A SECOND CHANCE AT A FAMILY

My heart broke when I read the story of seven siblings that lost both parents in a horrific car crash. Their entire family was traveling with a moving trailer when they veered off the highway and flipped several times, throwing everyone from the car. All seven children, ranging in age from 1 to 13, sustained head injuries and had to be hospitalized.

When released, they were put into a foster home since there weren’t any family members able to take them. My heart was touched reading their story. It would be devastating for these children to be split up into different homes, especially after the heartbreak they had already endured.

I could feel God moving and see how He had prepared both me and my husband for this moment. We had raised five biological children in a large six-bedroom house. It was now empty. We had discussed selling it, but we just couldn’t bring ourselves to do that. Now I could see why. The Lord had also nudged us to become foster parents five years earlier so our hearts, and our lives, had been prepped.

The day I read the story, I cried several times and knew what I wanted to do. I sent the story to my husband at work, fully expecting him to slam the idea that was stirring my heart. Later that night, he looked at me and said, “We need to adopt those kids.”

I immediately started calling DHS, saying we wanted to adopt all seven of them. We had to be vetted, interviewed, fill out mounds of paperwork and have home visits. During the process, we met with the kids, expecting them to be acting out their trauma. But they were loving well-behaved kids. We drove away with a reassurance from God that this was part of His plan.

They moved in three months after we met them, and a year later, we officially became parents of these seven precious children. Our five biological children immediately embraced their new siblings; God had also prepared their hearts through our many years of fostering.

Is it busy in our house? Goodness, yes! But we have never looked back since the day we read their story or doubted this was the right thing to do. We see how incredibly happy they are and that warms our hearts. We can see God’s wonderful hand in every step along the way.