A New Normal

Received a phone call shortly after arriving at church this evening.  It was just a "214" number that I didn't recognize, and immediately my heart begins to race.  I checked the voice mail left by the number to realize it was the agency.  I called the number back right away.  It was a lady calling about a placement for a four year old and a six year old.  Our "age cap" is listed as five in their database; but she called to ask just in case we were interested.  

I turned it down.  

Hard decision.  A split-second decision.  No time to pray about it.  Barely time to ask God, "should we?" in-between words uttered in the three-minute phone call.  I turned this placement down, but there will be more. Many more.  

After our ((crazy, hectic, stressful, messy)) experience last Saturday, Ray and I quickly realized that we have GOT to be more prepared.  That means having just about everything necessary for every age and gender BEFORE we get "the call."  We were grossly unprepared when we got the call on Saturday.  Since then we've got two car seats, more clothes, (thanks to Nana and Colleen), girls toys (again thanks to Colleen) and I snagged some newborn diapers from my office this morning.  

Still, you can never be fully prepared for a severely neglected child.  Will I know what to do with a child who is severely undernourished? Probably not.  Will I sweat trying to figure out how to get rid of head lice from a baby? Probably so.  

Foster care isn't pretty.  Neglect is depressing.  Abuse will make you cringe.  But we're not on the sidelines saying, "that's too bad."  We're not looking at it from afar and saying, "God bless those children."  No, we're in it now.  And we haven't even started.  

Our new normal is only starting to set in.  The normal where I have to have my phone with me at all times and answer at any and every unfamiliar "214" number (even during a speech visit - that happened today!) The normal of stacking up piles and piles of clothes for placements of any age and gender.  The normal of trying to figure out the car seat puzzle and squeeze three car seats in my five-seater car.  This is our new normal.  

But I wouldn't have it any other way.  

God has called us here.  God has led us here.  We are here to fulfill His purpose.  And for those reasons - it's all worth it.