Forever Families

When children first hear they are getting a “forever family” their initial reaction may be fear.  After all, forever is a really long time.  The first thing they usually ask is, “So, when can I see my mommy and daddy again?”  You slowly begin to see the wheels turning in their minds.  What they are really asking is,   “So, does that mean I can’t see my mommy and daddy again?”  The battle now rages within them.  How do I say goodbye forever to my mom and dad and who will my new family be?  Will they take care of me? Will they love me?

As followers of Christ we know that love casts out fear.  A couple struggling with infertility know the longing of their heart for a child and how that missing piece of their heart can be filled through adoption.   Other families desire to grow their family through adoption because they want to obey the Lord by caring for an “orphan in their distress” (James 1:27).  The motivations of adoptive families may vary from family to family, but their desire to love and care for a child through adoption is the same. . .if only the hearts of our children could that they are loved and wanted. . . if only they could see that the Lord has a family planned and designed especially for them.

Recently, I picked up one of the boys, in my cottage,  early from school.  His adoption worker was coming for a regular monthly meeting.  He wants a family so desperately that when I mentioned that she was coming he jumped up and down and shouted, “So that means I’m getting a family”.  He was disappointed when I had to tell him that it would be a little while longer.  Another one of the boys came up to me at bedtime a few months ago.  He asked, “If I can’t go home to my dad, would you adopt me and my brother?”  Every day he struggles to believe that there could be someone out there that would want to be his family.  The longer children wait for a family, the more they feel unloved and unwanted.

“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.”  Psalm. 68:5

Our main goal at Miracle Hill Children’s Home is to love on our children like Jesus so they want to know and love Him as their Savior!  As a house mom, the boys in my cottage are mine for a little while, and I would love to keep them safe and close to me forever.  I know that is not what they need.  If I adopted them all, they wouldn’t really have a family.  They would still be living in a group home.  They need and want a family.  They could possibly need and want someone just like you!

If the Lord is calling you to become a foster parent with Miracle Hill Children’s Home, please call 878-9987.  To learn more about adoption, call the DSS Region I Adoptions office at 282-4730.