You're coming when?!

So last Monday, the 5th, at about 10:45 in the morning, I got an email from our agency saying we had officially been put on the list. This means our preferences had been received and we could get a call at any time to say there was a possible match for us. Our preferences were to start off with one child between 3-8 yrs old, any race, either sex. We wanted to be able to double-team them first and then move to man-to-man. If we were really brave, maybe later we'd shift to zone defense!

Tuesday at about noon, I got a call from Denielle saying that our case worker called her about a possible placement. The curve ball was that it was two kids, one being a 2 yr old boy. He had just been removed with his 7 yr old sister. That was a lot to take in at once. We talked very briefly because she was at work. My head kept telling me to say no because we had set our preferences for a reason: if we succeed, the kids succeed. If we get in over our heads, the kids will suffer. I told her I wasn't ready to say yes but that I'd pray about it.

I prayed for a few minutes just asking God to make this simple. "Gimme somethin' here, will ya" was pretty much the extent of it. Here it was less than 48 hours after we had been put on the list and we were already considering taking a placement outside of our parameters. Were we crazy? Rushing? Just plain stupid? I called our case worker and asked her why she even called Denielle. After listening to her explanation and the specifics of the case, I told her I'd call her back. I prayed again, completely confused and torn. A few minutes later, I found myself calling her back and saying yes. It was like an out of body experience. I still don't know how/why I made that call.

Our case worker said that there was a pretty good chance we'd get the kids but she wouldn't know right away. Then I got a phone call from a Child Protective Services (CPS) agent asking if we were willing to take a 7 yr old girl and her 2 yr old brother. I said yes and verified our address. She said "Great, I'll be there in 45 minutes."

Panic. Crap, we're not ready! I started rushing around the house to make some last-minute (literally) changes to the house and their bedrooms. Luckily she was about 15 minutes late (women... :) ) so Denielle was able to get home and help me prepare. When she pulled up, I thought "game time."

They were actually very comfortable-looking in our house. They walked right in and met Samson. I found out later that the little girl had been through this a few times so she kind of knew the drill. The little boy was different but he seemed to follow his sister's lead.

We went through the paperwork and got their school, medical, and other information before the case worker left. We decided to show them the house, their room, and the yard before we got them something to eat and drink. We even took a walk with Samson before getting them into the bath and getting ready for bed. We got them into bed at about 10pm and Lil C only cried for a few minutes before calming down.

Denielle and I walked into our room, closed the door, and gave each other that look like "what did we just get ourselves into?" Let's pray.