I've never been great at journaling or even keeping people updated on our lives. But this new journey deserves to be documented! A little background for those of you who don't know, Caleb and I have hoped to expand our family for the last 6 years. We knew before getting married there was a chance we would not be able to have children the "regular" way and had to make the decision to be happy together even if it was only ever the 2 of us. I realize that we were blessed to at least have a heads up that we may have fertility issues and were able to start our marriage with our eyes open to that. There are so many couples that wrestle through the unfortunate surprise of infertility and I've seen it be a MAJOR strain on relationships. Don't get me wrong, Caleb & I have dealt with the strain on our relationship as well. But through it all, we've seen God moving and working in us. I have been OBSESSED with being a mom since I was 13 or so and Caleb wants kids but is the kind of person that needs to prepare, prepare, prepare. In the last six years, I have been working through my own identity and who I am as me; with or without kiddos. Caleb has been avidly listening to FamilyLife Today and Focus on the Family radio programs and hearing/learning so much about dealing with every stage of parenting.
We made the decision from the start of fertility treatments that IVF was not an option for us. Don't get me wrong, IVF has helping to bring many beautiful children into the world and I know adoption isn't for everyone. FOR US, IVF wasn't our choice. We felt that it was wiser for us to look into adoption options instead. We did some Clomid rounds and HCG shots followed by IUI (Intrauterine Insemination) but nothing took. I think it was a total of 7 rounds in 2 batches. Besides dealing with the emotional ups and downs of hoping that THIS ROUND would be THE round, the hormones were causing me to be not a nice person! And the hot flashes!! So we chose to discontinue the treatments and paid off the bill for the next 10 months.
2013 led us to an adventure in missions; 3 months in Australia that we wouldn't trade for the world. We came back to a transient housing situation (housesat for a cousin for 9 months, lived in a camper for 5 and lived with Caleb's parents for another 5) until we found a sweet little house to rent. There was a 2 year span that wouldn't have worked at all to pursue adoption so that was on the back burner as well. We felt like we were in a holding pattern for so long but it was truly a time that God was lining out our paths in other ways.
Fast forward to October/November 2016 - There is a ministry in our valley called ChildBridge and they provide support for foster families as well as go into local churches to make them aware of the needs of the foster children in our valley and recruit support and new foster families. I was aware of this ministry for a couple of years but when they came to speak at our church, Caleb and I were able to speak at length with the staff about how to go about becoming a foster to adopt family.
We took the 19 hour course this past weekend and even though our brains were toast and our hearts were broken for the young lives affected by loss, abuse, neglect and addiction we are pushing forward with the licensing process! We went in yesterday with B (my adorable babysitting charge) to get our fingerprints taken and background check paperwork started. B was concerned that the fingerprinting was going to hurt Mr. Caleb but was so patient as we sat there filling out paperwork!
Now we wait.....and clean! We have a checklist of things that need to be done in the house to be ready for our home visit as well as personal projects that we want to get finished. I hope you bear with me as this becomes a place to vent frustrations, share joys and a way to remember this journey forever!
Cheers to a great start to 2017 and all the adventures God will bring us!
