I have wanted to be a mother since I could drag a baby doll by the hair as a baby myself. There has never been any other desire in my heart. In college, I once got an "F" in my Professional Development class because the paper I wrote on "my dream job" was being a mother. Don't get me wrong...I did the paper according to the guidelines, the professor just didn't appreciate my professional choice! (I did get a better grade after taking it to the Dean!)
In the Summer of 2005, I began a Bible study entitled "Thirty Days in the Psalms". It was this Summer that God started tugging at my heart in the area of more children. You see, we already had four biological children. They were healthy and happy...one girl and three boys. We were blessed and re-blessed.
But there was a desire that God had placed on my heart as a young teen. Drug babies. As soon as I knew they existed (thanks to those movies they made us watch in school on why to say "no" to drugs...stupid movies) I wanted them. I wanted to love on and heal those drug babies. And that is where foster care entered the picture. (Well, my parents had done foster care for awhile when I was a child, so it wasn't a totally foreign concept for me.)
It was only during that Summer Bible study that God reminded me of that desire He had given me so long ago. So I prayed and prayed some more as my husband wasn't exactly where I was at with all of this. We prayed about what steps God wanted us to take...adoption and if so, international or domestic? Foster care? More biological children? So many decisions. But if you listen long enough, God will lead you to the path He has chosen for you. As my dad always says, if you feel like God is leading you in a certain direction, keep praying and moving forward until the door closes. As long as those doors keep swinging open, and you are consulting with your Lord, you'll know.
So, after much prayer, God started softening Patrick's heart to the idea of drug babies, too. He is such a good daddy. And husband. So, in the Fall of 2005, I made the call to our county agency. We accepted our first placement in May of 2006. We have had seven foster placements and have adopted four of those. Two of those placements went back to their parents and one baby was moved to be adopted with her brothers. (We are also adopting a child privately, hopefully we will finalize by the end of the 2010.)
One of our babies was a cocaine baby. Two were cocaine/alcohol babies. Two were meth babies. I sure did get my dream!!
2 weeks ago
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