Wow! It is hard to believe that it has been 3 years since I last posted on this blog. Little did we know that less than a week after my last post God would turn our world upside down.
I thought that I would return to the world of blogging now that summer break has arrived and life is somewhat slowing down. I must begin by documenting the events of a journey that has completely changed our life and has been an answer to a specific prayer request that we had for about 12 years.
On February 23, 2012 God brought three little sisters to our doorstep ... literally! After 15 years of a wonderful marriage and 12 years of praying for children, our focus changed and we realized God had another plan for us. We decided to begin training to become foster parents. We prepared for about 6 months in 2011. After receiving approval in December of 2011, we spent a wonderful Christmas holiday with our family. Once the holiday season ended we settled into the routine of work and daily life. After about 6 weeks into the new year, I began to wonder if our name had been lost in the system. Would we ever be contacted to be foster parents? We still had many questions as to how the process worked.
At about 8:00 p.m. that dark, cold February night I received a phone call about three little girls (ages 4, 2, and 7 months old) who needed a place to sleep for the night. I asked the DCS case worker who called where the children were at that time. She said they were with another case worker driving around in a car waiting for a home to open. Brian was out of town at a basketball tournament, and so I struggled for an answer. I told the caller that my husband was out of town, and we were only expecting to take in one child. She persisted and asked which age child would we take? I was overwhelmed by the thought of having to choose only one. The Lord then gave me the thought that Brian's brother and his wife had also gone through the foster care training. I asked the case worker if she could look up their name and maybe they could take the other two. She saw their name on the list and told me that she would call them.
In the meantime, I called Brian and talked over the matter with him. He asked me if the child came to our home how long would she stay? I told him there were probably family members who would come for the children.
Tony and Darla were also at the basketball tournament watching their oldest son play. The buzzer sounded to end the game and the case worker called them. When they heard that there were children needing a foster home, they immediately left the gym and started back to Chattanooga. It would take them 3 hours to get back to town. So within a 30 minute period it was decided that we would take the girls. I had about an hour or so to prepare, although I did not have clothes or baby items. I wondered if they would be scared. So many questions and so little time to prepare. I tease my friends who have had children that they had nine months to prepare; I had a little over an hour ... but God was guiding and directing the paths of these precious children and us. I will continue a section of the story in each post.
