Our Story: Part 2 - Placement #1

We had a vacation planned for June, so we actually were not put on the list to receive kids until the end of June.  We got a call right away for a little boy.  We were excited to accept!  We were supposed to pick him up on a Monday, but he was blessed with grandparents that were willing to keep him instead. 

In July, we were asked to take two little boys, ages 1 ½ and 3 ½.  They were removed for neglect.  Our house at the time was small and we had it arranged to take a boy and girl.  We checked with Mason, our son, to make sure he wouldn’t mind sharing a room with two little ones.  He said he was OK with it so we accepted the placement.  Austin and Alex came to live with us July 2009.  They were wound up!  The first week we had them, they were getting up at 4AM!  I guess that was their lifestyle for most of their short lives.  Plans to reunite failed after many attempts.  After having them for over a year, we were asked to make the decision whether or not to adopt.

It was a hard decision and one we really weren’t planning on making.  We just wanted to be foster parents.  So we prayed and prayed that we would hear God and listen to what His plan was for our life.  I prayed that the sign would be as clear as water.  I told God that my reasoning gets in the way a lot and it would be great if He would just send someone to me and tell me this is what I should do, someone who didn’t know we were faced with this.  I really needed a clear sign.    

I got exactly what I prayed for.  I received a call from Pauline Strauss one day.  She is the lady that ran the Tuesday night Bible study I used to participate in before our placement.  She was just calling to see how I was doing and was wondering how the boys were and if I still had them.  She told me how lucky they were to have us.  That was it.  This was my sign!  

Darrell and I made a list of the “why’s and why not’s” to adopt.  ALL the reasons not to, were pure selfishness.  We believe that God put those boys in our house for us to keep and that everything in our lives up until that point and even after, has been preparing us for where we are today.  We decided to go ahead with the adoption.