Wish #4 is a Thank You Note.
Recently, Director Howard Hendrick announced his retirement. I was saddened by the local media coverage of this nationally historic event. Director Hendrick was the longest tenured human services director in the nation and deserves gratitude and support. Not to mention, he should be honored and celebrated for leading such a large organization that serves our most needy and vulnerable neighbors who are dependent for food, shelter and safety. Most of the media mentioned his announcement to retire followed by a lengthy explanation of the settlement that was recently reached. I think they missed a great opportunity to celebrate an Oklahoma hero. He does a job that most would not want. He takes responsibility when a choice is made by one of his team that leads to a situation where a child is injured. He knows how many elderly have been discarded by friends, family & society. He strategizes how to feed, cloth and give shelter to the children of those who have been incarcerated. I don’t know how he turns off the horror stories that come across his desk each day. I can only imagine that he has to focus on the great things that his team has done…a family that was reunited with help from services, an elderly who was protected, a single mom who could afford housing and was not dependent in staying in a dangerous situation.
I’ve only met him personally a few times, but my guess is that each night he gives it to God & does the best he can each day with what God has equip him with. Thank you for your service to the people of Oklahoma Mr. Hendrick!
My birthday wish this week is for you to please join me in writing Mr. Howard Hendrick a thank you note!
Director Howard Hendrick
C/o OKDHS
2400 N. Lincoln Blvd.
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
Don’t forget to leave a comment to let me know that you fulfilled my 4th of 40 birthday wishes!
Wish #4 – Thank You Note January 25, 2012
Wish #3 – voice January 18, 2012
Well, I’m three this week and although I can speak I really need some help to know and express my needs.
Wish #3 is my wish that you would learn about CASA and consider becoming an advocate for children in foster care. Please go to www.casaforchildren.org and learn how you could be a voice for a child.
Wish #2 – Prayer January 11, 2012
Well, sorry to post so late this week! We’ve been fighting a bug that has passed through all six of our family members.
I learned from a presentation by Dr. Deborah Shropshire (www.fosteringhopeproject.org) that foster kids are the sickest population group of any in the US. They have poor starts, poor care and spotty at best health history to follow.
Wish #2 is a prayer. Please pray with me each day this week for all the sick, scared and stressed kids in foster care.
*Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. James 1:27 (NLT)
Wish #1 – birthday cake January 4, 2012
WISH #1 – Birthday cake
I wish for someone to pledge a birthday cake!
Go to www.birthdaysmadewithlove.com
And make a donation of $10 to provide a birthday cake for a child in foster care in Oklahoma.
Please comment on this post so I know who participated & who to celebrate with in October at the big bash!
40 Wishes January 1, 2012
Well, this is the year! The big 4-0, that is, IF the world doesn’t end before October 21st!
I usually don’t do much for my birthday, but this year I have an idea to celebrate all year long & blow it out..BUT… I’ll need your help!
So here’s the idea….Tell me what you think! I won’t be able to pull this off without YOUR help so let me know if you would consider helping me spread the word &/or pledging a wish!
I’ll be 40 on October 21st of 2012! That’s 10 months away, w/approximately 4 weeks to each month, which means…I could make a wish each week and cover 40 WISHES by my birthday! You know, go back & make an wish from age 1 to 40 and ask friends, family & the community to fulfill my wishes. Then, on my birthday, have a big party to present the fulfilled wishes to kids in foster care &/or their families (foster & bio).
What? You didn’t think I was going to ask you to fulfill 40 wishes for myself, did ya?
What do you think?
Happy birthday to me! October 22, 2011
Snuggling into bed after an amazing day. It’s my birthday! My hubby took the day off work and we loaded our four kids in the car and headed to pick up just a few more to bring with us on our family day. What’s 1 more? Or 3, in our case… 
The two littlest were staying in a shelter in Oklahoma city, while their older brother had been placed more than two hours away. Shelters are over crowded and foster homes for sibling groups are few and far between. So they were separated three months ago after being removed from their home. Caseworkers are overloaded so sibling visits have not been a priority.
None of the three looked anything alike. The middle child, who looked American Indian, told us that their big brother was brown like my daughter but would be black when he grew up. The baby sister, with blonde hair and light green eyes, argued that he was black and not brown at all. Once we picked up the big brother and got him out of the shelter, away from the older kids he was trying to act tough with, he softened and fell right into his caretaker role as the big brother. By the end of the day, I could see the family resemblance. It wasn’t their hair or in their eyes. It was in their hearts. They all had a very strong bond. One that put each others needs before their own. Whether it was showing each other something cool that they learned at the children’s museum or making sure that their little sissy got to ride on the merry go round with the big kids. They love each other. They all thank us and the big brother told me that he didn’t really want to go to another foster home, but if it meant being with his siblings, it would be worth it.
The caseworker said that just when she had become jaded, our actions today, for just a few hours, gave her hope and inspired her to keep doing her job, advocating for these kids.
