CHARLIE COMES TONIGHT!

TUESDAY OCT 30

I can't imagine what little "Charlie" is thinking right now.  He's been in a group home for 30 days and is moving in with us tonight.  The part that gets me with all the timing of everything is the holidays are right around the corner.  I'm praying for Charlie to get settled in here for the time being, and that he will be able to see his mom for visits come Christmas time.  However, it'll all be up to how everyone is doing and whether that will be a good thing or not.  I'd bet he will at least get day visits by then, though.  He is arriving the day before Halloween, so Wednesday night I think we're going to walk around at a local church's activities to give him something fun to do...if he wants to be out.  We may hit a corn maze this weekend so he doesn't feel like Halloween totally slipped him by!

At work, when they found out I was getting a 13-yr old boy this week their eyes got as big as saucers, lol!  One older lady I work with chuckled out loud before she caught herself, and everyone said, "Now, Linda, let's not scare the poor girl!".  I have no idea what lies ahead, but today will be overwhelming to say the least.  I just hope he eats good, that he can make it up & dressed for school in time, and that I'm still alive at the end of this week!  That is what I call success!  All the emotional stuff will likely come later. 

The Lord has great plans for Charlie, I can't wait to see how he grows over the next few months.  Growing pains aren't easy, however, please be in prayer for all three of us!

PLACEMENT!!!

Well, after many months of uncertainty, prayer, changing our minds, etc. we have decided to become strictly foster parents for now!  We have a need to "get our feet wet" before taking the plunge into permanent parenthood so to speak.  We gotta get a hold on how to discipline, learning to work as a team, how to divide up family chores, how to talk with kids (& hopefully get them to listen!), how to have fun with kids, how to get them to do their homework, how to discern their strengths & weaknesses & get them help where needed, how to emotionally engage them, how to incorporate them into our lives, how to teach them new things, learn how to cook for more than just two people...........OH, THE LIST GOES ON!

I have no doubt that we will stumble, fall, get back up again, stumble again, but I just hope & pray the Lord makes something out of it all for His glory!

Pray for "Charlie", our newest member of the Moody household...set to arrive this week!  He's 13 and he's had a rough road for sure.  He's learning to get rid of old behaviors & learning new ones, along with how to be comfortable in his own skin.  Charlie will be a part of our lives for at least 3 months, probably no more than 6-9 months, but these things are never cut and dry.  Pray for Charlie's mom & siblings to learn how to live a healthy home life. 

                                                      

"Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,"

Proverbs 1:5 ESV

lots of stuff today!

Met with the placement counselor today at YV.  He's a pretty cool guy with an awesome heart for kids.  I just am so thankful we have so much support through all this with their team.  They're always open to talking with us & offer great insight.  We've decided to go forward for now with opening our home up to respite placements, in particular the sibling group I spoke of in earlier posts.  Excited (!) but have to find a mattress & boxsprings before we can take in two at once!  Time to move out the workout equipment & move in the bedroom furniture. Guess life is a' changin' these days, that's for sure!  (Lord, please go before us, prepare us for what lies ahead, if only in spirit...Amen.)

"Oh, the places you will go!"-Dr. Seuss

http://homepages.ius.edu/HARRISLA/places.htm

 

"And when things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening too".

I question at times if we're strong enough or prepared enough to really be taking in a foster kid with so many challenges.  I don't think it's a question of my strength, but of the Lord's call to do so.  Ultimately, it's an act of obedience, therefore we're going to go forward.  The biography we read this week of the sibling group they presented to us was heartbreaking.  We are very unsure as to whether the Lord has placed them in our path to take in or not at this time, we're praying about it.  I'm not an outgoing, forward person, so this is a big step, taking in a kid who has weathered so much trauma.  However, reading the background of foster kids puts things in perspective like no other.  You bet your biscuits, we're going to move heaven & earth to give these kids a better life!  I'm sure I'll fail, but they will know what love is.  Kids have a way of making you want to be a better you...I'll do my best for them as a mom, that's all I can promise.

*Heard this song this week for the first time on Pandora.  It speaks of us coming together as God's people, to be our brother's keeper, so that the world "will see our good deeds and give glory to our Father in heaven."-  (Matthew 5:16)

MATT MAHER:  "Hold Us Together"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut0ENzQcjrM

(Links for info:)

FOSTER CARE YOUTUBE LINKS, ADOPTUSKIDS.ORG:                                                    

Children in Foster Care speak out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFBa9cK52vM&feature=related

Foster & Adoptive Mothers speak out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1oRU5Za9uM&feature=relmfu

The hope of being adopted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6QGzH3AxiY&feature=relmfu

Met with "Jo-Jo" yesterday, all I can say right now is how confused we are about this right now.  We have given the decision to God wholeheartedly, but there's some logistics to figure out about raising the sibling group they presented to us yesterday as well.  After reading their background with CPS I was moved to tears and I was only on the second page.  What a precious, priceless gift children are...it's just so sad some have such a rocky start.  It's hard to make up for all these kids have been through, and it's only the Lord that will work in their lives to make them new again.  The cycle just repeats itself with them unless someone steps into their lives to make a difference, I just don't know if we're the couple to do it yet.  I know the Lord has a child/(children) in mind to come into our home, we're just waiting on His green light at the moment.  Yesterday was a hard day, and it ended with me preparing some homemade soup and salad to take to a coworker friend who buried her 23-week old premature baby the day before.  I can't face her, I'm sending the food by another friend.  A lot to take in in one day, that's for sure!  Keep praying!

