Skip to main content

Our Foster Parenting journey, part 1

I guess I should start by saying, we never set out to be foster parents.  Jeff and I both have a heart for kids who were dealt a bad hand.  Kids who parents do not, or can not, love, provide, and keep them safe. We adopted our son Nicholas from the foster care system.  We got certified as a fost/adopt family, with the intention of adopting a child currently in the system. That was the plan, but "best laid plans....".
Nicholas was a gift from heaven.  Just born, just two days old.  His birth mom relinquished her rights at the hospital.  While the legal process was long, Nicholas was ours from the very beginning. We have loved him, nurtured him, and disciplined him since his very first days. He has been a blessing to us since day one.

We are foster parents again, and this time is much different.  Our newest little guy was in the system, in foster care.  We knew him through a friend.  My heart was drawn to this kid right away.  I felt compelled to advocate for him.  I felt divine direction pulling me to act on his behalf.  Fortunately, my husband agreed.  This is a tough one.  Our families voiced pretty strong arguments.  We have four children already, financially this didn't make sense, space is already tight, resources are stretched, etc....

As a family, we decided, it was something we needed to do. We knew that everyone in the family would be making sacrifices. We knew it wouldn't be easy. We all agreed that we wanted to intercede for this little boy, and we would find a way to make it work.  That was 4 1/2 months ago.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Fox hole parenting

I enter this new week a little tired, but smiling.  Why? No drama this weekend.  We had sunshine, and sports, and cuddle time--- less the drama.  Most families don't experience the intense level of emotions that the Rhodes clan does. Sure, they have the hectic life of families, perhaps some fighting, the normal mess--- perhaps a little teen hormone induced drama....but we have drama of a different kind in our house.  The kind of drama caused by a brain that is shooting off crazy chemicals induced by years of trauma.  When our son Victor is home, the whole world is a great big land mine.  Saying the wrong thing, calling him out on behavior, or even suggesting that he not eat a 4th serving of ice cream can cause the the peace to recede, and for chaos to ensue. He is now in a boarding school for kids with emotional issues.  As sad as it is that our family isn't all together--- I must admit that the peace in our household is a welcome blessing.  We are learning more and more

New season of renewal & refinement

I am a girl with strong faith.  Strong, blind, childlike faith.  My atheist friends are bewildered by it.  They cannot understand how such a smart woman would believe such "nonsense".  I have no explanation other than, I just do. I preface this post with that statement because, you won't find me quoting scripture here.  Though I would if I were more confident in my ability to do so competently.  I do not have that confidence, never have.  I am a believer.  My belief has been nurtured by life experience, by answered prayers, by constant evidence that God cares about me.  I see his hand in big things and small. I look to him for guidance and help in all things.  I am not a Biblical scholar.  I have always been somewhat insecure about that.  I am bolstered up by the words of a Godly woman much wiser than I who assures me that "I am living my walk out loud".  My faith is not in my knowledge of the scripture, but in the choices I make each and every day. I

Networking can be expensive!

I went to a cool women's networking meeting the other night. It was with an organization called Heartlink . It was at some one's house. An awesome dinner was served. Tables set, lovely hospitality, and about 20 very interesting women were there. We each got 3 minutes to introduce ourselves and tell a bit about our business's. Most of the women knew each other already. Many of the women present had business's that sell through direct marketing. Most of the big ones were represented, and a few new ones I had never heard of but found interesting. There were also women with other business's like insurance, legal services, printing, etc... It is great to meet like minded people, and I can definitely see the benefits of attending regularly. The bad part however, is it leaves you wanting to go shopping! All of a sudden, I MUST have the new mango cutter from Pampered Chef, and I am yearning to freshen up my candles, and I NEED a hole new wardrobe from CABi .