their classes were even finished. Cherokee Nations does NOT do that. I believe they actually CHECK the families out completely before tossing kids into homes. (that would be a GOOD thing, they should probably check out their families first)
Our first home visit was 3 and half *HOURS* long! AND, we are still not finished yet! To say they are thorough would be an understatement. They started with background checks and anything that may have come up on them (traffic tickets, bankruptcies, prison time, etc). Luckily, ours was clean of all the before mentioned. LOL The only thing that came up was our marriage license. LOL We are pretty “clean” people.
Next came Mike’s interview. She wanted to know every school he has EVER attended by name. She wanted to know every JOB he has ever had from the age of 18 til present. She wanted to know his parents names, their ages, their education, their careers, whether they were still employed, their HEALTH, AND……..PERSONALITY TRAITS!
NO! I am NOT kidding!
She asked about any drug or alcohol abuse, physical, mental, emotional abuse with ANY of them! Then, she started on Mike’s siblings! Did they grow up together, his age, his health, his education, his job, where he lives, AND….personality traits!
Then, she started on mine. She was lucky with Mike….he only has 1 sibling….I have 3.
Where do my parents live, work, what is their education level, their career, how is their health, etc etc etc, down to……PERSONALITY traits! Then, onto the siblings: my sister, her health, her education level, her career, are we close, where does she live, and HER personality traits. Oh WAIT…she’s MARRIED! Her husband, his education, his career, his health, where do they live, his personality…..blah blah blah! BUT THEN! OH NO! She has KIDS! **4**! Their names, their ages, their personalities, where do they live…blah blah blah.
Oh yes…..I am telling the truth. And with each one, she ended it with: are you close, how often do you talk to them on the phone? How often do you see them? Do they have criminal/alcohol/drug abuse histories?
{sigh} I know it’s crazy. And to think we are not even DONE!
But, the house checked out just fine! YAY!
And, at the end of this 3 and half hour interview, she informs me that there may be a policy that would prevent us from fostering. I am licensed with DHS for in-home childcare. Everyone has known ALL along the way that I do this, and somehow, no one has mentioned it being a problem until NOW! I fully understand that they cannot pay me for both fostering and child care. I don’t want them to. I am fully aware that I am licensed for 7 children…..I only have 5 in order to have that extra 2 child cushion for fostering. (Truth be told, I’d get paid MORE for having them in my child care than fostering them! Obviously, we are NOT in this for the money. I’ve seen people do it for the money, and it did NOT turn out well for the child. )
So, I’m waiting and praying. A lot.
And the Faith dress has made it’s appearance:
It is my visual reminder of what I am believing in, what I’m praying for, what I’m trusting in. We believe there is a baby girl waiting for us…..needing us, and God is sending her to us. I don’t know where and I don’t when and I don’t know how, but I know God has shown both Mike and I.
So I’m praying fervently for God to work. If this mountain is in our way, either He will move the mountain, or He will move us. We just have to follow and be obedient.
So this Faith dress is our reminder to pray, to believe and to trust.
But this time…..it comes with a brand new pair of matching shoes. :X
Don’t hate. A girl’s gotta have shoes for a smashing dress like that!
So, if you would, please lift us up in your prayers, we could sure use them!