All in adoption
I didn't know or realize or want to see that just because we're a forever family doesn't mean that the past won't be a part of that forever.
You are my hero. You're a hero to me. You're a hero to the community or church or family around you, watching you. You're a hero to the children in your home, being loved by you. You're a living, breathing, real-life super hero.
I'm thankful that every word I speak, every dish I scrub, every diaper I change, every spill I clean that’s done out of love for my Savior is divinely transformed from a mom’s chore into a daughter’s worship. I’m thankful the menial, outwardly-worthless moments of my day have purpose and have worth.
Seeing foster care and adoption on the screen like this is a gift to foster and adoptive families. But it’s not just a gift to those of us who are living it. It’s a gift to everyone else, too.
When his worker called to tell me that his family had been ruled out, she asked if I would be willing to adopt him. “Well, I love him...and I would love to be his mom forever...but I don’t think I’m supposed to be...and I think I know who is.”
Well assuming that you don’t have an MRI in your home, you won’t see the effect on their brains, but you will experience the effect on their behavior...
I was honored to be a guest on Justice for Orphans' radio show "Orphans No More." Listen in as we talk about what compelled our family to get involved in foster care, some of the kids who have been in and out of our home, and the mission of "speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves."
Our hearts are tugged when we read real stories and see real pictures of real children in need. But, friends, whether their faces are spread across the internet or not, they exist. They may be faceless and voiceless and easily ignored, but they are very real.
Then she said something that still brings tears to my eyes. She thanked us for saying yes and said that we were their last hope for keeping them together.
You are giving a child the chance to live a better life. A chance that they deserve. You are giving them the love and care that they so desperately need. You are making a lifelong, lasting difference in the life of another human being.
I never understood why “foster care” and “adoption” had this eerie and peculiar reputation behind them, when those two things are responsible for the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.
My husband and I started the process of becoming foster parents. At the beginning, we wanted only one young child. To date, we’ve had 50 children in our home. We went from a three bedroom home to a six bedroom home, allowing us to have the room for more children to love.
You clung to me with tear-filled eyes like your life depended on it, like some stranger would come and take you away from me, too. And my heart clung to you just the same, continually aware of the risk of loving you, continually aware that you may leave...
Christmas is the story of God bringing Help to the helpless, Hope to the hopeless, a Father to the fatherless. Sound familiar?
