Amazing Grace

The last few weeks have just flown by at the speed of light! God has been doing some awesome things in our lives! You know how sometimes you get an idea in your head and it just won't leave? It just keeps on coming back at the strangest times. Well, it all started when I got this idea that maybe we could do foster care and adopt. My husband and I had done work as dorm parents at a childrens home in Texas about 8 years ago. Basically, it was a home where children are placed by their parents, not the state, in times when the parents are not able to care for their kids because of finances, incarceration, schooling, or other extenuating circumstances. When we first started working there I was 21 years old and my husband was 22. We were so young and inexperienced and we had no children of our own at that time. God used our time there to teach us love, responsibility, perseverance, and many other things that would lay the ground work for parenting our own children, but it also planted the seeds of a vision to adopt that I believe God will bring to pass in His own timing. We also realized that we could love other children just a much as we loved our own biological children and we developed a longing in our hearts to help little ones who don't have parents to care for them. We worked there for three years and eventually came back to New Mexico to be closer to family and to have more freedom in the way we thought God wanted us to raise our family.

Recently, I kept thinking about a christian family that I had known as a teenager. They had adopted kids that were my age and they also did foster care. The husband of this family had been social worker with CYFD here in Santa Fe. My mom kept telling me that I needed to call these people and ask them my questions about adopting. Well, I finally did, and they invited us to their house for dinner. The day before, I received an e-mail from the mom in this family. She wanted to give me heads up that her adopted and foster kids had special needs varying from downs syndrome to Spina Bifida, learning disorders and other varying issues. I wasn't really sure what to think, but I figured we would go and find out. I made plans for my mom to watch my toddler and my husband and I decided to bring my seven year old daughter. She was very intimidated by the situation but we told her that this would be a good opportunity to learn about different types of people and how God loves them too. I was hoping that we all would experience a side of God's grace that we had never encountered before.

When we arrived, we were greeted by several adorable youngsters that were very happy that we were there! My daughter's eyes were as big as saucers and she was very quiet. The evening was delightful! My daughter finally warmed up and went to play with the children, and we had a good time in Lord with this wonderful couple. They talked to us about their adoption and foster journey and how God had worked in differing ways to bring each child into their lives. They talked about the trails and the joys of parenting and the things that they had learned through the years. The husband had been a worker with CYFD so he had an inside view on the practical and efficient ways to adopt. She told us more about the emotional aspects of adoption and how to handle the heart issues that would eventually present themselves. After leaving that night, my husband and I knew that foster care and adoption were what God was calling us to do. The problem was that our house was in the middle of a remodel and it was no where near being finished. This was a huge obstacle, but we knew that our God was able to make all things possible, and we basically prayed that if He wanted us to adopt, then He would have to take care of the remodel and provide the finances for it.
Well, isn't it amazing how God always answers our prayers! In this case He answered with a resounding , "Yes!" A missionary family visited the next month and volunteered to help us finish our house if we could pay for the supplies! My dad gave us a loan to buy the supplies and the missionary family did more work in two weeks than we could have done in months! Our house was finally ready for more youngsters. We signed up for the training with CYFD in New Mexico and attained our foster licenses! Now we are in the waiting process. We have been continuing our adoption education through various trainings and books and we are now anxiously waiting for a placement. Maybe we will never get one, only God knows, but I do know that He has plans for us.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. " Jeremiah 29:11