The doors started FLYING open...

Once I had it in my heart to adopt a child from the foster care system opportunity just kept knocking on my door. I started the paperwork process of doing the background checks and all like a year ago. I was interested in a particular child, but at the time he was still in a sibling group of three and they were working really hard to keep them together....understandably! Time moved on and I had heard nothing. Being a christian and having full faith that everything happens for a reason and I am living God's plan for me, I just figured it wasn't meant to be and I went about my life making other plans. Dealing with other personal things in my life I made the decision to move back to CA to be with my friends and family after having lived in AR for the last 5 years. I was putting full effort into these plans as I do everything I set my mind to. Sure enough, just as I was getting ready to move into another chapter of life, God throws me a curve ball. The first one came from my students foster mom. She mentioned to me that she was told about my interest in adopting my student....we will call him "J". I told her that I had been interested but since I hadn't heard anything in MONTHS, I figured it wasn't mean't to be and I was moving. She told me that someone from DHS would be contacting me. I sort of blew it off knowing how the system works. I mean after all, it had been like 9 months since I voiced any interest at all. Then, a few weeks later I get a call from someone at DHS asking if I was still interested in adopting. She told me she had "lost" my paper work and had just recovered it. I told her no, I wasn't and I explained my whole plan to her. Then, two weeks later I get a call at work from a case worker at DHS asking me if I wanted to adopt J. I told her no that my house was on the market and I was getting ready to move back to CA. She asked me if I was certain I was going to move and she told me how much J needs a loving and stable home and she asked me if I would think about it. I told her that I would think about it. Well it didn't take me long to start thinking that maybe God was trying to tell me something if it keeps being put in my face like that. After much prayer and discussion with those close to me I decided that this is something I need to do.

And so, I will be embarking on the most exciting, crazy, terrifying, unsure, yet rewarding experience of my life............I am going to adopt J!!!