Learning to pray

Every night before bed we read read Reese a Bible story and pray. Usually we pray and he listens and says AMEN. One night earlier in the week Bryan wasn't home at bedtime. I decided to see if Reese would pray. I asked him what he wanted to thank Jesus for and he babbled for a minute. Then, I prayed a simple prayer and let him repeat after me. It was so sweet to hear him pray. We have continued this each night this week. Each time when asked what he is thankful for, we have prompted him. We may say, "what about Nana or your friends?" He would then say a few things and we would pray. Tonight we asked him and surprisingly, he quickly spoke up. The first thing he said was "Joy" and he seemed so happy and proud of himself.

Joy is his babysitter. He loves Joy and often mentions her. He paused for a moment and then smiled and said, "Lily". Lily is our Worship Pastor's daughter and one of the children that Reese plays with during the week. Reese LOVES to talk about Lily. She is the first of his friends that he called by name. He usually talks about Lily and giggles. He followed Lily with Lou Lou, Zoe, Jace, and Lou Lou. Ironically, today is Lou Lou's birthday. I am not sure that he knew or understood that, but something made him think that she needed a little extra today.

No matter how wild he may be, these sweet moments are what ring in my mind. These moments and the moments where he is singing are the most precious things in the world. It is such a blessing to see the Lord already working in his heart.

I have tried for months to get him to learn Jesus Loves Me. He knows the words to most all of the Veggie Tales songs and loves to sing them. He sings all the time (my favorite sound!), but he wouldn't try Jesus Loves Me. Tonight at the dinner table he randomly started singing "the Bible tales me so". When we realized what he was singing we started singing with him and he sang most of the song. This followed by his prayer requests were just another confirmation to me of the HUGE responsibility we have as parents.

Everything we do speaks volumes to them even when we think they are not paying attention. Thank you Lord that I can step out of the way and let you do the leading. I sure couldn't do it on my own.

Thank you!

As you may know, May is National Foster Care Month. If you follow me by way of this blog, twitter, or Facebook then you know I have tried all month to encourage people to consider foster care. Most of the information that I have shared has been about foster kids and some about foster parents. One thing that I don't want to overlook is the foster care staff. Our Social Service employees take on the task everyday of advocating for these "voiceless" children. The foster care workers give of themselves not only to the children, but to the foster families also.

Thank you for what you do! Much like ministry, I know that it is nearly impossible to walk away at 5pm and not think about the hurting kids. Thank you for standing up for kids even when the system doesn't. Thank you for advocating for change in the system. Thank you for loving our kids and thank you for giving of yourself.

I know you don't get thanked near enough. All too often you hear our complaints and concerns rather than our praise for your time and energy. Yes, not every one loves their job and gives 100%, but for those of you that do, I thank you!

Adoption Update

It has been a while since I have talked about our adoption status. The main reason for that is because we have been in the "hurry-up and wait" stage. It looks like our patience may be paying off! As of right now, we have a hearing schedule for June 8th.

Yes, that is 9 days away!!! This hearing is to terminate the birth mother's rights. We have been waiting on this for a long time. This is a huge step in our process toward finalization. After this hearing there is a period of up to 90 days for paperwork, etc. to be completed. After that the birth mother will no longer be involved and we will begin the waiting game for finalization. I am not sure exactly how long that will take. It is possible that it could only be a couple of months.

We are not necessarily concerned about the wait at that point, because the BM no longer has the right to request visitation. Of course, the sooner the better!

Please join us in praying about this next step. We ask that you pray that the hearing will happen and that the judge would complete the paperwork quickly. There is the potential that the BM could relinquish her rights that day (this would cut out some of the paperwork and therefore possibly speed things up) though we don't anticipate this. Also, we ask that you pray that we would be able to get our finalization hearing scheduled quickly.

Reese's 2nd birthday is three weeks from today. What an incredible gift it would be to have the TPR over with by that date. December will be our 2nd family anniversary. Again, what a blessing it would be to finalize by then.

Thank you for praying with us!

Problems Foster Kids Face

This article brings to light just one of the many problems that foster kids face. It also shows how foster kids can thrive a citizens and advocates when being empowered by a loving family. It's time to stand up for foster kids rights!

MinnPost - D.C. Dispatches: Minnesota girl tells senators of school problems foster kids face

Foster Care - The Toughest Job You'll Ever Love (short)

National Foster Care Month

On Mother's Day, May 9th, consider this: 123,000 kids are waiting in U.S. foster care for a permanent and loving family to call their own.

Consider becoming a mom or a mom again this mother's day. Give an awesome kid the gift of a mom!

Worth Re-tweeting

This morning, I was reading my twitter page and came across this tweet: "Remembering when I first was engaged to Walker. He introduced me to one of his friends, who said,'Nice to finally meet you. We've prayed for you for years.' All teary again at the memory!!" from @Missyneedsanap

I too became a little teary just reading that. (Becoming a mom has brought the weepiness out of me. However, I am still not a crier!) What an awesome greeting and blessing. That is the way to start a marriage. I find myself praying for Reese's future friends and bride, though not nearly enough. It is never too early to bring blessings on your child and those that will be such a big influence in their lives.

My little fella isn't even 2 yet, but I know God has an incredible group of people out there for him if he will be faithful to follow Christ's leading. One thing I have to remember... it must be Christ's leading. I can't make his decisions for him. I must let him make his choices and learn from those choices. I can, however, model good choices for him and continue to ask God's blessings on his sweet little life.

It is hard to imagine him walking out my front door with a group of teenagers and even harder to imagine him walking out that door with a ring in his hand. There is no doubt in my mind that God is preparing him for that and preparing those other kids as well. What an incredible blessing we can give that young lady someday if we, as parents, will be faithful to pray for her.