How did our family grow from three kids to five kids within hours? Only through the Lord can that math occur. It started off in 2008. The desire for the orphans began to grow and take root. We attended some informational meetings. Spoke with the three boys on what the Lord was placing on our hearts. And we prayed. Sought out Scripture. And we waited for peace that surpasses all understanding for the right time to proceed with the next steps.
February 13, 2011 came and I felt this desire growing so deep and strong I wasn’t sure what to do with it. So, I went to the altar that morning at church. Pouring this urge at His feet. Seeking the Lord and asking what to do. That afternoon a dear friend called me and suggested Matt and I fast and pray about it. So, we did. The very next day Matt and I fasted and sought the Lord about this burden on our hearts. Matt came home that day from work and said it is time to move forward with the paperwork and to be prepared for a sibling group.
Two weeks later Matt had a dream about a boy and a girl. A sibling group…and…the Lord also gave this dear friend a vision of a boy and a girl at the same time. A sibling group. We had our orientation with a local Christian adoption agency in March of 2011. A stockpile of paperwork was needed to be completed. Then more waiting for our license from our state capital.
This particular agency required a dual license; foster and adopt. We were certain that the Lord had only wanted us to adopt, but we went ahead and fulfilled all the requirements necessary to start the adoption process even if that meant a license we wouldn’t use, fostering.
We received our dual license in August of 2011. Our family was so excited about what was coming! We were assigned a case worker and she presented over 10 cases to us: some individuals, some sibling groups. We prayed over each case and did not feel peace with any of them. It was kind of discouraging because we knew what we were supposed to do but yet didn’t have peace about any of these orphans…maybe that was because our daughter, Grace, wasn’t even born until October 2011!
Christmas of 2011 came and went with Isaak asking me, “When is God going to give us a baby girl?”
Two days later we received a phone call about a 20-month-old boy and his eight-week-old sister needing a place to stay. They were currently in foster care. The birth rights had not been terminated. This was a foster to adopt case, meaning to foster the children and if rights are terminated, then the foster family could adopt them and prevent additional placements. We felt the calling to adopt, not foster, but this agency required a dual license and so we had everything we needed. Our hearts were saying yes to these two but our minds were telling us we didn’t want to foster.
Matt and I talked and prayed over the phone because he was at work and I needed to call our case worker back that same day. We were reminded of our fast, of Matt’s dream and of our dear friend’s vision. We literally felt like we were being asked to step into the Red Sea and be obedient, not knowing where this path was going. Blind faith. So, we agreed this was the one to say yes to, even though there were so many unknowns and needs!
I called our case worker back and she notified us that we needed to be at the Muskegon office at 4:00 pm that afternoon. This gave us less than six hours to be ready for two more kiddos. We had no cribs. We had no car seats. No diapers. No of a lot of things, since our youngest was five at the time. By the time we arrived home with this sibling group, around 6:00 pm, the Lord…had…provided…everything! We were lacking nothing (Psalm 23:1 NIV). God moved other people in our lives to provide what we needed. They were obedient in their calling so we could have our needs met. The Red Sea was being parted and we were walking through with blind faith.
I need to mention another need that was also being provided…Matt’s mom had scheduled her retirement months in advance and her retirement started the very same day we brought these two home. Coincidence?…no. That is our God in His perfect timing.
Our three boys were madly in love with these two instantly. They treated Landen like he was their little brother all along. They actually fought over Grace. Who held her last. Who fed her last. Who was playing with her first. Alek had a writing assignment at school after Christmas break. He wrote about “The Best Christmas Present Ever;” a new brother and sister. It was hard to remind them that we were fostering at the moment and reunification was the court’s order with their birth parents.
The first six months flew by. We were all adjusting. This is when our blind faith, stretched comfort zones, soul pruning and spiritual warfare began. The following 12 months after this cannot be explained by any human. This was a time of warfare, of testing of our faith and of a time when we learned about and now value intercessory prayer.
Until next time…
I am ONE story,
Kristy