My mom and sister were up for a visit and one evening my mom was contacted by a friend who is a social worker. This friend shared with my mom that a child with special needs was going to be available for adoption soon. As my mom was describing the child, I immediately said, "I want him." There was no hesitation on my part, I just knew that he was the child I wanted.
I talked about it with Aaron and it didn't take long for him to get on board as well. We started feeling the waters to see if adopting this child, who is currently in another state, was even a possibility. After talking to our friend, we learned that inter-state adoption was very much a possibility and that our next step was to beginning the process of being licensed as foster parents in our state. It just happened to work out that the very day we called to get information they were having an information meeting that night. Attending the meeting was the first step in becoming foster parents and we signed up that night to begin classes the first weekend in August. This morning someone from county where this child is called us and reaffirmed that inter-state adoption was possible and that we are definitely on the right track to adopt this child. In the matter of a few days, adoption went from a "one day hypothetical" to a very real possibility.
So what's next? While we are waiting to begin our foster care classes there are several things that need to be done. First is we need to do some remodeling on our home. The biggest priority is remodeling the basement. Currently we have a guest room on our main floor which will need to become this child's room. That means that our basement, that is partially finished but not a very pleasant place, needs to be remodeled into a functioning guest space. We would also like to open up our kitchen to accommodate more people. Another large purchase we will need to make is a mini-van. Currently, our vehicle cannot comfortably seat 5 people, and this child will require equipment that will require more storage space in our vehicle.
All of these things unfortunately cost money (oh how I wish we still worked on the barter system). We do not wish to go into more debt, so we are going to begin fundraisers in the coming weeks. We plan to do a Cards for a Cause fundraiser, a yard sale, search for grants, publicize our GoFundMe page, and ask for people with skills to donate their time and skills. Our goal is to raise enough money to purchase an appropriate vehicle and do the necessary renovations in our home. Then if there is any money left over we will use that money to pay down our debt. We want to be the best stewards of our resources so that we can best care for our children, and we feel that getting rid of our debt is one way to do that.
We will attend pre-service classes every Saturday in August and then at the end of that month our first home visit will be scheduled. Our hope is that all the necessary renovations are complete by this point. During this time of waiting my husband and I also plan on becoming experts in this child's disability so that we are prepared when the time comes.
During the next few months please pray with us and for us. Pray that we will continue to have smooth sailing with the process. Pray that we will be able to raise the necessary money to do all that needs to be done before our home is ready to welcome another child. Pray that we will continue to have realistic expectations through this process. We understand that this will not be a quick process or an easy transition and that there is a chance that this child will be placed with another family.
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