Devoted Decaturs

 I had our newborn strapped to my chest when I told my husband I felt called to foster. He was washing the dishes and I came up behind him and blurted it out. I don’t remember his exact response but I’m pretty sure it included the words “what” and “crazy”... but here we are a year(ish) later about to be licensed foster parents! After I told my husband I wanted to do this, we took the next few weeks to research, talk to others, and pray about it. We talked to the only two foster families we knew and researched the process. We learned so much during that time of digging into what foster care in our area looks like. We told friends and family we were considering it and were met with both support and questioning. There were a few key points during those weeks that helped us decide we shouldn’t hide from this need anymore. •There is a large need, much larger than we realized •It is not a costly process, in fact most agencies cover any costs that may arise during the licensing process (i...

 This weekend we tackled a lot of things around our home for the licensing process. We’re told there are a few things that we’ll need such as: fire escape plan, safety locks and an active security system. We’ve been meeting with our licensing worker weekly via zoom, due to COVID precautions, but for official licensing purposes a home visit is required. We’ve also got a load of paperwork to do, I mean hundreds of pages of it, which I honestly expected - I’d want to know every little thing if it was my kid .. wouldn’t you?  Regardless, it is actually really fun!  For all you mamas out there, I feel like I’m nesting again. I keep cleaning, preparing and organizing all the things! I don’t know what I’m doing, the same way I didn’t when I was pregnant with our son, but I believe I know who I’m doing it for, just as I did then. I picture them.... the kids, big and small. I wonder what they need... silence, a warm blanket or meal, a hug. Maybe some affection and attention. ...

We have no idea what we’re doing but it’s happening. We found out this week that COVID isn’t going to hold up our foster licensing process! Our licensing worker is ready to schedule our first home study. For those of you unfamiliar with the process, like we were, this means she is going to come tour our home and talk with us. We have two more training sessions and we’ll pretty much be ready to welcome whoever may need us. Of course there's a few other steps but truthfully it’s not a complicated process.  Honestly, it has been a great learning experience thus far. We have been able to ask questions, learn about ourselves and be honest and realistic about possible situations. There's free training about children, trauma, and relationships among other necessary topics. Its useful information for anyone that has children or works with children.  So even if you decide it isn’t for you after all, you learned something new.  Oh, and it doesn’t cost anything, at least not with mo...