“Tomorrow Might Be Our Day”

#tbt to the time that FaithBridge foster mom, Katie Phillips, wrote about her emotions on the anticipation of receiving a placement. It’s a strange space in which to live and one with unknown perimeters. You have been approved as a foster parent and wait for the phone to ring. It could be counted in days or months, and there’s no warning of when it will be.

Katie shared this part of her foster care story on her blog, Operation: Leap of Faith. She and her husband, who have biological children, too, have not only since fostered but also adopted siblings for whom they cared. She is an avid blogger and is a part of the leadership team of the foster care ministry at Dunwoody Baptist Church.

I found myself awake in the middle of the night. It is hard to separate myself from this woman who has never really slept well – the one who carries thoughts that swirl around in her head usually manifesting themselves in sleepwalking and sleep talking and a general flip-flopping within her sheets.

This night was probably just the result of too much coffee. But I lay there, nonetheless, thinking, wondering, counting the seconds that ticked by. Sleep wouldn’t come. Sneaky bugger, that insomnia.

I wandered down the silent hall, fingers sliding as I felt my way into the empty bedroom that would soon hold one or two children who are not my own. As we step one foot in front of another along this foster care tightrope, I can see a faith length behind me yet plenty of space before me. We are balancing – all of us – and within a moment’s notice (the time it takes for a phone to ring and me to touch the green button rather than the red), we will be on the other side. And then we’ll start the balance all over again. Next tightrope. New horizon.

On this night, I threw off the decorative pillows (a bright red octopus pirate, a big-eyed orange crab) and settled in. I lay there, thinking, “this bed, this bed, will soon hold someone near to my heart. And I don’t even know who it is.”

To read more, see Katie’s blog, click here.

How do you prepare for a placement? Are you in the middle of waiting? What is that like for you? Share your story at stories@faithbridgefostercare.org.