Fall Family Fair

Yesterday, my husband and I went to the Fall Family Fair. It is a cooperative effort of local county agencies and the State Department of Children's Services to match families with children waiting to be adopted from foster care. There are no children present, but social workers bring profiles of available kids/sibling groups for prospective adoptive parents to look at. We were there mainly because our social worker wanted to introduce us to two other workers in our county. One is the placement coordinator and the other is the concurrent placement worker(places many infants who are concurrently in adoptions and reunification services until court hearings decide their status). It was a blessing to be introduced to these women right after our home study was completed, and now maybe I can begin to see God's timing in things. These are the women, along with our social worker, who will decide which child to present to us. What an awesome responsibility they hold in their jobs: creating and building families!!
While we were at the fair, my husband picked up a stack of profiles to read. It was at this moment that I realized how mixed my feelings were about being at the fair. I didn't want to see the faces of these adorable kids. Once you see their profiles, look at their pictures and read their stories, they are no longer just a statistic. They become real kids-orphans- living without any sense of permanency or a forever family. I know it doesn't do any good to close my eyes to the reality that is before me, so I read some profiles and my heart was broken for these kids again. Last night I prayed for the kids I saw, the faces that are sticking in my mind even now as I write this blog. I know that prayer is the best gift I can give these kids right now, but my heart longs to do more.
After much prayer, we don't feel that God is leading us to an older child adoption right now. Sibling groups in foster care and waiting to be adopted still tug at our hearts. We were both really close with our own siblings and see how close our own kids are to each other. Our hearts still lean toward foster care in the future. Only God knows what He has in store for our family! I look forward to this journey-with God leading the way!