THE call

It's funny to me how things in life fall into place when you least expect them to & when you finally admit that you can't force something to happen no matter how bad you want it to.  We were told by our agency to expect up to an 18-month wait for a foster-to-adopt placement.  Given our hope & preference for siblings that wait would potentially be a bit shorter.  We went to a sibling carnival to meet sibling sets waiting for families (though most were outside of our approved & preferred age range) & regularly checked an adoption website for kids that would possibly peak our interest.  When that was going nowhere, I admit I had a little bit of a pity party.  I don't throw them often, but it had been a while since the last so that makes it okay, right?  What makes my impromptu party even more ridiculous is that it had only been 2 weeks since we'd been given our license.  How in the world was I planning to make it 18 months?!  In my defense, though it had only been 2 weeks since approval, the entire process had been unfolding since last August (so 8 months total) & in my crazy head I had visions of another '3 years to baby' plan similar to what we experienced getting pregnant with our daughter.  Of course, she was born at the right time & right place in our lives so why I was even worried about something I can't control was probably a little uncalled for :)  And unreasonable since 2 days after my pity party, we got THE call.

My daughter (K) & I were volunteering at a local hospital for parent/baby class when our agency called with details about a possible placement.  There were a lot of unknowns & it was for a single child, but I still said we wanted to talk about it & get back to our social worker.  B & I went back and forth for a few hours about the placement - would it work for us?  could K adjust well?  do we want to wait for siblings?  are there too many unknowns?  could we parent in the way this placement may need?  So many things ran through my head & I found myself praying about it all morning.  Even though B was on board, my mind still hesitated.  Honestly, it flat out screamed, "no".  And though I can't describe it, when it came time to make the call I had a very clear, overwhelming feeling that we were supposed to say, "yes".  That we were being put into this little one's life for a reason & saying "no" just wasn't in the plan.

I made the call & let our social worker know we were interested, but it turned out so were a few other families at that time.  Our social worker told us we'd likely know by the end of the day & of course if we didn't hear anything, we probably weren't the chosen family.  Though a little bummed, I thought to myself that maybe the choice was already made for me & I shouldn't have worried so much about the details.  It turns out less than an hour later the choice had been made & we were the chosen family!  After talking with the CPS social worker, we made plans to pick up our little guy the next afternoon (oddly enough, unbeknownst to our social worker until day of?!  guess that's how the government rolls).  Less than 24 hours after that call, our family dynamic would change in a simple meeting.  All of a sudden, we'd need 2 carseats (thanks to our friends down the street we could check that one off for now), little dude clothes (what?!  I only had little girl clothes packed away), & a whole lot more time to do any simple little task with TWO kids close in age underfoot.  Gone were our full nights of sleep, most of our free time, & a bit of our sanity.  But in it's place has been put smiles & giggles, signs of progress, and a feeling that we're making a true difference in our foster son's world.  Whether this was THE call that lasts a lifetime or a call before THE call, it's hard to believe we're here already - 2.5 weeks into a potential 18 month wait with a child that will leave a lasting impression on our heart no matter where he calls "home" in the future.