making preparations...

Psalm 37:4 "take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

for the past 2-3 years, i have been praying a specific prayer. 

i have been asking God to grow our family through adoption.

when i brought this subject up to Hank, he sort of just rolled his eyes.

i thought it wouldn't be an option…ever.

but i continued to pray about it anyway.

last month, i was approached by my neighbor about a group of siblings who

were placed back into the foster care system after being placed in a pre-adoptive home.

there were a set of 3yr old triplets and a 6yr old. 

my neighbor asked me if i knew of anyone at our church that may have been 

considering adoption and that would consider taking these children.

my heart ached for these children and i immediately wanted to care for them. 

i don't know what prompted me right at that moment. there had been plenty of other cases that she had told me about that didn't phase me. i believe it was a Holy Spirit nudge ;)

i didn't know of anyone at our church who would take these children off the top of my head, so i went home and asked Hank. he looked at me and i at him, and i could tell by his look….something was up.

i said to him, "don't you dare tease me! don't you dare!" i knew what he was contemplating...he knew my heart. he said it out loud: "we could do it."

i melted.

did i just hear him right? really? we could? but… but... but …

he says, "God will provide what we need to take care of them."

my husband's faith sometimes takes me by surprise.

my mind was racing! my heart was bursting! could we? should we?

how? what do we do? who do we contact?

well, i won't go into detail about that particular sibling group. they have been placed…hopefully in a loving home…but they are all together. the fact that we weren't certified foster parents yet made our getting these children difficult to say the least.

so with much prayer and consultation, we made a decision. 

we would become foster parents with the sole purpose to adopt a child (or children) into our family. 

i was (AM) so excited! i wanted to tell the world right away! 

but i had to wait. 

i had to wait until our immediate family knew about it and accepted it. we also debated not telling everyone so soon. what if something didn't go through? what if we decided it was not for us after all? what if? but i know this is from God. i know because i have been praying for a very long time. and if this is the way He wants to expand our family, then it will happen. i have no doubts. it may be an arduous task to take on, but i feel in my heart and soul that we are ready for it! 

so there it is! our big secret is out! 

we will now be diving into foster/adoptive parent training through Northeast Parent & Child Society. 

there is a LOT to cover. and a LOT to prepare for (our home, our family, our hearts) to receive a child/children into our home. 

so we will covet all of your gracious prayers as we embark on this adventure! there is power in prayer! and God always answers prayer.