10 days ago, two precious souls walked into our world and turned it upside down!
I guess I should start with the backstory, adoption has been a calling on our hearts for several years and in February 2013, we actively started the adoption process. I know God calls people to all different types of adoption and they are all wonderful but James and I felt strongly about adopting in America and through the foster care system.
A few months ago, through various reasons James and I started discussing becoming foster parents. The choice was made clear for us when our pastor contacted us about two children he knew of who would possibly need a foster family. It felt like a clear sign to us, to change over from adoption to foster care.
We worked quickly to get all of our new paperwork finished and although God's plan wasn't for us to foster the children our pastor contacted us about, we knew we were called to be foster parents.
Just barely over a week after becoming official our social worker called us to tell us they needed a placement for two precious kiddos. We talked for a brief moment about it and said Yes! They arrived around 10 pm last Wednesday night and life has not been the same since!
Yes, we went from 3 kids to 5 kids overnight but we are actually settling in quite well and getting into a normal routine.
They are simply amazing! Other than my nephews, I never knew I could love a soul that wasn't biologically connected to me so much and so fast!
I know that not everyone understands our decision to bring two kids into our family and not everyone agrees with what we are doing and my only response is that we are called to do this and we will be faithful to the God that has blessed us beyond measure. He will carry us through this journey and see us to the end that he already has designed.
We have been so blessed by the amazing friends in our lives. They have lifted us in prayer, bought us dinner, given us baby stuff to borrow and to keep. The ladies in our Sunday School class showered us with gifts for our two blessings.
We are blessed to have friends and pastors who have fostered and adopted to give us advice and walk with us in this journey. We are thankful for their friendships and their support. Looking back now over the last few months I can see how God was orchestrating this event in our lives.
~First, many people don't know this but we actually were matched for an adoption in February and it did not work out. Why? It was god's plan for us to foster these children right now, for this season and not adopt at that time.
~Second, my dad is well and back on his feet and we had planned for him to move back into his original nursing home, the place he calls home the morning the babies came to us. It was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and just in time!
~I thought since James Henry was going to kindergarten this year my calling was to go back to work. I applied and actually interviewed for what I thought was my dream job but I wasn't hired. Why? It wasn't God's plan for me to go back to
work but to stay home and be a mom to all five of our kids.
~James received a promotion and it became official the day the babies came. Coincidence? I think not!
I know fostering right now in this moment is God's will for our lives and while some days are hard and we are just starting, we know God is faithful and will see us through. No matter what happens in the future, right now in this season we are making a difference in the lives of two beautiful children and they are changing ours!
