Update

Yesterday we went to a behavior/child psychology class as a part of our Foster Care process. It was incredibly sad, moving, encouraging and insightful.
The statistics of developmental and behavioral problems that are directly related to disfunction in the home are astounding! And the amount of damage that can be done to a child in the first year of their life... Appalling.
See, a baby under 1 year old has very basic needs; food, sleep, cleanliness, and love. When a baby is neglected they stop crying for what they need. They won't cry when they are hungry and they don't learn that someone will care for them. This and even yelling and arguing on a regular basis in the home causes the brain to give off adrenaline and dopamine, the fight or flight chemicals.
When a baby experiences these chemicals the whole brain is focused on it and therefore causes all kinds of developmental delays!
Physical touch is extremely important to babies under a year old! The lack of physical touch itself causes developmental and emotional delays and problems.
This really spoke to me as my love language is physical touch. It really made me want to go back and tell Starry we would be happy to have babies! Just so I could meet those needs that impact the rest of their lives!

We studied scenarios that have actually taken place in foster homes, one of the most common is hiding food in bedrooms and stealing money. This isn't really about being defiant or acting out, it's about security to these kids because they don't know when they are going to be fed next or if they will come across a traumatic event that will make them want to run away from home with nothing but the clothes on their backs and whatever cash they can get in their pockets.
How sad is that? And these are really more of the minor situations we discussed. I won't go into detail about some of the more risqué issues we had to go over but let me just say, a lot of these kids end up with issues because of a lack of boundaries and scenery protection and have seen way more than their young eyes should have, giving them a confused and distorted view of sertain aspects of life.

I am feeling more and more like we are in the right place right now. And am beginning to see clear images of life in our home with foster children and how we might make big positive differences in the lives of these precious children through the power and direction God is giving us!