Here We Go Again Part 2

Matt and I went to Thousand Oaks to the informational meeting for the Fost/ Adopt program. I will try to explain it. These kids are not given up for adoption by their parents. They were taken away from their parents by the court. Whether it is because of abuse, drugs, neglect....whatever. When a child is a newborn, the court gives parents 18 months to get "their act together". There are 2 types of kids. "High Risk" which means that the child will likely be given back to the birthparents or "low risk" meaning that we will proubly get to adopt them. Matt and I give them a list of ages which we would take and what kind of situations we would take. When we are certified they call us with the child/children and we say yes or no to the situation. Just because they call us with a child, that doesn't mean that we say yes to the child.

Before I go any further, let me explain what Matt and I think is best for our family. I know there are people out there that think this way of adopting is scary and .....I agree! I never want the risk of my child being taken away. We said that we would take a boy or girl (although we hear that boys are more common.) We are strict on what we would take on the physical/mental background. We have a couple different races that we would take. We would take a child ages0-2years. We also said that we would consider siblings. ( I know...we are crazy!)

Here is the risk. Even if they tell me that the situation looks good, you can never be sure what the judge is going to rule. There have been many times that a child has gone back to a birthparent that still looks a mess. A lot of times though, the birthparent is so messed up that they don't even try to see their child.
Matt and I are not interested in being foster parents so we will take a situation that looks like it is low risk( a child 0-3 yrs. they label them all high risk) we have been praying and talking about what we feel like we would want to have. We keep thinking and praying about what is best for Ivy and would be a great experience for her. Please keep us in your prayers. This is a huge step in trusting the Lord and it is a long process .....longer and more drawn out than with Ivy.
Matt and I believe that God has a child out there for us. I don't NOT want to do this experience because I am afraid of what jounrey the Lord is going to take us on. I am scared however. I don't want to love a child for half a year or a year and then he/she be taken away. (We know people who have done this and loved it and their child was never taken away.) I am just trusing that the Lord knows what is best for Matt ,Ivy and I.
I also think about these kids....what terrible homes they come from. They were proubly terriblelong before they were found out by the police and courts. I would love to be that child's mom!

I will write more about what hoops we have had to go through later...just pray for the Elliott's!