Starting

The idea of foster care came up after the second miscarriage in 2015.

I said absolutely not. My heart was in a place of heavy grief and loss after two children were gone before I got to meet them. The idea of having a child in my home, and in my heart, for a few weeks or months only to have to say goodbye to them? It was unimaginable.

But one thing I have learned in my young life is that time can change nearly anything. I began toying with the idea again earlier this year. After all, there is no guarantee that even if I conceived again that I would carry to term. There are no guarantees in life period, the whirlwind of Nathan's health and moving proved that in a painful way.

So, we talked. And prayed. We tried to think about what it would mean for our lives. And we reached out to friends we know that have been or currently are foster parents to ask them questions and advice.

And this week, we went to the three hour orientation class at Lorain County Children Services to start the process of becoming foster parents.

As I sat there, listening to the stories and the facts and the advice, I felt more and more certain this was what our next step was meant to be. I listened to how to parent a traumatized child and instead of feeling afraid, felt confident that I could do it.

Nathan and I left the class in complete agreement: this is something we are going to pursue.

Here's some of what I learned in that three hours:

• There are currently 101 children currently in foster care in Lorain county. 
• There are 73 currently licensed foster families.
• The goal of foster care is reunification with family.
• But approximately half of the children in a foster home currently are in some kind of permanent custody heading toward adoption. 
• We'll be undergoing 33 more hours of classes in October to be licensed as a foster family.
• The home study after the classes will take approximately three months.
• Afterward we'll be waiting for our first placement. 

It's a new journey, exciting and scary. But I can't wait to see what happens.