The Wonder Call

After our little Professor's surprise exit, our home wasn't empty for long. If you have followed our journey, You know that we got a call a short 4 days later. The next Tuesday, so 11 days later, I received yet another surprising phone call. There was a woman on the other end of the phone that had an African accent. She said, "Hi, Mrs. Armstrong. I am calling about an infant from _____ County." Due to just receiving Leo, that was where my mind went. We were still in the "receiving calls" phase of his placement. I told her yes, I had him. She said, "Uummm, what's his name? Uuuuummmm" I jumped in, "Leo?" She said, "yes, yes, that's it. We are looking at placing the sibling." This surprised me and I shared what I knew about his sibling and that I had heard she was with her biological father. The Caseworker then got a little frazzled. She began saying that none of this was in her notes and then she dropped a name I hadn't heard in 11 days, the name of JJ's caseworker. 

I then went into a little bit of a crisis mode. I said very quickly, "Wait, *case worker's name*?" She said, "Yes, him. None of what you just told me is in his notes." I then said, "Are you calling about JJ?! Are you placing him back in care?" She then told me yes and that she had found my number in the case file and that she wanted to know if we would be willing to take him. I told her absolutely yes and then I told her what I knew about where they had re-placed him. She said that she was concerned and said that she then needed to speak with her supervisor and hung up. 

I immediately called Patrick and told him what had just happened. I purposefully left out the piece where I committed to taking him, and phrased it as a question to Patrick. He said absolutely he wanted him back. I said, "Good because that's what I told her. Sorry I didn't consult you first, it just popped out!" We then started planning for the possibility of 3 kids. We would move Joy into the office, because it's the girliest room. We would need to get another crib and changing table. We would need to clean out the office closet and move my desk into the garage. Where are we putting car seats? Do we have everything else that we need? This is going to make going to the store a challenge! 

I didn't hear anything back from the caseworker that day, so I reached back out the next day. No response. I reached out to our placement team and told her the situation. She checked to see if there was anything out there on him and she found nothing. She did say there is a licensing rule where you can't have more than 2 under 18 months. My heart sank, how do I say no, yet how do I say you have to go? She then said that we could apply for an exception but they don't have to approve it. I was pretty much banking on the lack of foster homes in the area for our age group to be on our side. 

I continued to reach out the caseworker with no response until that Friday. She told me that she had to wait on the previous county because the case hadn't fully transferred. I reached out to his old advocate and explained what was happening. She is a sweet lady and said she definitely wanted him back with us. She would try to reach out to her resources and see if there was a hang up somewhere. 2 days later she responded and said that the case had transferred so she doesn't understand what the caseworker is referring to. 

I continued to follow up with texts to the caseworker. She, to this day, has not responded. I assume this means that she doesn't quite know what she was talking about when she called me and just doesn't want to face me. The problem is, she reopened a door that I had shut. Where the other babies, I just tell myself that they are loved and safe. That one call has created so much wonder. 

Each day I wonder if they followed his schedule. I wonder if he is happy and full. I wonder if they are giving him his medicine. I wonder if he smiled at them. I wonder if they are holding him. I wonder if they are encouraging intellectual and physical growth. I wonder if they tell him every day that he is loved. I wonder if they tell him that Jesus loves him. I wonder if they know there is an entire family and community here, that would jump in at the chance to help him. I wonder if they know that we are not an enemy but a loving resource. I wonder if they ever wonder about the Foster Mom, Dad and Sister that have a little piece of their heart with them.