So, do you all remember 2 years ago when we started down the long rollercoaster ride of emotions with the foster care system and little Miss Elizabeth? Well, call us crazy (very crazy) but this morning we made the decision to embark on the crazy journey again.

I'll back up a bit and fill you all in on how we got here... if you are not aware of just how many kids are waiting for homes in the foster care system, let us fill you in...it's a lot. A few months after Gracie was born we asked the county to pull us off of the foster care list because we just wanted to spend some time with our little miracle and get to know her. We also needed some time to recoup from Elizabeth moving home and not having her as part of our daily lives. So, even after we asked to be taken off of the foster care list, we still got calls weekly asking us if we could take a baby. There are just not enough homes (not to mention good homes) for all of these kids.
About 5 months ago I opened up to the idea of starting up foster care again. Todd pretty much thought I was crazy (especially since I started working part-time again at World Vision), but I really felt like we needed to at least consider it since the need is so great. Shortly after, we met a little boy named Pete that we thought might be the next addition to our home, but to make a really long story short Pete did not come to live with us (after much prayer and talking and prayer and talking). We believe that it really wasn't the right timing because in all practical ways it would have been a good fit...he even was up for adoption so it really makes no sense as to why we weren't the parents for him. I guess in my mind I wonder if God changed our hearts to not have peace about it because there was a childless couple out there that had waited a long time for a son. I don't know if that is true, but I like to think that there are bigger reasons to why things happen like that sometimes.

So, last week I called our licensing worker just to set up a yearly meeting and she asked me " so, how are things going with Zipporah?" to which I responded, "I have no idea what you are talking about... who is Zipporah?" She then proceeded to tell me how this young mom looked at profiles of families and decided that she wanted Todd and I to adopt her baby because we were married, and practicing Christians. Before you all think we are adopting this little babe, our licensing worker was wrong and though this mom did choose us to take her babe into our home she still wants to try and get her back (along with other relatives, possible fathers, possible fathers relatives, mom's relatives, etc,). So, to make another longer story short (because Todd said not to write a novel...) we have this little one in our home (met her last night and picked her up this afternoon) and we are going to love on her like crazy and trust that God knows what He is doing and will help us through all that is to come. She is such a beautiful little girl with a huge smile. She was very quiet this afternoon and then tonight we were playing and she really warmed up to us.. she was talking and laughing. The poor little babe has been bounced around so much already that you could tell she just was looking around like "where am I now?". Grace is having a ball with Zipporah. She was acting so big, just babbling to Zipporah trying to touch her hand and show her stuff around the house. Gracie is such a good little girl and so easy going. We didn't sense any jealousy today, she just seemed excited to have a baby in the house!

Well, this is getting long so I will write more later. I did want to let you all know that Elizabeth is also doing well. We are very fortunate that we get to see her every weekend. We either have her and her family over to our house or we go to visit her. Our sign language is improving and we are building our relationship with her parents. We went to El's 2nd birthday party last week which was great- she was so excited (Dora theme of course). Everyone at the party was deaf, so it was great to be included in their small group of friends. Oh, and El is signing really well... she is such a little smarty!

Well, better try and get some sleep before one of the babes wake up. Keep us in your prayers for adjusting and figuring out how this all works.

Thanks for sharing in our journey!