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Showing posts from January, 2012

A is for Asinine

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My head is still spinning from our 2 court visits on Thursday. We had court at the same time with 2 different judges for our sibling group, Miss A and Baby K, and our other foster daughter, Baby H. As I have mentioned in previous posts, these were pre-termination trial hearings. Both ended with surprises. A and K's went first. We stepped up to the judge's bench and he looks at the file for a few seconds and then says, "Since the mother completed her requirements I am taking termination off the table." Onto case #2 with Baby H. I walked into the DHS building and to my surprise, Baby H's dad was there. He hasn't even wanted to see pictures of his daughter, much less support her or her mother this past year and now he's here petitioning for custody. WOW. WOW. What concerns me the most though is that there is an aunt in a faraway state that is trying to get custody of my Baby H. She hasn't even met Baby H and I have no idea when the last time she even sa

Why?

Seth and I are praying about visiting the birth father of one of our foster children. He is in prison. Without giving specific details, he is the reason the child is in foster care. We've told a couple people that we are praying about this and the first thing they ask us is, "Why?" Here's my answer. The Lord has called us to be foster parents, but He has first and foremost called us to love one another with the love of Christ. We might be the only people to show this man the love of Christ. Do we think he should get his child back? No way, but what if God's plan is for this man to be saved through this experience and go on to witness to others in prison and turn his life around? He will be released and he'll probably go on to father other children. If the Lord is truly calling us to do this, saying "no" is not an option. Please pray with us for the Holy Spirit to speak through Seth and for this man's salvation and a changed life. (To clarify, Set

One step closer to our miracle.

I haven't shared much about what is going on with our foster children because I wasn't certain what I could share. I know now that without giving identifying information on the cases, I can tell you what's going on. These children that the Lord has given us are no coincidence. All 3 of these children have cases classified as "shocking and heinous." When that happens, the state immediately pushes for termination of parental rights with no option to "work a plan" to get them back. When we took Baby H in, we had no idea what the outcome was going to be. And especially with Miss A, we had no idea if we'd have her for longer than a few days when we picked her up from the shelter after Thanksgiving. We ironically have pre-termination trial hearings next week for all 3 children at the same time with 2 different judges. Apparently, God was saving us some time and gas money. :) And then in February, we have two termination trials. I've been told that the

First day back...

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Seth re-entered the financial industry today as an Asst. Branch Mgr for a credit union. He had a great day. I didn't start counting down hours until 2pm, so that's not too bad right? I hate wishing time away, so hopefully God will do a work in me that makes this a bit easier. I was able to have dinner ready, bathed two kids, did 3 loads of laundry, vacuumed, cleaned out my refrigerator and took care of and played with 6 children. It really was a productive day. The hard part was missing my hubby. Owen walked around all day looking for "Da da." And bedtime came really soon, he hardly had time to say hi to all the kids, much less spend time with them. There is a season for everything though, which is what I keep reminding myself. The Lord uses every circumstance to draw us closer to Him and I did do A LOT of praying today. ha ha My favorite part of the day was when I showed Maggie our clean refrigerator. She let out the cutest and most genuine praise, "Mama!

Things I've learned...

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Going from 3 kids to 6 under 6 in 2 months has taught me a lot. Thought I would share a few with you. :) - You cannot parent 6 children in a 1200sqft house without being organized! My house is cleaner and more organized now than it was 4 months ago. - You cannot parent 6 children in any house without the children having designated chores and helping throughout the day. - The children cannot be allowed to control the house. Consistency and stability are the key to a happy and well-functioning home. This is something I have to remind myself of everyday. - Large Family Logistics is easily my new favorite book, after the Bible. - To find a show or cartoon that all the kids like is a treasure, never to be taken for granted. - The pediatrician has become one of my new best friends. - Being able to fit your whole family in one car is a want, not a need. - It is possible and much cheaper to eat a whole food and healthy diet when you're a family of 8! - A magic bullet

Cuteness overload

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My 5 year old has his first crush/girlfriend. It is absolutely precious. Hopefully there are no broken hearts in the near future...  Picture he drew of them holding hands...  Picture I took after he gave her the above mentioned picture. :) Does he look smitten or what? 

Status Update

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As some of you are aware, I chose to fast from Facebook for the month of January and use the time that I would normally spend on there to seek God and His will for this year. It hasn't been nearly as difficult as the last time I tried to fast from it. I think that's because God has such a front and center position in my life this time. To give up His blessings or His direction just to get my Facebook fix isn't that appealing anymore. The outlook for my immediate future changed today. For the last half year, I was hoping that God was leading Seth to a part-time job in foster care ministry or a part-time job making enough where he could be home and still help with our 6 children under the age of 6. God let us know on Saturday though, that He wants Seth somewhere else indefinitely. Seth was offered a job last Friday at a credit union. We chose to take the weekend and pray about it because initially it didn't fit into OUR plan. I'm so thankful for the growth in our