Let me start out with apologizing for how horrible I am about keeping this silly thing updated. Actually, I'm not that sorry... Maybe not even sorry at all. I have been busy enjoying life instead of writing about it.
There has been a lot happen in our family in the last year, so let me start from the beginning, and even back to before...
Three months after Joshua and I got married, we decided to begin our journey for a family. We had no idea how long it would take us to get pregnant, and, at that point, we were not concerned.
Skip forward two years later, to some really disheartening doctors' and specialists' appointments. We had a decision to make - either spend every penny we had on fertility treatments, or open our hearts for the unplanned better. We did not have our own place at the time, so our dreams of being parents were put on the back burners. We pursued careers, gained and lost jobs, finished college, and learned a lot about ourselves and each other.
The greatest test, though, was how it impacted our faith. We began to praise God in the little things. We held great levels of joy for simply getting time together - we didn't have to spend money to be happy. We gained some debt and paid off some debt, slowly working toward where we are today.
In the midst of all of that, I became a Law Enforcement Dispatcher at the local Police Department. Let me tell you, I have enough stories to write an entire series. Donkeys fleeing on hoof, pepper sprayed and taser fried chicken, the cooking sherry man, hay bales on fire, saving lives, and the occasional Dr Pepper Icee at 3:00 am were just a few things that were experienced. Joshua also began working, while finishing his Bachelors. He won and lost jobs trying to figure out where he belonged. That was a very hard time for him, but he remained firm in his faith.
We were also burned by a church during this time. To make a long story short, the pastor began acting odd and suspicious. We even thought we smelled marijuana on him one Sunday morning. When we started to investigate and confront him, he accused us of acting wrongfully toward the children, ostracized us, and banned us from the church property. Come to find out, the pastor was a pedophile preying on the boys in the youth group. It took us several months to heal from this, and in a way, we are still healing.
Last spring, I began looking for a new job. I had been with the police department for almost two years, and I was going no where. My fire to charge up the ladder was starting to die down, and I just wasn't happy. I spent the next 8 months getting my foot in the door at FedEx Freight, where I have now been for almost a year. I love my new job, and I love working with people who are challenging me to climb the corporate ladder. I finally feel like I can reach my potential.
During the last year, we also made friends, something we hadn't been doing a good job of. Brandi and Dustin are huge blessings in our lives. Some days I don't know what we would do without them. Their children are precious, and spending time with them stoked our fire for children once again.
Now we are getting to the best part, but we needed everything before to get where we are now.
Last August, after a year of praying, my new job at FedEx, and the journey of beginning to buy our first home, we finally took the plunge and began our journey into Foster Care. After a thousand background checks and two long weekends of training in November, it finally began to sink in. We also bought our first house in November! Such a huge thing for us! Here is a picture of it!
The week we moved into our house, DHS did our first walk through.There were boxes everywhere! It did not look like a home at all. That day, we were also told about two boys. Two boys who had been in foster care for longer than half their lives. That day we were given two pieces of information: their names and that they needed a family. That was more than enough. From that very moment, we have been at peace concerning making them part of our family. B and Q are absolutely amazing. They have gone through so much, yet they still love deeply and are able to forgive me when I make mistakes. B has now been in our home for almost 6 weeks, and he is transitioning very well. Getting Q, on the other hand, has proven to be super difficult. We fight for him every single day. Please pray with us that he will be able to come home as planned on July 1st.
We have also taken in others ranging from 6-14 years old. Our house is full... Full of love, chaos, heavy emotions, and blanketed in grace and mercy. One of these days I will be able to share pictures of all that is going on and the sweet smiles that fill my days. Pictures of mud fights in the horse pasture, family game nights, crawdadin' at the creek near the house, riding in the local play days, building the youth worship band at church, and everything else in between.
We are extremely blessed!
