We are now on day three with baby K. Two full nights have passed in a fog. Sleep deprivation acquired during his first night left me zombie-walking the next day (yesterday). Thankfully I have friends in high places and was able to "tap out" and let a girlfriend watch K (who slept, slept, slept) while I took a much needed N-A-P! Less than two hours of sleep makes one very groggy raccoon-eyed Momma :-)
Last night was completely different... Like night and day! He eat good and slept soundly for 2 1/2 to 3 hrs at a time. Which means I did too! I finally swapped with Josh around 5am and he finished the night round with poise and success! Daddy's are totally underestimated! Josh is great... A natural. I've had some fish-out-of-water moments where I feel like "I have no idea what I'm doing!" (Example: giving K a bath last night). But encouragement from Josh, family, friends and my Heavenly Father have been great. Josh reminds me, "you're meeting his needs, and that's what counts... All the extra love and attention are motherly bonuses" :-)
Wish I could share all the cute pics of his chubby face, but just imagine the most adorable AFrican American baby you've ever seen and then multiply the cuteness by 10!!!
Thank you all for your prayers! Keep them coming for little K and his mom. We dropped him off for a bio-mom visit at the CPS office and we pick him up shortly.
Lord, we pray for the safety, health, and future of baby K. We pray he will seek You and find You when he seeks You with all his heart. We ask that you place a hedge of protection around him and that Your full perfect will will be done in his life. We also ask for your presence in his mom's life and that you will help her to reform her ways and give her the wisdom and grace to be the mother You want her to be.
May we walk in the light of your Son always.
Amen
Friday, December 27, 2013
Monday, December 23, 2013
First Placement - Respite Care
Getting a Baby...It's a Boy!!!
We're getting a Respite Care Placement the day after Christmas!
Joshua and I will be welcoming a 4 day old (by then a week old) baby boy into our home for a substitute placement while his foster family is away. We will have him for about a week... A few days into the new year :-) We are so excited to welcome little K into our life as our first "placement". We have no more details at this time.
Please pray for wisdom, calm nerves, and peace as we take on this huge responsibility. 4 days old!!!?! Yikes! :-) but also a rssounding, "Wahoooo!"
Please pray for his mommy and family as they must need our thoughts and prayers at this very difficult time. I've been informed that there will be some bio-mom visits/meetings... So pray we are able to minister to her and show her Christ's love and our prayers and support.
Love you all!
God is so good to us... May we be able to share His blessings with little K and his family
Friday, December 20, 2013
Our Announcement Letter (email)
Our Original "Announcement" via e-mail
(for those of you who didn't get it)
Dear Family and Friends,
We greet you again in the spirit of
Thanksgiving, as the Lord’s blessings continue to fall upon us into the
new year. After 3 and a half years of marriage, our prayers, petitions
and preparations have come to fruition. As of December 12, 2013, Joshua
and I are “officially” approved to be foster parents in the great state
of Texas! No one has to remind us to “make a joyful noise unto the
Lord”, for our hearts are pouring forth His praises with abandon. We
were elated to receive the much-anticipated news of our approval… and
much sooner than we expected. Our home is now “open for business” and
our hearts are too. We might need to install a rotating front door with
all the visitors we can soon expect: children, CPS workers, case
workers, surprise inspectors, etc. Not to mention the family and friends
we couldn’t do without. We have partnered with ARROW Ministries in
Round Rock and have been (not surprisingly) pleased with their vision,
passion, and outpouring support for their foster families. In the past
six months of training and formalities (paperwork, paperwork, and more
paperwork!) we have become more and more impressed with this ministry.
Our future with ARROW looks remarkably BRIGHT!
Please remember us in your prayers as we embark on this new, exciting, and expectedly difficult journey through the foster care world. Our hopes were initially just to straight-adopt, and not bother with all of the “fostering” mess. But the Lord closed that door for us and opened our eyes to the immediate need for a safe, loving, albeit temporary home and family for children in the foster world. “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few” (John 9:37-38). So it is with the foster care system, with over 16,000 Texas children removed from their homes by CPS in 2012 alone. “The workers are few” is an understatement for foster parents as well as disciples of Christ in the modern world. We desire to be the Lord’s laborers to “defend the fatherless” (Psalm 82:3). God makes it evident in Scripture that He has a heart for children: they are a blessing, an inheritance from the Lord (Ps 127:3), worthy of acceptance in Christ’s name (Mark 9:37). He reveals His own adoptive nature in that He adopted sons and daughters from among us to be co-heirs with Christ - adopted unto eternal life and salvation (Ro 8:15). Joshua and I are so excited to share our lives, hearts, and home with children this world has abandoned. Our hopes are still to adopt (through foster-to-adopt), but we do not pretend to the know the future intentions of God. He may very well have us foster for all eternity! Our prayers are, first and foremost, for these children’s salvation, redemption, and healing. God is mighty to save! He can draw us out of the misery of this world and set us upon a firm foundation… Himself (2 Tim 2:19).
