The Update No One Asked For

 I really thought I would blog through our journey as foster parents, but found out very quickly that fostering leaves little time or energy for blogging or much else! We have fostered for two years now and it has been a truly amazing journey and an absolute roller coaster. Someday I will share stories from that time, but we are in a new chapter of our lives for now, and that's where I plan to focus. We do plan to continue fostering, but for a while, it will look different. We plan to offer respite care to foster families during this next school year -- a very important job that I view differently than I did before.

That being said, I am so thankful for the phase of life we are currently in. I like to call it the "sweet spot." My two daughters are 7 and 11 and I love this stage! They are big, but they are still little. I can leave them home alone for a little while to run errands, but they are also much easier to bring along with me as well. At the pool this summer I have mostly stayed in my chair, with my book, and watched them run off and have fun with each other and with their friends. It feels liberating to be back down to two kids with no trauma history or specific needs, no frequent visits from caseworkers and agency staff, and nothing pressing to accomplish during the summer. It has been a very welcome break from the chaos!

We are looking forward now to our second year of school at home. I never imagined I would homeschool my kids, but I also never imagined a pandemic and a culture full of celebrated immorality to the degree that it is today. I don't know if we'll homeschool forever, but for now, we will take it a year at a time and just pray each summer about what to do next.

I have been learning and growing a lot and I really want to share some things with you that have been on my heart as well as things that have really been making a difference in my life! So feel free to follow along as I restart this blogging journey. I can't wait to dive in and hear from you all this year!