Can A Family Of Many Be United As One?

When we first began fostering children, I could never have imagined that I would have the capacity to love another woman’s child; a child that had been neglected and/or abused would come with a lot of baggage. I wondered if I could be capable of caring and even loving a child that had so many problems. I prayed over it for a long time and the Lord sent his answer, he said, “YES!” I learned that if God calls you to do it then he surely will help you through it. God will also give you the ability and the skills necessary to perform the work that He has called you to do.

We were told as we adopted our children that there was no possible way a child who had been abused and neglected could become united and form a family. We were told that no matter what happened we would find that the different sibling groups would unite within the family and not allow any other child to be a part of their “little family”. These children, that we adopted and love so much, were never supposed to be capable of loving anyone or letting anyone close to them except for their very own blood siblings. YET---- when God puts a family together, He makes no mistakes. Let me give you a recent example…..

Today I was given an opportunity to see just how much an adoptive mother can love her children and just how close of a family we have actually become. This afternoon our family’s beloved dog, Maggie, was hit by a truck, she died within moments of it happening. Death is a reality that we all try to be prepared for and we try to teach and prepare our children for it too; however, when it comes knocking at our door, it is very hard to actually be prepared to deal with its aftermath.

Today as I sat on my driveway, holding the head of our most loved pet, tears streaming down my face and giving the children one last opportunity to hug her and to say goodbye, God allowed me a glimpse into what our family has become and what we are really all about. I watched as my older children took my younger children in their arms and hugged them. I watched as the older children carried the younger ones into the house and comforted each one by trying to give them something to smile about. I watched as the younger children leaned on the strength of their older siblings and I was never more proud of all of them.

After my husband and I had taken care of our sweet Maggie, I returned to the house to see how I was needed, the scene that greeted me was, to say the least, a miracle, according to the many professionals that had said we could never be united as a family. I walked into the play room to find all of the children huddled together talking, praying and trying to find the one word of comfort that would ease the heartache and to bring a halt to the tears. I listened as they told one another that Maggie was in heaven now with the many other pets that we had lost to death’s cruel clutches. I was amazed at the pictures being painted by each child, pictures of Maggie running in a field and playing with their Granddaddy, who had gone to be with the Lord just two years earlier. It amazes me; I don’t know why, at how a child copes with loss and how the Lord gives them the ability to glimpse right into heaven's window and see what we adults can no longer see.

In our family there are four sibling groups, we have two that do not have their siblings with them, they are two biracial children. We have children with physical, mental and learning disabilities, Autism, Asperger’s syndrome, Non-verbal learning disorder, severe ADHD, and Bipolar to name a few. Our family is not perfect by far, we are all sinners saved by grace YET---- we no longer judge one another by our disabilities, we no longer accept a disability as an excuse. We no longer see the color of the skin or the different sibling groups; we see one united family, a family that is joined together, not by the bonds of blood or genetics, BUT by the Love of God and the love and respect of one another. We see a family that has gone through the fires of hell and has come out as pure gold. We see a family that has learned, no matter what the trials or the temptations, we will never be alone, we will never hurt one another intentionally and we will always love one another no matter what the situation or where we are. We are united, we are one and we are a family.


God bless you all.
Rise’

Until Tuesday, February 23rd, enjoy your life!


Wednesday's Blog: Michele "Single Working Mom"