We all live at the precipice of a joyous surprise or the destruction of all we hold dear on earth. Sometimes we are forced to be aware of this. Sometimes it remains in the recesses of our mind and heart. There is really no greener grass on the other side. There is only ‘where God is leading?’. Some debate whether God directs people with the immediacy and specificity he did in Bible times. Regardless of our theological bent, the confidence we have in life is completely subjective. Stories of success and tragedy from our own community can easily raise fear, hope, envy, or gratitude. Thoughts of “Why not me” or “Am I next?” are not easily shaken.

In our New Year’s letter, we shared about our first couple months as a foster care family. We’re continuing to take care of Baby D while her mom and dad work on restoring their lives. Many blessings have accompanied our experience, the precious baby girl being the main one. Friends and strangers alike have encouraged us with acts of service, gifts, and kind words over the last few months. One of the biggest challenges has been the ‘Man, that’s really noble of you guys,’ comment we regularly hear when we explain who the littlest gremlin in our pack belongs to. (By the way, did you know gremlins are described as having a ‘special interest in aircraft’? By aircraft, I think they mean, ‘how far can I launch my sibling.)

Nothing about fostering feels noble to us. And if any self-adulation does creep in, the tiredness leading to impatience and exasperation we regularly feel brings us low in an instant. Fostering is easy and hard. Truth is, fostering is “where God is leading” our family now. The cool aspect of this journey is how it makes all kinds of sense but isn’t where we were expecting God to take us in the beginning. We’ve gone from an interest in adopting to arriving 10 minutes late for orientation with the County Foster Care service; now working with Angels Foster Family Service and considering just being foster parents. Right now, we have baby D for at least another 3-4 months. Then what? Wherever God leads.