And Just Like That, They’re Gone

Yesterday morning Buzz and Woody’s social worker phoned and started out the conversation “Sometimes the Ministry does things strange . . .” and then proceeded to tell us she would be picking them up in a few hours to reunite them with their birth family.

That call was not expected.

Earlier in the week we were told that the birth family had just made an effort to start the reunification process and the social worker said she wanted to take things slowly, with day visits and then overnights but she’d let us know more information at the end of the week.

Well, that information resulted in us saying goodbye immediately, with no transition.

Because we have been able to meet their birth family a bit in the last few months I feel more excited for them than sad for us but the last 24 hours have been quite the change in our house. I keep tiptoeing around because it feels like the boys are just napping, but then I remember that they’re gone.

Within ten minutes of getting off the phone with the social worker with the information that they were going home we got a call for another placement for another sibling set, young kids who have been living in a group home for a few months because there aren’t families to take them in.

Our province so desperately needs more families to step up and be willing to take children in.

Just two weeks ago I was saying I didn’t know if we would continue to foster after they moved on but I can say that right now it does feel like we are supposed to continue, though we may make some changes in our range of acceptance.

As of right now we are taking a few days as a family to adjust to the transition, spend some time together and pray about where to go from here.

I would love it if you would pray for our family during this transition and while we figure out where to go from here. I would also love it if you would spend some time in prayer, asking God if He desires your family to open your home to children in foster care. I can tell you, it doesn’t take special people to foster, but it does take a big God.