Farewell

In a word, foster care is sacrifice. That sounds reasonable (and perhaps obvious) on the surface, but over the past 1 year, 2 months, and 4 days; I gained a much deeper understanding and appreciation for that word (sacrifice). During that time, we loved, gave, laughed, cried, taught, grew, smiled, embraced, trained, served, and modeled the love of Christ to the best of our ability. Lord knows it was hard at times; often hard enough to make us question if we were even in His will for our family at all. But in the end it was obvious that we were. No one said ministry was easy, and at some point it clicked for us that that's exactly what this is (a ministry). Reunification between our foster child and her bio mom was always the goal, and so we celebrate that for sure. Chances are, we will have plenty more opportunities to pour into the lives of our little miss sunshine, her family, and who knows how many more foster or adoptive placements to come. But for now, I'm over-the-moon excited about taking time to refocus on ourselves, our home, and our relationships as a family of 5.

Almost Five

With T-girl and her bio fam just 5 days from permanent reunification, DSS scheduled one last weekend visit (presumably to ease the transition home).  In the meantime, with an impromptu day trip to Cheraw State Park, we got a preview of our own of what it'll be like to be a family of five again.  I think we were only there for about 3 or 4 hours, but we managed to squeeze in a boat ride, burgers, and a short walk up the dock.  Tons of fun.  I think every time that we go, I find myself asking the same question: Why don't we do this more often?!

Next time we'll have to break out the worms and hooks.

First Entry

In the summer, during my swimming lesson, I didn’t jump. I dove. I learned how to do the turtle and I learned to float. My sister Jasmine does the turtle very well. Our teacher’s name is Mrs. Sherry.