It surprises many to learn that my husband and I never intended to adopt a child. I’m not just talking about us not intending to adopt the first child, but we have actually never intentionally set out to adopt ANY child. Yet, somehow, they came. 24 more children. We’re sure not complaining about that!

While I have never longed specifically to adopt, a few times I have desperately longed for another child either vaguely or specifically. It’s that longing that spurred on the experiences of our last 8 years. We had three children yet I desperately longed to have four. Four children had always been my dream. Some claim that I could not know the pain of wanting a child, wanting one first child, when I already had three. Perhaps I can not. Yet, the three children we had only arrived after much heartbreak and difficulty. As for longing for number four being different than a longing for number one?? It is perhaps different, but tell that to a mother’s longing heart where it doesn’t seem different at all. The longing led us to consider foster care. I, myself, spent my teen years in foster homes. Foster care, then, became something that I had a tender spot for. I also knew that we could provide a good home with good parents for a child needing specialized temporary care. It took longer for my husband to come around, and I did not push him, but he is the one that made the original phone call to check into foster care. We checked into JUST foster care, not adoption and not even foster/adoption. Four months after our original phone call, we became licensed to provide foster care with two open beds. We hoped to foster just one child (and only a boy – a fact that will become funny later), but had agreed to care for two children, if there were two siblings needing a placement. In mid-October 1998, we drove to one of the children’s shelters and picked up two young children: a 3.5yr old boy and his 20 month old sister. Our lives were about to change. That is an understatement. Our lives were about to do a complete overhaul. We had no idea what was coming our way! (More of our story to come…)