So I have seen many post on facebook about November is the month to highlight adoption and foster care. Whoop Whoop. Can our family be the poster child for this. :) When I hear the word adoption I can't help but get a big smile. Seriously this one choice has changed our family forever.
Let's go back a few years....2010 to be exact. Tim and I both sat in a service at our church that highlighted the need for people to adopt and foster children in our area. I knew right away that it was something I wanted to be involved in but I also knew that Tim would need to take the lead. God had chosen to bless our family so much, I knew I wanted to share what God had given us. I decided to keep my mouth shut....I know what you are thinking. :) A few weeks later Tim comes up to me and says he thinks this is something we should look into. So we went to an informational CALL meeting and the rest I guess you could say is history.
It took about nine months for us to have all the paper work done and our house approved to be foster parents. In September of 2011 we accepted our first two foster children. There were a few days (Okay I am not going to lie...there were many days) when I wasn't for sure if we were cut out for this but it never failed that God's grace showed up in just the nick of time to get us through another day. God knew exactly who he had planned to be placed in our home for the first 11 months of our foster care journey. He calls me his second mom (which makes me smile). Because of God's great love for these children he knew we were the ones that were suppose to be the middle parents until they were adopted by their forever family. Which are the perfect fit for these sweet children.
I can name each child that has been placed in our home over the last four years and the special place in our hearts that we hold for each of these children.
I still remember the day in September of 2012 that Lori Johnson called us about a little girl that had been taken into custody that was in the hospital. I was sitting at my desk at work. She was four weeks old and they were not sure what type of long term effects she might have from her birth mother's choices. They were not even for sure how much longer she would need to be in the hospital. I still remember the case workers words "I think this case might lead to an adoption". Heart racing....what should I say. I would not have daycare for a baby that young. Would we be able to handle any medical issues she might have. Can we do a baby again???? "Lori - give me a moment to call Tim and see if I can work out the day care situation" I immediately called Tim and gave him all the details that I knew. Of course he had the same concerns I did. Were we up for the task?
By no accident my mom had just retired from teaching. "Hello....Mom, would you like to come and stay with us a while to keep a little baby until she can go to daycare? Well I think that could be arranged" God had already worked out those arrangements before she was born. Tim's mom schedule would be flexible enough to help also. Thank you Jesus.
I called Lori back and said YES and we are so thankful that we did. God has been so good to us through this journey. There is not one thing that we would have done differently. His timing was perfect. There are no words to express how much God has blessed our family through this journey not just by putting Annabelle in our family but because of each child that has entered our home for a time.
Everyone has been commanded to help take care of the widows and the orphans. It isn't just a suggestion. I know that not everyone is called to adopt or be a foster parent. I do know that everyone can be involved somehow. For example....I have a friend that almost everytime she knows we have a new foster child in our home she brings us a meal. She is our life saver....just one thing taken off of my plate when our world is altered. We have friends that share clothes with our new residents. We have so many friends that offer to give our kids rides to practices or to ball games so that we don't have to take our whole crew early. This might not seem like much but to us these things are huge blessings. So my challenge to you.....get involved. Offer rides, offer meals, offer shopping dates, offer babysitting, offer to teach education classes, offer babysitting while others attend training, offer to mate socks (okay maybe that is a stretch just thought I would throw that one in there) ....the list could go on and on. There is something you can do.
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