Why?
Do you ever wonder why? Well, often I get that question about our family? IT used to bother me a bit that even complete strangers felt they had the right to question me about my family. But, being a curious person myself, I realize when you see a large family (especially with kids so close in age) it pecks your curiosity. I have to admit I am a people watcher, and I find people and especially families very interesting. I will see a couple that has been married a long time with no children, and wonder if they wanted children and for some reason couldn't have them, or if they felt led to not have any for other reasons. Maybe, they just don't like kids, whatever? I will see a single woman with children and wonder how she found herself in that position. Or a single Christian man in his later years, and wonder why he never married, etc. So, since I know I am curious about others, I understand why people our curious about us. I do have to say, that I am often not bold enough to ask such personal questions of people, just because I am curious. I do not want to ask a question of someone that may be painful or just plan rude, just because I am curious.But, because you may be a curious reader, I will take some time ot answer the why question for our family.Here is the long story:Jeremy and I met the summer before our senior year in high school. My parents moved to the small town of Decatur, IN where my dad was the new pastor of a small country church. As we prepared for that move, my mom and I began praying that God would bless me with a special friendship when we settled in there. Mom had thought us kids very early to pray specifically for the desires of our heart. She had taught us at a young age to pray everyday for our future spouse, and she prayed for that person too. Well, mom and I knew this was going to be a rough move for me, so we began praying for a good friendship. Well, I had know idea that God would answer that prayer request and the prayer request for a future spouse in the same person. Jeremy and I met that summer and became friends. Shortly after becoming friends, Jeremy became a believer in Jesus Christ as his savior and began a relationship with Christ. We soon began dating and it wasn't long before we began talking marriage and our future. (It had always been my dream to marry right out of high school, and I had thought this dream impossible when I hadn't met my mate by my junior year in high school). We would take long walks on Sunday afternoons and talk about what we believed the Lord had for us as a couple. In those talks it became clear that we both felt the Lord leading us to trust him with the growth of our family. We felt strongly that he was calling us to raise up Kingdom Builders. Also, it was clear that we would one day be foster parents, with the goal of helping families reunite. We had no plans to ever adopt any children at this time. Our goal was to minister to children and families. We married the December after graduating from high school. We had two wonderful years of marriage before our first daughter was born. Oh, like all couple we had hard times, but we learned so much about each other in those first years that strengthened us for what lied ahead. After Tyler was born we took in our first foster child. Then soon came Rachel. Oh, it was scary trusting the Lord, money was tight and we haven't always been the best stewards of what the Lord has blessed us with. At times, we both felt unsure of God's calling to trust him with our family planning. We took in several more foster children and God used us to help them reunite with there parents or relatives. Then we got Daniel and Lydia, and there was something different from day one about the place they held in our hearts. We knew God wanted us to make a commitment to these two. It was good he told us from the beginning, because it was a messy and painful time the years of them going in and out of our home for three years. As they came and went from our home we were blessed with Brenden and Bekah. We struggled with being certain if the Lord wanted us to keep having more children. Especially, when I became ill after Bekah. But, when the Lord did a miracle and healed me through the prayers and faith of our church. I placed my trust back in him. Finally, the day came when we were asked to adopt Daniel and Lydia, and we knew it was right. So, now God had blessed us with six kids under the age of seven. wow, was I overwhelmed. I spent many days questioning if this was truly God's plan, and wondering why he chose me. Then there were days when I was so excited with how he proved faithful. The many times he brought us through tough financial times, and times of insecurity as parents. There are the days of feeling so unworthy of such an awesome calling. The times when I see them growing in their faith, the times I see them caring and loving each other, the days when I see them learn something for the first time, the excitement at learning and the joy of teaching each other. This life like any is full of joys and struggles, but it is a faith journey and I can honestly say I feel so honored to be the mother of now eleven beautiful children. Ok, the other question I often get is are you done. To be honest, we do not believe the Lord is done blessing us with children. We have a strong desire to adopt one more time, we are looking to adopted a little princess. Also, we do not feel the Lord leading us to do anything to prevent his blessing on us through child birth. How many more, I don’t know. Do I want to be like the people on TV and just have a passel of children? Not really, but I will trust that the Lord will led as he always has. The days of joy, definitely out way the days of being overwhelmed. So, I feel so blessed to raise these children for the Lord.
