Some of y'all have asked me lately how our foster care paperwork is going and I have responded by beating around the bush and saying things like "oh pretty good" and "chipping away at it" and "slowly but surely."
False.
The correct response to "how is your foster stuff coming?" should be "...It's not."
Truth is, we haven't tackled a single item on our verification checklist since the very beginning of this month. Truth is, it ended up on a back burner as we tried to maintain sanity and actually see each other some this month. Truth is, it's hard to fill out foster parent paperwork from church camp during a retreat or a Dallas conference room during a seminar.
But you know what? The earliest we would be open for a placement of a child or children with us would be in April after tax season. We've got plenty of time.
And you know what else? This month has not been a waste. This process has indeed moved forward...because seven reference packets were sent out by Bair this month and reached seven important recipients that we named on our initial application. I've already heard back from one of them who said he already took the time to fill out the rather in-depth questionnaire asking why we will or will not make good foster parents. I've heard from others that they have received theirs and will get on it. Even as we have unexpectedly stalled, there are other important players that are keeping this thing rolling for us, and we are so grateful.
Trent and I are going to have a short family meeting tonight to regroup, look at the list, bust out the red folder and update our organization station in the kitchen. December is going to be a much calmer month (yes, even with Christmas in there) and so will January. We've got plenty of time. We've got two calm months ahead of us.
Rock and roll.
