From four to six

I have hesitated for a long time to write this post, but decided that it's time to share. Ever since before we knew each other, John and I have each wanted to adopt a child or more. Before I met John,  I was determined that I would be a mom, one way or another, even if I never got married (probably not my best plan, but, hey, I was young!). When we were faced with the possibility of not having a biological child of our own, we talked about adoption first. The Lord, though, decided that we needed to have our biological children first.  Now that we have 2 beautiful boys, we would really love a little girl. But, pregnancy is neither easy or fun for me and there are some serious concerns about putting my body though that again.

We have continued to talk about growing our family and what that would look like, when it would happen, etc. At the beginning of 2011, when we were in the throes of looking for a house and dealing with a very sick child, I think either one of us would have laughed at the thought of growing our family this year! We have enough going on already, thank you! But, that all changed in March. Through my work, I met a little girl who grabbed my heart. She is in foster care after having been hospitalized with severe physical trauma suffered at the hand of her mother and her boyfriend.  A week later, I met her sister. They are 4 and 2 years old. They are simply amazing little girls. When I met them, they had only been in this stable, loving foster home for a week. I have watched in awe over the past couple months as both of them have flourished and thrived. They are safe, happy, loved and truly blossoming.

Shortly after meeting Miss M and Miss A (I'm not at liberty yet to share much about them), I began talking with their foster mother about our desires to adopt at some point. Her face lit up and said, "These girls are going to need a home! Their mother's rights are being terminated and my husband and I have always fostered on a short term basis and aren't going to keep them." Although I immediately questioned all the logistics, I learned that we can be mentored through the process of becoming certified foster parents (even though we will adopt, the county requires us to become certified foster parents first) because we know the girls already and because I am a healthcare provider, which would allow us to bring them into our home when the termination is complete even if all our paperwork isn't done. There are still many obstacles to be overcome and it is still not certain, but we are whole-heartedly invested in the process and praying for the Lord's outcome.

So, in short, no, we have not lost our minds (even though my husband did wonder what I was on when I told him that I found our daughters)!!!! We are praying for guidance and obviously hope that these two beautiful girls will complete our family! I'll keep updates coming on here as there is news. Hopefully there will be more to come soon!