For at least the past four years I’ve felt and known that there are children that need to come to our family through foster care.  Every holiday that goes by, every school year that starts or ends, I think of these children and pray for them.  I know that the path leading them to us is not an easy one.  I ache for the pain and heartache they are experiencing that will bring them to the Foster Care system and then to us.  I pray that they’ll be comforted and know that I’m here, thinking of them and loving them.

My amazing husband is definitely on board with pursuing this path.  I’m so blessed to have this.  For the past few years we have gone through the most difficult trials in our entire lives.  We’re still not quite through it all, but we are starting to see the sunshine.

Our three biological children are quite young.  They are ages 3, 2 and 1 (soon to be 4, 3 and 2).  We’re primarily interested in fostering children ages 6-11, but are also looking at older children and sibling groups.  To many, I’m sure this seems like madness.  Our hands are already full with our three young children.  However, I have an urging like I’ve never known before to get licensed and be ready to take in foster children.

I started the certification courses this week.  It takes 32 hours of classes, a home study, background check, medical exam, financial review and much more hoop-jumping to become licensed to be a foster parent.  The whole process can take 4-6 months, on average.  In so many ways it feels like it will take forever to get licensed, but in others it feels so close.  I’m working really hard to get my home, my health and businesses in order so that I’m ready to do this.  It’s an adventure.  I feel so close and so far away to the children I’ve been praying for.