Stepping Out In Faith

Tim and I have been praying for years about whether or not to take in or adopt any more children.  It is not that we are not content or happy in life.  We are.  Our marriage is good.  Praise God!  The kids are all blessings and doing good.  Glory to God.  We are working hard in our finances to keep things going.  God always provides.  Amen!   God is so good to us and has abundantly blessed us every day of our lives no matter what we are going thru.  He has always been here.  I am beyond grateful.  It is not that I have a whole lot of extra time on my hands because I don't.  If you do much reading of this blog or our farm blog you see how busy we really are with home schooling and all.  It is not that we have a whole lot of extra energy, space in our home or money to spend.  As we don’t. 

The reason why we pray this prayer is because the need for homes for children in our world is so great.  As we prayed this prayer years ago, when Tim and I got married, God brought children thru our home.  We had lost count after 40 children came thru our home in the 9 ½  years we did foster care.  Children came and went and came and went.  Some stayed a few days.  Some a few weeks.  Some a few years.  The children we have adopted are ones God brought into our lives, that for one reason or another, had rights of the parents terminated on and we adopted them.  They needed homes.  They needed someone to love them, just the way they are with any special needs that they had.   They needed a mom and a dad, a family.  

Our first adoption was our daughter Faith Anne.  She came to us when she was nine months old.

Our second adoption was Antonio.  We first met him when he was 5 years old.

Our third adoption was Carolyn.  She came to us at 10 weeks old.

Our fourth adoption was Ezekiel.  He came to us at 8 days old straight from the hospital.

And our fifth adoption was Elizabeth.  She came to us at 12 weeks old.

Antonio was a lot of work but after Elizabeth came into our home we were very, very busy with her.  It was a serious task to take care of her.  And when I say serious, I mean so medically fragile that her life was a balancing act of doing so many things just right every day to keep her alive and doing well.  We had many hospital stays, emergency room visits and close calls.  At that point we began to slow down on the kids we took into our home.  Tim and I were pulled in all directions and could not stretch ourselves any further.  One of us taking turns staying in the hospital with a child while the other worked or held the fort with the kids at home and keeping the farm life going.  We had no outside help or support system for times like that.   I had to give most of my attention to Elizabeth and her needs and still care for the other children we were raising. Each of them with their own special needs and level of care.  It was alot but God always gave us the strength we needed to get everything done every day. 

When Elizabeth turned five, my oldest Stephen moved out on his own.  Elizabeth was pretty stable in her health at that time and now I had an empty room.  I prayed and prayed about more children at that time.   And God answered by having Tim and I, out of the blue, take a young family member into our lives and home.  We had him for three years.   When God had that situation change and that child was gone, we began to pray again.  We have continued to pray about it and it has been very quiet.

I don’t know if we are to old to take in anymore.  I don’t know if our health is good enough to take in anymore.  I don’t know if I have the energy to take in anymore.  I just don’t know.   And I pray.  We pray.  But God knows. 

2 Corinthians 12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

 
Tim and I are going to reopen our home.  We have been praying about it for a while.  Tim says he feels a peace about it.  We have talked with all the children at home about it.  The littles are all for it and very excited, especially the girls.  Antonio is concerned about my health but wants to do it.  William has prayed about it and wants to do it, but is praying for it all to go well and smoothly.    I am just in prayer about it all.  I want to be in the Lords will.  I want His hand and blessing to be in all we do.  I am praying fervently.  I am praying to know His will, for peace, for strength, for energy, for good health for the children…that above all the Lord will use us for His calling and purpose.

May the Lord lead and guide every one of us in all we do, as we live and grow in Him.

susan