You know when you plan to take your kids on a family outing, to the movie, the park or zoo and your kids ask if they can bring a friend? You think “what’s 1 more?” There’s an empty seat in the car or at the table. What if you could stop by the shelter and pick up a child to bring with you for the day?
It could change the life a of a child. Showing them another truth of how a family interacts, exposing them to experiences and choices in life they didn’t know they had.
But more than that, it might just change your life.
Be careful what you wish for… October 3, 2011
We have been fostering a little boy with a heart condition since December. The original plan was to foster him until his 2nd, in a series of 3 needed, repairing heart surgeries. Total time anticipated in our home was approximately 4-6 months. Well, he went for the surgery in late March. There were complications and the kinship placement that was planned for him post surgery didn’t work out. We were called in early April by DHS and asked to pick him up from the Children’s Hospital and keep him for about a month, just until his mom could find childcare, etc. and bring him home for trial reunification.
A month turned into three and, last week, we were asked to consider adoption for this precious boy. We had court last week and both parents are having their rights terminated. The father wrote us a letter asking us to care for his son and saying that although he would love to be with his son, he knows that he is unable to care for him and could see how loved he is in our family. It was very humbling.
If you read my last post you will know where our hearts were just before he left for surgery and that we, although selfishly sad, were glad to see him on his way to a permanent situation. So now we are prayerfully considering permanently committing to care for him.
We appreciate your prayers!
Bittersweet March 28, 2011
Bittersweet
I have a terrible sweet tooth! I love chocolate. The darker, the better. When I was a little girl and would stay home from school I would climb the counter to get to my mom’s spice cabinet. That’s where I would find them. That yellow package with the word “bittersweet” printed on it. I would pour a generous handful then dump them all in my mouth at the same time. There would be no sitting on the couch delicately eating them one by one. I couldn’t wait for them to melt in my mouth. Filling it with the perfect rich, deep, bittersweet taste. The crisp sting of the bitterness was calmed by the soothing sweetness that followed.
This past weekend shared that same feeling in my heart. We prepared for our latest foster heart baby to leave us. He will have surgery to repair his heart and then return to his family who lives too far from a hospital to care for him while he was in such a critical medical state. It was bittersweet. The sting of the loss of his little chubby chuckles in our home will be calmed by the sweetness of knowing that he will be with his family that loves him so. It makes me look at each one of my babies and think about how thankful I am for having the privilege to share their lives.
I just don’t know how you could get through this feeling without being a Christian. I’ve learned so much through fostering. You don’t own a person, even your own kids. They are God’s (Psalm 127:3) and we are blessed to share any time with them. We like to think that we dress them, guide them, shape them into the little people that will fulfill our dreams for their lives. But, God knows each of them (Psalm 139:13) and designed them for His purpose (Jeremiah 29:11).
It was an honor to care for God’s little baby C! In our home for a while, in our hearts forever.
dropped off the face of the earth… November 1, 2010
Hey everyone, or anyone wondering where we went?
Well, in preparing for the FosterGrad party we found out about a special little baby girl in need of a heart transplant and a home. You guessed it! She’s with us! We are now working towards adoption. Hoping to be final in January of 2011 & ready to knock your socks off with God’s amazing journey for our family!
Stay tuned!!
My hubby’s thoughts on what’s true & faultless part 2 March 24, 2010
So we went on a short vacation with the kids this weekend. It was a great time together as a family and as they grow I’m painfully aware how short this time with them is.
We were eating dinner together in a restaurant and had a great discussion. Dinner time is one of my favorite times with my family. Lots of face time with little interruption. We all catch up and share jokes, questions and general info about our day and what ever is running thru our minds at the time.
The bill came and Guy grabbed it and paid, as usual. As we were wrapping up our discussion I glanced at the tab. Guy had tipped 25%!! I got a huge grin on my face and tried not to bring attention to it. Zac, my “feeler” caught me and called me out on it…”What are you grinning about Mom?”
I told him how loved and honored I felt that Daddy had tipped the server so generously. When we were first married it was a strong discussion we had several times. Guy had been thru etiquette classes and told me that it was customary to tip 10% & 15% if you were drinking alcohol. I had been a waitress/server thru college and knew the realities of the hours, pay and sometimes demeaning manor in which some people treat waitstaff. My point was that a couple bucks more to you is not a big deal, but if everyone tipped a waitress/waiter (that was probably making 1/2 of minimum wage because she was to count her tips and had the pleasure of ordering a 1/2 price item from a “selected” menu as part of their income) a bit more you could really ease the life and make someones day.
Later I was reflecting on how loved and honored I felt over a $20 tip and I thought…this may be what God feels like when we love the widows and orphans. This is why it’s pure and blameless! If Guy gave me $20 bucks I would probably just look at him like, “thanks babe, but it was mine to begin with”, but when he honored me by serving someone that could not pay him back it was pure and blameless.
The funniest part of this is that he said he has been tipping generously for years! I had no idea because at some point I stopped bugging him about it. Now that I think about it…that may have been when he started.