I am EXCITED to report that tomorrow the hubs and I meet with the adoption specialist ("Jo-Jo") to go over some kids' profiles!  I've waited for this day for so long, it's hard to express just how anxious & nervous we both are right now!  Our lives are about to change so much, but we're rookie parents so we're naive enough to be happy about it, lol!  "Jo-Jo" is going to go over a couple of sibling groups, one in particular that we've been briefly introduced to by word of mouth before.  The prospect of parenting a "tween" is enough to strike fear in my heart, but the stakes are high for this precious girl so I want so badly to be a positive role model for her.  The boy is under ten, but apparently FULL OF ENERGY as our homestudy writer put it.  All I can promise is a safe, happy home where they will be loved & shown the way to Christ.  Wow, I'll have to get my house in order to keep up with these kids (in more ways than one) that's for sure!  Spending a lot of time on my knees before the King these days, glad he's always up early & stays up late ;-)

Psalm 33:18-19  "But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine."

Missing my grandma ;-)

My grandmother was one of my all-time favorite people in the world.  She was a real jewel.  Mamaw Bea was a talented, hard-working woman who loved to "dig in the dirt" and quilt.  When the weather turned too cool to spend much time outdoors working in her flower beds her home became alive with quilt blocks she'd sewn together & quilted on her quilt frame, usually set up in her back den.  One of her favorite blocks she told me was the log cabin quilt block.  These could become very elaborate in magazines, but she usually resorted to larger fabric pieces, more easily pieced by her arthritic hands.  As she got older, most of her quilt blocks were large pictorial blocks she'd just quilt around here & there on the designs.  She never complained that her hands wouldn't allow for more elaborate design, she just took pride in her work & enjoyed what the Lord had allowed her to do with what she had.  I am thankful to have learned so much about life by watching her.  I love & miss you Mamaw!

(see link below for pattern:)
http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/log-cabin-quilt-block.htm

Soup weather is upon us once again!  I have searched the web for a good tomato bisque recipe, and the Hillbilly Housewife's web delivered.  I can't wait to try this one, sounds delish, all you need is a good loaf of homemade amish quick bread & there you have it. 

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/tomato-bisque-soup-recipe.htm

Gotta love it!

Tidbits about the "others"

I have had mixed reactions to the fact that my family has decided to join the chaos known as foster care.  Many people continue to look at me with sad faces when I discuss where we're at in the process (all the while I'm excitedly telling them good news- at least to me!)  Others continue to feel pity for us b/c we're infertile (which I'm still sad about, but life has finally moved on past this now, so I'd like them to move on!  No more stories about how we could still 'get' a baby if we wanted one, etc.)  However, many people treat the idea with skepticism & would rather generally just avoid the topic.  They try to avoid talking about it, they ask about it when they think they have to, but you can tell they're not interested so you'd better hurry w/ your story!

Fortunately, a coworker that I met for the very first time crossed my path today, just when I needed her.  She told me about how her & her husband have not had a baby just yet, but they took custody of his young 10 yr old family member when he was 6.  This boy's father was completely absent from the picture & his mother was on drugs.  They took him in when they realized how he was being raised.  First it was weekend visits, then it turned more permanent.  She understands what it's like to be placed with an older child, so she encouraged me to call & talk sometime.  Wow!  God placed her in my path, I have no doubt!

I say this to encourage others who may think there's no one who really understands them or their plight.  I don't understand what foster care will be like & I don't pretend to.  But I do know what being part of a broken family feels like, and how you're always trying to "fit in" with "normal families".  I also understand that I serve a God who can bring people into our lives for His purpose, and that we don't have to know how all the pieces of our lives fit just yet.  It's enough to just be walking with Christ & letting Him be our GPS for now!  Carry on, be blessed, be encouraged, make a difference!

                                  Life is a journey, not a destination!

 

AM I CUT OUT FOR THIS?!

I wonder if I'm cut out to be a foster parent at times, if the WAIT is getting me this early in the game that is!  No, I'm truly looking on the positive side, realizing that the timing is in God's hands.  It's the uncertainty that foster care brings that causes anxiety!  The never knowing when/ where/ who the kids are who will eventually be welcomed into our home.  I know the best thing I can do right now is surround my family in prayer as we wait........

"I will worship while I'm waiting..."

(John Waller: "While I'm waiting")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWQpW662B-8&feature=related