Big News

We got an envelope in the mail today. It’s BIG.

I confess. I actually already knew that we were approved since Wednesday. I was just waiting to have the official paperwork in hand before I made an official announcement.

And it wouldn’t be me without an official blog post to go along with it.

Enclosed in the above envelope was two pieces of paper. The first said this:

Dear Theo and Suzanne,

On behalf of the staff of Greene County Children’s Services, I would like to congratulate you on the completion of your foster/adoption homestudy.

You are approved as of ________ as a foster/adoptive home to care for up to three children between the ages of 0 to 12 years with mild to moderate emotional, mental and physical needs. Your homestudy must be updated every two years.

Blah Blah Blah your license will be taken away if anyone in your home is found to have committed a criminal act.

Blah Blah Blah your license will need to be updated if you have any more biological children, if you adopt a child, if someone in the family dies, or if another adult begins living in the home.

Your adoption approval through GCCS allows you to be considered for adoption of children in the permanent custody of public children’s service agencies throughout the US.

 

Along with that letter, was a short certificate stating that our home is an approved foster home. Honestly…two years later, I never would have thought this day would arrive!!!

Basically, this is like us announcing that we are pregnant. Except we don’t really know when the baby will arrive. Or what their gender is. Or their age. We just know that God knows.

I’m sure that you have questions, so I will go ahead and try to answer some of them. The thing that I am learning about foster care is that there are a lot of questions that no one has answers for. Or that everybody has a different answer for. I hope you know by now that I’m more than willing to answer any questions that you may have. You can comment below, or on Facebook or send me an email or a message with any questions that you may have. I’m sure I will be blogging a lot about the rest of this process.

And there there are a lot of questions that I’m not allowed to answer. I have to sign papers that say I will keep the child’s past private and not disclose anything. I am not allowed to share their pictures on any social media platform. I am able to send pictures and their names to friends and family via text and email. However, it is still a sensitive issue and that my vary by case.

We are feeling very excited. I keep accidentally leaving my phone in a different room and I always feel like I’m going to miss that phone call. I’m sure they will just call back…but still. We so appreciate all your support and your prayers. Trust me, we need them.

Of course, Theo and I are the ones with the name on the license, but it wouldn’t be fair if we got all the credit. We have had countless people praying for us….that means so much. More than you (or we!) even know. We have had several people who have been really good at texting me to ask how things are going. I so appreciate you gals. We had several families from our church agree to babysit Tera while we went to our classes. We wouldn’t have this license without you.

And of course, we must give all the glory to God. He is the one that very clearly led us down this path. it took us a while. But here we are, with all the t’s crossed and i’s dotted…just waiting for that phone call. And sometimes it keeps me up at night not knowing who the children in my home will be. But God knows. And I have such great comfort in that. God doesn’t call us to comfortable lives and lives of ease. Instead He has commanded us to take care of the orphans and the widows. So we know that this journey won’t be easy. In fact, I know in my head that it will be the hardest thing we have ever done. But God.