Hard to believe it's already been 5 montsh!

Let's see ... where to begin.

The children have been with us for 5 months now.

We have our ups and we have our downs.

They are staying home with me for the summer to relax and do school work. They have a difficult time doing what they're told to do. They push limits and throw tantrums. The boy has gotten a lot better though ... I must say. That makes us happy :-) He's doing much more age-appropriate things now.

The little girl is worrying us right now ... and she's worrying the counselor too. She has a great need for control. Control over her brother. Control over us. Control over what she gets to do. Control over the pets. Control over what she wants people to say to her. The list goes on and on. I pray the counselor will be able to help her and to help us work with her better.

They are very sweet kids. God has blessed us by them staying in our home. God has also taught us to depend on Him like we've never done before. God is essential for my sanity lately. I'm staying home with them this whole summer, and see them everyday ... all day. Some days I think I may go insane ... whereas other days I love it.

They should be with us another month, or two, or three, or ... who knows. It's really all a guessing game and I'm tired of guessing how long they'll be with us. lol God only knows, and once again ... we must put all our trust in Him!

Well ... the kids are finally back. They are already testing us with small things ... sigh.

They won't be having any more mom visits for at least 3 months, and maybe longer. So, that's good and bad. Sweet and sour.

My emotions are taking hold of me right now, and I know it is them ... bless their hearts. They won't even get to talk to mom for at least 3 months...

Anyways, I have lots to take care of. I just wanted to update.

The Start of Kids in the House!

I am so sorry it took me so long to post an entry about the kids!! It's been crazy around here, as you can imagine!

We took 2 children into our home on January 25th ... a Tuesday at 6:30pm. That day will forever be ingrained into our memories! The girl is 4 and will be in Kindergarten next year, and the boy is 3. They are brother and sister, and are very close. The girl really looks out for her brother, and does everything for him ... so he's not very self-sufficient, like a 3-year-old should be. We're working on that, though ;-)

The boy has had several tantrums since living with us ... some really small, some REALLY big. He's already put a hole in his bedroom wall during one, and has hit me twice. And being Foster Parents, we cannot spank or use corporal punishment with them.

They are both in school right now. The girl is doing well, just working on catching up with all the other 4 year olds with her academics. The boy is pretty defiant at school and home. We're still working on that. "He's full of anger and has been exposed to a lot", the counselor says. The counselor is coming once a week, and Wednesday will be her second visit with us. I pray she helps a lot.

They're already beginning to trust us more ... but we still have a long way to go!

Well, I'm off to go relax for a bit before I need to feed us dinner ... Just wanted to give a quick update.

...almost done...

The social worker finished typing up our Home Study and sent it off!!

Now, all we have to do is wait for all our other paperwork to go through . . .

So, there is a SMALL possibility that we'll have a child in our home before Christmas. But, in all likely-hood it'll be after Christmas when that happens.

Oh, the excitement and craziness begins!

'Tis the Season!

The time is drawing near, with Christmas just around the corner, and time to start our Foster Care Journey!

We completed our Home Study, and our paperwork could possibly be completed before Christmas! So ... we could have a child in our care before Christmas! Wow ... I didn't expect it to happen this fast. But we're ready. We've been preparing our home, our emotions, our family, and our relationship (to keep it in-tact and strong no matter what takes hold).

We are definitely excited to see exactly what God has in-store for us from here-on-out! It just makes my heart happy :-)

There are so many children out there in this world that we never hear about, that go through more than anyone should have to endure. That's what we're here for. To help a child get through life, and leave a lasting impact on him or her.

We know that this road will be very difficult, but don't worry, God has everything under control. We will turn to Him when the road gets rough, and then keep treading along. We want to help God's little children in any way that we are able.

Please keep us in your thoughts and please pray for us whenever you think of us. We'd love it very much.

We'll let you know when everything's complete and ready for us to start getting kids in our home!!!

Two More Home Visits to Go!

So, it has taken us since July to get this whole process done. It should all be complete by the end of this calendar year! Wow!

We went to training and it was intense ... and I mean INTENSE. If we weren't really meant to foster children, we would have been able to tell at the training. It opened our eyes WIDE! We learned so much about the different situations kids go through to get into Foster Care. Some made us sick, literally.

Most everyone keeps telling my husband and I how this is going to change our lives so much ... and guess what. We know. We've thought everything through, and still want to invest our lives and teaching into children we don't know yet. These children need loving, safe, caring homes to stay in until they can hopefully be reunited with their families. And we know we can provide that.

We know how hard it is going to be. But we have a support system in our friends, family, and the state to help us out. Our lives will never be the same once the first child walks through our doors into our home. That is what God put us here on this Earth to do though ... help protect His children.

We also want you to know, that if a child does not get to be reunited with their birth families, then Nehemias and I have talked about it and decided that we will most likely adopt that child.

This is so new and exciting to us!

So, about 3 months later and we're STILL getting stuff done for the Foster Care process! But we are getting SO SUPER-CLOSE. A lady will be out here the first week in November to collect all our paper work and talk to us and view our home environment. It's not the official Home Consultation ... that will come after our IMPACT Training. After we get everything in to her and talk to her some more, we'll be able to go to training, which is in the middle of November!!! Wow, getting SO close!

I also just worked on the "Kid Room" in our house some more. I can't believe how much stuff I have to fill it up. There are 5 shelves full of simply children's books, a shelf of kid games, and a closet-full of stuffed animals! The only things we lack are dressers and probably one more bed. But we'll get there. We also will be given money to help buy the children clothes and necessities. Which will help SO much. If we have a baby first though ... we don't have many baby things. We'll see what aged child God brings us first!

Well, I just wanted to give an update since we haven't in such a long time.

Hope all is well with everybody.

Love in Christ,
Lindsey