I Do

I had never been so nervous in my life...I was meeting some guy off the internet in front of Barnes and Nobel and we were going to go to dinner. Was this considered a blind date? Was it going to be at all interesting? Was I going to want to turn and run the other way when I met him for the first time? Who knows...but boy was I nervous.

Being a preschool teacher I didn't have time to meet people at a bar, or a club or even school. My life was far to busy for someone else to be romantically added to the mix. But here I was, on a cold February night, waiting for the man who ended up being the man of my dreams.

When I first laid eyes on him I felt my heart skip a beat. He was cute! And he looked sane...and he was well dressed and he smelled pretty darn good. We shook hands, awkwardly introduced each other and then walked across the street to The California Pizza Kitchen to have dinner. But there was a forty five minute wait...so he put his name down, and the number two down by it, and we went outside and we talked...and talked...and talked...and talked! We hit it off almost immediately. And that's where this story begins, fate bringing two people together via the interenet. Ah, romance!

After a fast two months and sixteen days I had a beautiful ring on my ring finger and wedding plans in the works. The venue, the dress, the DJ, the flower girl, the bridesmaids dresses and the flowers were all ready to go. A year and 6 days after we became engaged we were looking starry eyed into one anothers eyes and saying "I Do". And that is the day I married my best friend, my confidant, my rock...and the love of my life.

The next step in our little plan was to have a baby. We both very badly wanted children and tried for nearly a year to conceive. Unfortunately we could not get pregnant and I fell apart a little inside. Well...more than a little. The thought of not having children with my husband until my body decided to allow it broke my spirit. It was devastating and it was not how I had planned my life. But you pick yourself up, and dust yourself off and move on. My way of moving on was praying like crazy, and asking God to please help me see what I was supposed to do, what the purpose of my life was.

The one thing that kept tugging at my mind was becoming a foster parent, helping children who come from nothing and allowing them to feel the love, respect, stability and warmth that they deserve to feel. I decided to talk with my husband about the idea and at first he was very hesitant. He was afraid that I would get too attached to the child or children we were fostering and that it would be very hard to give them up after caring for them for a long, or short, period of time. Of course he has a very valid point but if I were to allow that to stop me from opening my home and my heart to a child in need then that was very selfish of me. After talking about it for a good month we finally decided it would be a good idea.

Agape Villages fell into our lap as I googled many different ways of finding the best foster child system. It is a church based foster child agency that works both for the child and with the foster parents. It provides support 24/7 and holds monthly support groups. It takes the time to get to know you so that you aren't a stranger to them. Talking with our new social worker, Mike, my mind has been put to ease and I believe my husband and I are very ready to embark on the beginning of our new life long journey. And may God be with us because it is going to be an interesting ride.