Do you ever wonder why? Well, often I get that question about our family? IT used to bother me a bit that even complete strangers felt they had the right to question me about my family. But, being a curious person myself, I realize when you see a large family (especially with kids so close in age) it pecks your curiosity. I have to admit I am a people watcher, and I find people and especially families very interesting. I will see a couple that has been married a long time with no children, and wonder if they wanted children and for some reason couldn't have them, or if they felt led to not have any for other reasons. Maybe, they just don't like kids, whatever? I will see a single woman with children and wonder how she found herself in that position. Or a single Christian man in his later years, and wonder why he never married, etc. So, since I know I am curious about others, I understand why people our curious about us. I do have to say, that I am often not bold enough to ask such personal questions of people, just because I am curious. I do not want to ask a question of someone that may be painful or just plan rude, just because I am curious.But, because you may be a curious reader, I will take some time ot answer the why question for our family.Here is the long story:Jeremy and I met the summer before our senior year in high school. My parents moved to the small town of Decatur, IN where my dad was the new pastor of a small country church. As we prepared for that move, my mom and I began praying that God would bless me with a special friendship when we settled in there. Mom had thought us kids very early to pray specifically for the desires of our heart. She had taught us at a young age to pray everyday for our future spouse, and she prayed for that person too. Well, mom and I knew this was going to be a rough move for me, so we began praying for a good friendship. Well, I had know idea that God would answer that prayer request and the prayer request for a future spouse in the same person. Jeremy and I met that summer and became friends. Shortly after becoming friends, Jeremy became a believer in Jesus Christ as his savior and began a relationship with Christ. We soon began dating and it wasn't long before we began talking marriage and our future. (It had always been my dream to marry right out of high school, and I had thought this dream impossible when I hadn't met my mate by my junior year in high school). We would take long walks on Sunday afternoons and talk about what we believed the Lord had for us as a couple. In those talks it became clear that we both felt the Lord leading us to trust him with the growth of our family. We felt strongly that he was calling us to raise up Kingdom Builders. Also, it was clear that we would one day be foster parents, with the goal of helping families reunite. We had no plans to ever adopt any children at this time. Our goal was to minister to children and families. We married the December after graduating from high school. We had two wonderful years of marriage before our first daughter was born. Oh, like all couple we had hard times, but we learned so much about each other in those first years that strengthened us for what lied ahead. After Tyler was born we took in our first foster child. Then soon came Rachel. Oh, it was scary trusting the Lord, money was tight and we haven't always been the best stewards of what the Lord has blessed us with. At times, we both felt unsure of God's calling to trust him with our family planning. We took in several more foster children and God used us to help them reunite with there parents or relatives. Then we got Daniel and Lydia, and there was something different from day one about the place they held in our hearts. We knew God wanted us to make a commitment to these two. It was good he told us from the beginning, because it was a messy and painful time the years of them going in and out of our home for three years. As they came and went from our home we were blessed with Brenden and Bekah. We struggled with being certain if the Lord wanted us to keep having more children. Especially, when I became ill after Bekah. But, when the Lord did a miracle and healed me through the prayers and faith of our church. I placed my trust back in him. Finally, the day came when we were asked to adopt Daniel and Lydia, and we knew it was right. So, now God had blessed us with six kids under the age of seven. wow, was I overwhelmed. I spent many days questioning if this was truly God's plan, and wondering why he chose me. Then there were days when I was so excited with how he proved faithful. The many times he brought us through tough financial times, and times of insecurity as parents. There are the days of feeling so unworthy of such an awesome calling. The times when I see them growing in their faith, the times I see them caring and loving each other, the days when I see them learn something for the first time, the excitement at learning and the joy of teaching each other. This life like any is full of joys and struggles, but it is a faith journey and I can honestly say I feel so honored to be the mother of now eleven beautiful children. Ok, the other question I often get is are you done. To be honest, we do not believe the Lord is done blessing us with children. We have a strong desire to adopt one more time, we are looking to adopted a little princess. Also, we do not feel the Lord leading us to do anything to prevent his blessing on us through child birth. How many more, I don’t know. Do I want to be like the people on TV and just have a passel of children? Not really, but I will trust that the Lord will led as he always has. The days of joy, definitely out way the days of being overwhelmed. So, I feel so blessed to raise these children for the Lord.
