Our Adoption Story

The Feet of My Littles On Canvas

November is Adoption Month and I thought this would be a perfect time to publicly write about our adoption story for the first time!

Once upon a time...just kidding. Our story started in 2011 when we felt the Lord leading us to grow our family of four through adoption. In Fall 2011 we attended a local event on Adoption 101. We took our time thinking and praying (really growing our courage) about moving forward. Fast Forward to Summer 2013 (after completing all the requirements necessary to foster) our first foster son joined our family. We were so excited and I can still remember those butterfly feelings when we first met eyes with one another. Our plan was adoption but we quickly learned the Lord had a different plan.

Two weeks after our foster son arrived, we received a phone call that his birth mom wanted to start visiting him again. We asked ourselves, "Lord how can we accomplish this task?" In 2. Corinthians 12:9 it says "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness..." We wish we could say our hearts were ready and open to reach out to this needy and hurting mom. I did not want to transport my foster son to visits and I did not want to see his birth mom. At this point we started grieving the loss of a child we barely knew and kicking our feet like Jonah in the Bible. However, with the Lord's strength we were able to accomplish the task. For 9 months we loved on this little boy and we did our best to reach out to his birth mom.We couldn't see the full picture as the Lord held it in His hands.

In Spring 2014 our journey with our first foster son came to a close. He went home to be with his birth mom. There really is no place like home. This was the Lord's plan for him. This was the Lord's plan for us. This grief was big and sometimes still hard to look back on. Little did we know that the Lord meant for us to take care of this little task (even though it seemed gargantuan) because he had an even bigger gift to give.

We did not think our family could handle this again. Its really amazing how our biological children handled the loss and recovered. Our children began asking "when are we going to do this again?" Psalms 37:3-4 has been my life verse; trust in the Lord and do good, dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." We had this desire to adopt and we knew it was from the Lord. So, in December 2014 we welcomed our 2nd foster son into our home. He was only 15 months and just learning to walk!

Those same feelings came flooding back from when we met our first foster son. Could it be, that the Lord will always continue to provide you with more to give as long as you are following His lead? There was still fear in moving forward but we had courage and this time parental rights were already terminated. Now it was just waiting until we met the correct timelines in order to adopt! We had 6 great weeks of developing a relationship with our new little guy when we received a phone call.

The phone call was letting us know that...

Our foster son's birth mom just had a new born baby girl! "She needs a home, can she be with you?" WOW! We knew if we said yes, it would change us even more. We are scared of change. We had too much change already! Could we handle this?!!! In January 2015 our first foster daughter came to live with us! The week after she arrived we received a phone call about setting up visits with birth mom. "Ok Lord, you know what you're doing but I don't want to do this visit thing again."

Fast forward...visits NEVER happened for baby girl. Mom never made contact and disappeared. In July 2015 we adopted our foster son and in November 2015 we adopted his baby sister. In Proverbs 16:9 it says, "The heart of the man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." Wow! The Lord said to us "I have this task I need you to complete...take care of this little boy for me for just a little while...and I'll have double the blessings for you later." Yes, the Lord will provide you with more to give; just follow Him.

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