Be careful what you pray for. We went through nine years of infertility and had at least 11 miscarriages. But I kept praying to become a mother. And God certainly answered my prayers—and then some—because now we have 12 children! When you have a dozen children, life is a little hectic. We do five loads of laundry every day. We spend over $1,000 each week on groceries and have four full-size freezers in our garage to store food. We recently purchased 12 lockers so the kids have their own space for their coats, backpacks and all their shoes. We need a 15-seat… Read More
Adoption/Foster Care
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When I woke up that day, I was completely unaware that my life was about to change forever. I was in college at Texas State University and was visiting my hometown in Haiti on New Year’s Eve of 2017. I was on my way to help in an orphanage where I had been a volunteer for several years when I saw a crowd of about 20 people around a trash can. There was an infant child crying hysterically and lying naked in the trash, covered with fire ants. The people around the trash were just staring at the child. There is a… Read More
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When a young single girl gets a positive pregnancy test, she is scared and confused. A lot of times, she doesn’t know what to do with the baby or where to turn, and usually ends up frantically searching for information on the Internet. And that is the reason StandUpGirl.com was created. Our online Christian ministry is a virtual pregnancy resource center that is available to these girls anytime and anywhere in the world. StandUpGirl.com helps these girls find life-affirming information that we hope helps them to choose life for their baby. On the website and social media, she'll find thousands of personal… Read More
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I was a single mother of two when I answered God’s clear call to adopt and foster children with Down syndrome and other life-threatening medical conditions. It has been quite a wild and demanding ride but it has brought me so much closer to the Lord, and, in looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing. How I got to this point requires some explanation: I got divorced when I was pregnant with my second child. It was right around the holidays, and I was devastated. I cried out to God that this was not how I ever imagined my life when… Read More
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I understand how important a loving, stable environment is to the well-being of a child. I grew up with parents who were continually trying to figure out their marriage and careers. Because of that, I was often left alone. Except during summer! The excitement and anticipation grew throughout the end of the school year, knowing that I would soon board the plane that connected me to my grandmother’s world; a world of consistency, encouragement, and fun! As I grew older each year, the excitement of those months never diminished. I still cannot wait for the time to come to visit Grammy… Read More
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I was a nurse in the oncology unit of a hospital when one of my cancer patients asked me a question that took me completely off-guard. She asked if I would take care of her eight-year-old son, Wesley, if she passed away. We had only known each other for 10 days. Tricia had some stomach pains and a CT scan revealed she had an extremely rare form of vascular cancer. She had undergone a number of difficult chemotherapy treatments which had some devastating side effects. She got extremely sick very quickly, and had to be hospitalized. As her nurse on her first… Read More