Bring in the Bunk Beds

This is getting comical.

Ben has a friend at work that we've encouraged along the way as him and his wife pursue foster care adoption for their family. They have boys much older than ours and want to bring a girl into the family. They were called about a set of girls, last week. They took time to pray through it, but in the end were not prepared to bring two girls home.

Their case worker called me, yesterday.

She had urgency in her voice.

The girls are in a home that has given her 30 day notice. The girls suffered a failed adoption placement, over Christmas, when the foster mom fell, seriously, ill. The, current, foster mom is willing to adopt the younger sister, but doesn't want them both, but the case worker is unwilling to separate the sisters. The case worker only has until the first week in February to find a new home.

Tragically, these sweet babies have been in 10 placements. Their case worker is desperate to find their permanent home before February, so that they don't have to move two more times.

The case worker reminded that talking to me, directly, wasn't protocol, but that she was anxious to know if we would be willing to consider her kids' case. If so, she would contact our case worker.

She gave me the specs.

Two girls. One is 4; the other is 2.

I smiled to myself. We are destined to raise three 4 year olds.

The case worker seemed startled by my lack of hesitancy. She was expecting me to say, no, with each piece of information. She, skeptically, continued through the file when I didn't.

God has prepared our hearts. I feel, amazingly, calm and cloaked in peace.

Once she realized I was, legitimately, interested in adopting the kids in her care, she leveled with me, saying, "These girls are a full time job. They are going to be a challenge. There are no signs of abuse, just serious neglect. They are, emotionally, broken and they need serious structure, boundaries, and consistency. I believe all of their behaviors stem from having 10 placements."

Of course. Anger stirred in me. There is something broken in our system that all of these little ones have suffered so much disruption. All of the children we're looking at are under 4. What about the 8 and 10 year old? If 2 and 4 year olds are switching homes 7-10 times, how many homes has a 12 year old lived in? We have to do something about this.

I pushed my soapbox aside, for the moment, and listened to the endless list of behaviors that the girls display.

I told her a little bit about our family and how we're waiting on God for the next chapter of our story. I let her know that we would, seriously, consider her case if we were not the family chosen for Lya and Jamar.

As we talked through it we discovered that all four kids are assigned to the same agency. What!?! And that she works down the hall from the other case worker. Seriously!?! What are the odds? This agency isn't even our agency.

She knew of Lya and Jamar and the other families being considered.

The case worker rushed off the phone and let me know that she would have the supervisor call me.

Of course these conversations keep happening on Friday nights, so that we have to suffer the wait of a weekend!

My heart is malleable. I told the Lord to use us where he needs us most. It's that simple.

The second "4 and 2" set do not follow our birth order criteria. The four year old little girl is a few weeks older than Ty. That has made Ben pause, but God's plans, historically, don't mirror ours. 

They are better. Rich in redemption.

One thing is for sure. Our family is growing and we need more bunk beds!