Joy comes in the morning...

Oh my. Sweet Joy left yesterday morning after 7 days and 8 nights to be exact. I use the word "sweet" very loosely. Bless her heart. With some placements, things get easier the longer they stay, but then there are those that only get harder with every second of every day. Time seemed to stand still these last few days with Joy. The fit throwing, the fearless climbing on everything, the name calling, the sleepless nights with my husband having to sleep on the couch... The last morning she woke me up by hitting me as hard as she could on my chest. I about had a meltdown. I promise I tried. I tried so hard. I even found other foster families to take her because the worker "couldn't." The kids fondness for Joy deteriorated as the days went on as well and they were all asking for her to leave, which made the decision a little bit easier. For now, she has been placed with a foster family who has no other children and the mom is a teacher, so I am hoping and praying that we were just a stepping stone to get her where God wanted her to be.

There were definitely some things that happened during the week, that I believe were God ordained. We prayed a lot over this sweet girl who clearly has attachment issues and developmental delays. She had to have multiple rabies shots a few days apart and because of my "crunchy" knowledge I was able to supplement with some things before and after that I believe softened the blow on her body and immune system. I was also able to minister to her birth mom and pray with her over the phone and offer my friendship even though Joy won't be with our family any longer. I know God has His reasons and I still believe He wanted us to have her for the time we did, but once again, it confirmed that unless a sibling pops up unexpectedly, we are staying at 7 for now. I emailed our worker and begged her to please not call me again, because I want to help so badly, but with the ages of my children right now, it is not an option. I have to be sane for their sake and mine. Please continue to lift up Joy in your prayers. I spoke with the caseworker tonight and she said that she is adjusting just fine with her new family and foster mom.

God is good and I am so happy to be back to normal with "only" 7. :)




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