Week 1 as (foster) parents

How do I even begin to describe our first week as parents? It was our third anniversary and we got a call about a placement. Upon his arrival, Little J got out of the car all smiles and walked straight up to us, and after shaking each of our hands, began to talk nonstop. He was not the shy and quiet child I expected to meet after all he had been through. Joseph showed him inside while I spoke to his social worker briefly. She only stayed for a few minutes, then she left and we were alone with this child who we barely knew. He was exhausted after the day he had and after brushing his teeth and changing into PJ's, he peeled off his clothes and fell into bed, quickly falling asleep. That was way too easy, I thought. Little did I know that he would not always be so easy to put to bed.

We quickly realized that certain vital details about J had been conveniently left out when we were called for placement. Things that we should have been told. But God is in control, and honestly, it's probably better that we didn't know. We may have not accepted this child into our home had we known everything - and it was definitely, 100% God's plan to place him with us. The resources that we have available to us to help this child in areas of need simply overwhelm me when I think about it.

What has been challenging about our new role as parents? Well, the obvious that anyone who's a parent knows - you are responsible for the life of another human being, 100% of the time. I didn't realize how selfish I was with my time before, how much I thought about myself, until now. Now that is really not an option for us. Someone at work asked me how my RA symptoms have been with the stress that comes with becoming a parent. My answer: I haven't had time to really think about it. And now, every decision we make must go through the filter of - how will this affect him? It's a whole new mindset.

We have also been challenged by the needs this child has. We were not prepared for a child with special needs. But we are figuring it out one day at a time, with the help of a solid community of foster/adoptive parents in our area who've been doing this for a while. They are awesome, and we could not make it without them. It takes a village.

For all the challenges, this child is so precious and sweet. My favorite thing is to listen to his prayers. He talks to God like he talks to us, just says what's on his mind. Through the course of a prayer, he usually tells God he loves him at least 4 times. Yesterday when J prayed before dinner, he said, "God, we know you're old, but we love you anyway." (I think he got the idea that God was old from our conversation about how God didn't have a birthday because he'd always been around - this child was wanting to have a birthday party for God, y'all).

I am learning so much about myself and about the Lord from having this little person in our house. God, give us wisdom and strength to parent him well and love him the way that you love us - unconditionally.