Where does this story begin? So many things were set into motion before I realized it. But I'll start a few years ago in my third grade classroom. I can't be specific but let your imagination take you to the deepest darkest place a 9 year old can be. That was her foster home. Not home...and she was moved out of danger. Her foster home was the dark place. It was her 7th or 8th foster home. She had lost count. With a broken heart I cried to my husband, "why?" She was just as beautiful, smart, precious as our daughter. Why was this her life? Why were these the people she was placed with? Where were all the Christian people? Why did they not provide foster care to these precious children? How could Christians say they love but not do something tangible with that love? Where are all the Christian people? I was in shock when I felt God respond with "where are you?" I researched a little about minimum requirements, but it didn't make sense. Our boys shared a bedroom already. We had no extra rooms. We were busting at the seams of our house already. I pushed the prompting of the Holy Spirit aside. But for years it just wouldn't go away. Christmas 2012 I tried to walk past the Angel Tree as we left church, but my 12 year old son stopped us. Without looking, he picked what I'm sure was the most expensive gift on the tree. My inner selfish response was very telling of my sinful nature, but in that moment I so clearly heard the Holy Spirit tell me, "you know I want more." But foster care just didn't make sense. Our home was too crowded, too busy, too stretched. But, I could not shake this overwhelming feeling that God wanted to answer my daily prayer "Be big in my family's life Lord." I prayed and prayed and prayed for the Lord's direction to be so clear that I couldn't miss what he had in store. My husband Mike was going to think I was crazy. He was probably going to say no. I didn't tell him that foster care had taken over my thoughts. Late one night, Mike started telling me how he had not slept well for weeks. He had this thought that literally kept him up at night. He felt God was calling him to be a mentor to teen boys. He didn't know what it looked like exactly, but he shared some of his ideas. I listened in stunned silence still not mentioning that I too was overwhelmed. I wanted time to pray that God would tell me what direction he wanted to take us. What Mike was describing did not match up exactly with what I was thinking. So I prayed God would put us on the same page. One Sunday after an amazing worship experience, I told God, "Whatever it is you want, I'll do it. Show us". I got in the car and blurted out, "We are suppose to do foster care." And Mike didn't say, "You're crazy." He said, "Let's do it."
Fast forward 1 year.....a teenage boy, a friend of our son, is living with us. We adore him and his family. We've merged our lives. In August, a beautiful baby girl came to us through DHR. With 5 kids our house is certainly overflowing, but so are our hearts. We feel so blessed God asked us to be a part of His work.
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