We are opening our home to whatever, whoever, and however many the Lord sends our way. In our new 3 bedroom rental home which sets on 52 acres, we will have enough space to welcome several children. For years Joshua and I have had a particular sympathy and passion for sibling groups. Because of the strain CPS and the foster care system is in (they’re swamped!), there is great difficulty in finding a foster home that’s willing to take multiples (say a sibling group of 3, 4, or 5 children). As a result, one foster home will take a few, and another will take some… inevitably breaking up the group and separating siblings from each other. I cannot imagine how devastating and scary this must be for a small child. These children have already been through enough without having to be separated from their brothers and sisters too… concerned about where they’re going, who they’re with, and what in the world is happening! Get the picture? We can’t stand the idea of it. For some sibling group out there, we want to be their way of staying together… even if it means more work (lots more) and less sleep (lots less) for us. It is likely that we could soon foster a sibling group of 3 (and later more). Although this seems crazy... that we would want a "full house" (presto!) ALL AT ONCE... we are extremely excited. This question often plagues Josh and I in our walk with the Lord… it is a huge motivator… the question is, “IF NOT US… THEN WHO???” Maybe we seem crazy to you, to be willing (or naive enough) to take in 3-5 kids and become “instant parents”… but, “ If not us, then who?" I challenge you to live out your faith. Ask yourself the hard questions. When you see injustices, don’t hope someone else will do something about it. If YOU don’t, you never will. If YOU don’t maybe NO ONE WILL. I would rather live out every day in complete depravity, knowing “there’s no way I can do this” (with 3 kids running amuck in my home) and fully rely on God’s strength and wisdom to carry me through, than to let this opportunity go by with the excuse that, “Surely someone else is better fit for the task”. No one is fit for the task of parenthood. No one is ready for it. Whether you have 9 months to get used to the idea, or a 1 hr notice after a 3am phone call (“Will you take 3 kids ages 2, 4, 5... that’s all the info we have right now. Yes or No?”). No one is prepared for the great responsibility God lays on fathers and mothers. Everyone wants a step-by-step field guide…an instruction manual. Well, THANK THE LORD (literally), that He has given us one. His Word (the BIBLE) is our guide and the Holy Spirit is our tutor. The Lord tells us all we need to know about how to live, act, speak, think, and yes, even parent, in Scripture. That is how, in such extreme cases as this - where we don’t know who, what, or how many to expect… we can have peace. A “peace that passes all understanding” (Phil 4:7) from the Lord. We know that He is there at every step to direct us in the way we ought to go. How we should love our children, teach them, correct them, encourage them…it’s all there for us, if we will humble ourselves to Christ’s authority and read it… then live by it.
We want to thank you all for your prayers and support. We count each of you among our blessings! Thank you in advance, too, for the prayers we know you’ll be sending heavenward for the precious souls of the children who will enter our home (and for their biological families who need our prayers for healing and salvation just as much). The year ends with the answer to our prayers, and begins in excitement and great anticipation as we await “the unknown” - our first placements (who, theoretically, could arrive next week!). We thank the Lord in advance for them!
We love you all and wish you a year full of God’s grace and a desire to conform your life to His.
With all our love,
Josh and Amy Glasscock
P.S. Joshua was hospitalized only once this year, in March… and we are so thankful for God’s protection of his health, and for all your prayers which I know reached His ears. Thank you!
Please remember us in your prayers as we embark on this new, exciting, and expectedly difficult journey through the foster care world. Our hopes were initially just to straight-adopt, and not bother with all of the “fostering” mess. But the Lord closed that door for us and opened our eyes to the immediate need for a safe, loving, albeit temporary home and family for children in the foster world. “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few” (John 9:37-38). So it is with the foster care system, with over 16,000 Texas children removed from their homes by CPS in 2012 alone. “The workers are few” is an understatement for foster parents as well as disciples of Christ in the modern world. We desire to be the Lord’s laborers to “defend the fatherless” (Psalm 82:3). God makes it evident in Scripture that He has a heart for children: they are a blessing, an inheritance from the Lord (Ps 127:3), worthy of acceptance in Christ’s name (Mark 9:37). He reveals His own adoptive nature in that He adopted sons and daughters from among us to be co-heirs with Christ - adopted unto eternal life and salvation (Ro 8:15). Joshua and I are so excited to share our lives, hearts, and home with children this world has abandoned. Our hopes are still to adopt (through foster-to-adopt), but we do not pretend to the know the future intentions of God. He may very well have us foster for all eternity! Our prayers are, first and foremost, for these children’s salvation, redemption, and healing. God is mighty to save! He can draw us out of the misery of this world and set us upon a firm foundation… Himself (2 Tim 2:19).
