Licensed!

We started the foster and adoption licensing process in February 2011.

We finally received our license on this day, 21-months later!

(For those who may consider being adoptive/foster parents, please know this is not a typical licensing length of time, it is usually a 4-6 month process.)

It was a looooong journey that we are ultimately thankful to have experienced. 

We learned a lot in the 21-months of waiting. We affectionately call it: "The Waiting Place".

Here are a few:

We learned God is not in a rush. He does not operate on our culture's sense of time and instant gratification. (Much to our dismay at times!)

We learned God teaches us a lot in The Waiting Place, when we are open and teachable.  An abundance of things that will help us as we continue on in Our Foster Parenting Journey.

We learned that God didn't just make Joseph in charge of the whole land of Egypt.  Joseph had to grow into that role.  He began using his gifts when he was in charge of Potiphar's household. Then the warden put him in charge of the entire prison for at least 10 years. Then he was in charge of the land of Egypt.  He was in The Waiting Place A LOT before he finally stepped into the role God created him for. (Genesis 37-41 in The Bible)  And all the steps leading up to being "top dog" of Egypt, along with the Lord being with Joseph, gave him success in whatever he did. (Gen. 39:3, 23)

We learned a more significant meaning behind the lyrics: "if our God is for us than who can be against us and if our God is with us than what can stand against."

We learned "the squeaky wheel gets the oil."

We learned that social workers appreciate a kind word every once in a while. They also appreciate patience.

We learned that instead of going right into adoption, we ought to be foster parents first because there is more of a need for safe, stable, and loving homes. 

We learned a lot about attachment parenting and having compassion for hurting people.

We learned that we can get a phone call for a placement at any time--starting today!