Organization!!!

I just wanted to brag on myself a little... I finally got our paperwork organized. I think that is the number one reason that I was stressed out. I sat down for a couple of hours yesterday afternoon and took all of the forms, etc, out of the giant folder that they are in and went to sorting and organizing in a way that makes sense to me. It took about 15 paperclips, and lots of sticky notes, but its not as overwhelming now. Bobby will probably laugh at me, but for me it was a great day. I love it when things are organized!!! (He just can't touch it now, unless he figures out my system first! :))

Week One Down

Well, the first week of two crazy weeks of training is over. It was a long week, but I think we came away with lots of really good information. Some of it was repetitive, but I think we can all learn from things even things we have been taught or knew before.

I feel like I am drowning in paperwork again. I know it is just part of the process, but it makes me really stressed. I had finally felt a little destressed after getting all of our Buckner paperwork done, and now I am back at square one. Little by little, I know it will all get finished and I will feel good when it is, but for now its just overwhelming again.

Keep praying for us. We are still trying to discern where God wants us to go, do, and be.

Julie

Charting A New Course

This past weekend, we went to an Foster Care/Adoption expo put together by Child Protective Services to check out their process. In short, it went really well.

I was a little nervous about going through CPS because of our experience in Oklahoma's DHS (their CPS counterpart). I was also reluctant about getting involved with a state agency that has radically different values than us. God alleviated all of those concerns.

It turns out that there are several agencies that have access to children in CPS custody. CPS kind of outsources some of the work load of foster and adoption placements. We found an agency called Covenant Kids that we really like. They are a Christian agency whose statement of faith is solid, whose training is biblically based, and whose attitude toward foster care and adoption is much bigger than just getting kids out of a shelter.

Julie already knew some of that information, but I didn't. I am really excited about this new direction that it appears God is taking us. Please be praying for us. We definitely do not want to go down a road that isn't meant for us. We will be going to their training sessions to get a better grasp on who they are. We'll let you know how it goes.