The Second Beginning

In August of 2007, I was surfing the net, looking for something about heart disease help in SC. I came across a website called SC Heart Gallery. It was pics of children. After a few minutes I figured out that the pics were of high risk adoptable kids in SC. Dennis came through the house and looked over my shoulder. He pointed to a family of 3 kids and said they were the ones he wanted.That was all I needed. For years I have wanted to adopt, but Dennis had always said no. I had finally given up on the idea. Now, my dream could come true.

Over the next 10 months, we went to classes and filled out papers: lots of papers. There were background checks, home visits, home inspections, and dozens of other things we had to do. By the time we were finished DSS knew more about us than we did. Then we had to wait for DSS to do their paperwork. To say that I am not very patient would be an understatement. Waiting was very difficult. In September 2008, we got our approval. Finally we could be considered as parents for a family of children. We had decided that we wanted a sibling group of 2 or 3 older kids. Once we were approved there was more waiting for someone to decide we fit a family.

The first week of December on a Wednesday night, I talked with God and told Him that I was ready to move forward in whatever direction He chose. See, I had been trying to make something happen. Dennis and I had talked about the fact that adoption may not have been God's idea for our lives as we had thought. I had felt from the beginning that God had called me to take in a family of adoptive kids. But I had set limits on God. That night in December, I turned loose of my dream and reaffirmed my commitment to God's will. I ask that He show me the direction He wanted me to go. I didn't want to waste time on a project that wasn't in His plan.

The next morning around 10 o'clock, Toyia called to tell me about a 10 year old boy. I wanted a child so bad, it was hard to turn him down. But, I knew what God had orginally told me. We were going to adopt a family, not a single. After listening to my explanation, Toyia ask me a few questions, then said she might have a family we would be interested in. She told me there were 4 children, 3 girls and a boy. They were younger than I had expected; the oldest was 7. Dennis and I talked about them and prayed for clear direction. There were more than we had planned, but both of us felt that God was sending this family to us.

We started planning for our new family. All we knew was their ages and genders. Toyia wanted to place them by Christmas, but the county they were in was slow, very slow. We would found out that slow was the only way that county works. We were given names on December 22nd. I had said that I would know if God wanted me to have the child because I would easily be able to remember my children's names. At first I thought that maybe I shouldn't hold myself to that idea, after all there were 5, not 3.

Oh, number 5, was a newborn that wasn't labeled for adoption because a family member was trying to claim her. We were asked to take her temporarily. Okay, back to the story. I never had any problem with their names. Even though they were a long and unusual. I could even spell them. Wow, God always goes the extra mile.

More later. My morning quiet time is now over. I have to start breakfast for my crew.