We are opening our home to whatever, whoever, and however many the Lord sends our way. In our new 3 bedroom rental home which sets on 52 acres, we will have enough space to welcome several children. For years Joshua and I have had a particular sympathy and passion for sibling groups. Because of the strain CPS and the foster care system is in (they’re swamped!), there is great difficulty in finding a foster home that’s willing to take multiples (say a sibling group of 3, 4, or 5 children). As a result, one foster home will take a few, and another will take some… inevitably breaking up the group and separating siblings from each other. I cannot imagine how devastating and scary this must be for a small child. These children have already been through enough without having to be separated from their brothers and sisters too… concerned about where they’re going, who they’re with, and what in the world is happening! Get the picture? We can’t stand the idea of it. For some sibling group out there, we want to be their way of staying together… even if it means more work (lots more) and less sleep (lots less) for us. It is likely that we could soon foster a sibling group of 3 (and later more). Although this seems crazy... that we would want a "full house" (presto!) ALL AT ONCE... we are extremely excited. This question often plagues Josh and I in our walk with the Lord… it is a huge motivator… the question is, “IF NOT US… THEN WHO???” Maybe we seem crazy to you, to be willing (or naive enough) to take in 3-5 kids and become “instant parents”… but, “ If not us, then who?" I challenge you to live out your faith. Ask yourself the hard questions. When you see injustices, don’t hope someone else will do something about it. If YOU don’t, you never will. If YOU don’t maybe NO ONE WILL. I would rather live out every day in complete depravity, knowing “there’s no way I can do this” (with 3 kids running amuck in my home) and fully rely on God’s strength and wisdom to carry me through, than to let this opportunity go by with the excuse that, “Surely someone else is better fit for the task”. No one is fit for the task of parenthood. No one is ready for it. Whether you have 9 months to get used to the idea, or a 1 hr notice after a 3am phone call (“Will you take 3 kids ages 2, 4, 5... that’s all the info we have right now. Yes or No?”). No one is prepared for the great responsibility God lays on fathers and mothers. Everyone wants a step-by-step field guide…an instruction manual. Well, THANK THE LORD (literally), that He has given us one. His Word (the BIBLE) is our guide and the Holy Spirit is our tutor. The Lord tells us all we need to know about how to live, act, speak, think, and yes, even parent, in Scripture. That is how, in such extreme cases as this - where we don’t know who, what, or how many to expect… we can have peace. A “peace that passes all understanding” (Phil 4:7) from the Lord. We know that He is there at every step to direct us in the way we ought to go. How we should love our children, teach them, correct them, encourage them…it’s all there for us, if we will humble ourselves to Christ’s authority and read it… then live by it.
We want to thank you all for your prayers and support. We count each of you among our blessings! Thank you in advance, too, for the prayers we know you’ll be sending heavenward for the precious souls of the children who will enter our home (and for their biological families who need our prayers for healing and salvation just as much). The year ends with the answer to our prayers, and begins in excitement and great anticipation as we await “the unknown” - our first placements (who, theoretically, could arrive next week!). We thank the Lord in advance for them!
We love you all and wish you a year full of God’s grace and a desire to conform your life to His.
With all our love,
Josh and Amy Glasscock
P.S. Joshua was hospitalized only once this year, in March… and we are so thankful for God’s protection of his health, and for all your prayers which I know reached His ears. Thank you!
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
We're "Official"
We're "Official"
We are now "officially" licensed as Foster Parents in Texas. The actual paper license is "en-route" via mail and we are currently waiting (any minute now!) for our first phone call and placements. I cannot express how excited either of us are. I haven't gotten much sleep the past two nights... anxious that we'll get a mid-night phone call! :-)
We are elated about this new adventure (Josh swears "elated" isn't a word and hates that I've been using it so much recently). We have the kids rooms ready, fridge stocked, and house child-proofed to the max!
I am also excited about the new phones we're going to be getting today, which will allow me to access my email and text without limit - therefore keeping everyone updated on our current events. This blog will simply give everyone a chance to follow up on us and give me a chance to vent, brag, and otherwise explain my new life as an "instant mom". I will not be posting pictures of our children's' faces, nor will I give out their information, including their full names and reasons for their placement. Not only are these things no one else's business, they are also expressly personal and confidential. By law we are prohibited from giving out such details or images, but we also (by personal choice) choose to keep these children's history and personal life as protected as possible. We know you'll understand.
Thank you all for your years of love, support, and prayers. Stay posted as we begin our next journey in marriage... instant "PARENTHOOD"!
*A coworker at Josh's work sent him this cartoon... I thought it was hilariously cute!
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