so apparently our number came up…it’s time for our home to be mega-inspected by the state again. i’ve been told that your name can come up every 2 years. we’ve almost made it 3 since our first one, so I shouldn’t complain too much. CPS has 2 gals in our area whose entire job is inspecting foster homes. our license is through a private agency, so I believe this is more about making sure our agency is properly keeping us updated, but I think CPS foster homes have to go through this as well. anyhoo.
Tuesday I got a call that our home would be inspected. Appointment scheduled for 5:30 pm this coming Tues, the 22nd.
(umm….at our house, 5:30-6:45 is known as the witching hour! maybe that’s just us, but a lady at Bible study this morning called it that too! so this is going to be craziness! Robbie suggested taking the kids on a walk during the inspection, which will be so helpful!!)
My First response was anger….feeling so un-trusted & invaded. Last time they looked through ALL my paperwork (yearly classes & individual children’s folders) & opened every drawer & cabinet. Would that make you feel invaded too? or is that just me? I’m 99.9% sure we are up to date on everything & our house is in compliance, so there’s nothing to be worried over. it’s just a matter of being inconvenienced. But isn’t that kind of why we got into fostering? to not live a normal American life?
The Second response was obviously from God…Be Salt! Be Light! These momentary struggles are worth the end result of fostering/adoption/ministry…So now I’ll be spending Sunday & a little Monday going over all our paperwork, & the entire house, so we will be completely ready for our Tuesday inspection.
My Prayer is that
- she will come, do what needs to be done & leave in a short amount of time (she estimated 1.5 hrs…less would be fantastic!)
- that my heart & attitude would be a blessing to her; that He would shine through our family to her
Did anyone see Glee the other night? Where Mr Shu & Sue went & sang with the kids in the cancer ward at the hospital….they sang “this little light of mine.” I grew up singing that song. the simplicity of children songs amazes me & inspires me. I want HIM to use us as a shining light!
Philippians 2:14-15
“Do everything without complaining or arguing so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.” NLT
Our Fostering Adventure 
You can leave them at my house during that time if that would help you!
Hey ML! I just found your blog through Amy (Mac) A’s blog. I just ready this and its already passed, but I hope and pray everything went smoothly. Its such a ministry to do what your family is doing for these kids! Thankful to find your blog and look forward to reading more and praying for your family too!
Hi ML, I know we already emailed each other about this, but here is my ‘official’ blog comment 🙂
I too am thankful for your sharing your fostering adventures with everyone online! Just a different perspective on the home inspections…my brother and I went to a family-run daycare for years that was smallish and in a home setting. The lady that ran the daycare was very abusive to many children and was very good at hiding it from parents and state workers (who ran scheduled inspections). I can’t help but feel that if maybe just 1 time a worker had dropped by for a ‘surprise’ visit that she may have been caught and lost her license much earlier (she wound up finally being shut down after 20 years in the daycare business). I know what your family is doing is saving lives and providing stability and God’s love to many children and families.
I think though that because of my personal experience I’m in favor of surprise visits and not giving much notice, because unfortunately there are foster parents who abuse children and are good at hiding it. I hope the visit went well and that the children are doing great!! You are such a blessing and inspiration to me to help children that have no way to help themselves 🙂
Love and hugs to you, R