Thoughts and Lessons from Our First Month Fostering

It’s hard to believe it’s been a month since we welcomed Buzz and Woody into our home! In some ways it feels like way more than a month and in others it feels like it has cruised by.

I thought I would share some random thoughts from the month. These thoughts aren’t really organized, I’m just sharing them in the order they come to me.

 

I bought clothes that were way too small

They came with some needs in the clothing department and so we bought some the morning after we got them and I ended up buying a few things that were too small. I didn’t realize the three year old would be fitting into size five and six . . . (I feel like that’s an acceptable mistake).

 

 

I missed reading picture books

I came to the realization that Rae and Ephraim slowly got out of wanting me to constantly read picture books to them and now that I have been pulled back into that world I realized how much I missed it!

 

Expanded vocabulary

I don’t know exact numbers but I think Buzz came to us with about ten words we could understand and I would say he now has over twenty!

 

 

We live in uncertainty

I kind of like to have a bit of a plan in life and this life situation makes that impossible. When the social worker dropped them off she implied that it would probably be long term but in the past few weeks there have been signs that it might not be that long at all. I feel like they most likely will be here for Christmas but even that is not definite.

 

It’s been hard

Honestly, a toddler and a preschooler are often a lot on their own but adding them into your family after never meeting them is a huge adjustment! Jumping in to a lack of sleep, trying to understand delayed speech in kids you’ve never met, attempting to keep up with laundry and trying to feed everyone has kept me busy, never mind trying to do any other things on top of it.

 

 

It’s been good

Even though it’s been hard, it’s been good. Raeca and Ephraim have grown so much and have been so helpful. I’ve also learned that while I love seeing Jared love our kids it’s even more amazing to see him love someone else’s kids well.

And because of my now lack to time I feel like I don’t focus on the own little worries I used to have. It has helped me to focus less on myself and more on others. In the Bible study that I am currently in we are studying about Joseph and I wrote down this quote from the video a few weeks ago: “No more self-wallowing, life is not about us. Push out of ourselves and get into ministry for others.” I feel like it sums up life right now.

 

I both want what’s best for them and want them to be able to go home

I thought I would feel more possessive when we got kids in our home and while I care for them a lot, I find that I keep praying that things will get figured out in their home and they will be able to return. That’s the goal here anyway.

 

In another month (plus two days) it will be Christmas, I’m curious to see where things are at then!