On Thursday, our Little Man will be leaving our home after almost 10 months living with us. We have celebrated holidays, Christmas, and birthdays together. We have traveled to Waco to introduce him to the Bears. We have held him when he cried because he missed his parents, we have rubbed his back during night terrors, and we have encouraged his parents in their recovery. We have lived life day in and day out with both the joys and the frustrations that come with parenting a toddler.
While we have shed our share of tears over missing him, and the quiet of our house will be an unknown sound, you will find most of my tears in these last days are because of how good God has been to us in this journey.
If you haven’t read about our call to become foster parents, I would encourage you to do so to understand our goodbye story with Little Man. God called us to foster care while I dug my feet in the sand, not wanting to open my heart to heartbreak and the brokenness of the foster care life. He changed my heart (obviously) and didn’t fail us in this journey.
Four weeks ago we received a call that Little Man’s relative was approved, but they were waiting on Little Man’s attorney’s approval. She came to our house and told us she would only move him if they were excellent. She said, “I’m not moving him from great to good.” We prayed over her future decision before she left our house. Two weeks later, she let us know she had met them and they were wonderful, and because of Little Man’s attachment to us, we would need to have a long transition. He would go to their house for a few days and ours for a few days back and forth. The relatives were also interested in communicating with us to make this the easiest transition possible.
In my type A way of doing things, the next day I wrote a 4 page document for them outlining his daily routine, favorite things, and other helpful information and emailed it to them. I got the sweetest reply back. Sterling and I had planned on taking him to his new home for his first weekend stay, and we got to see his new room, watch as he adapted so well in the first few minutes, and see that they cared and were great people. We left with a huge peace. When we picked him up, he had a huge smile, and not solely because he saw us, but also because he had a wonderful time. He was so excited to go back again. He continues to attach to them, and I am so grateful that he will be safe and well taken care of.
Everyone tells me “I could never do what you do.” But, I couldn’t do what we do without God. He clearly called us to this, and He has taken great care of us. The smallest details in this transition were more than we could have asked for. This isn’t the most normal transition for a child. Sometimes the caseworker calls and you have an hour to pack up your foster child, and you never meet the new placement, let alone see where they are living.
We have been able to love on his new placement and feel incredible peace knowing this is where he is going.
God has showed us time and time again that he will take care of us and Little Man. We answered the call, and God hasn’t abandoned us once.
