The Beginning Of It All!

I wanted to start off by saying that I am no expert, just a foster/adoptive mom that loves her kids fiercely. 

Over the years I have had many friends and others around me ask me for advice about how to handle foster or adoptive kiddos so I thought why not write some of my thoughts down to share with others.  

First I want to share our story and then in the posts to follow I will start sharing what’s on my heart and throw in some tips or resources that we have used over the years.

It all started back in 2008 when we had several attempts using fertility medications that did not work.  How we got to the path of adoption is for another day.  In 2008 we started our journey in adoption through the foster care system.  I remember sitting in the first classes with about 10 other couples. Some of the couples there were taking the classes to strictly adopt while others wanted to just foster and then there were those that wanted to do both. The reason why we wanted to do both is because we had a better chance of being placed with younger children.  At this point in our parenting journey we did not feel that we were ready for an older child or a teenager. (honestly are we ever ready for teenagers) In July of 2008 we were licensed as foster parents.  

In September of 2008 we received our first placement phone call.  It was for a newborn baby girl and we were told that she would be adoptable.  Of course we immediately said YES! They brought her to us and we were overjoyed.  I remember thinking boy this is too easy.  We took this baby girl in and loved her immediately.  We did not hold back or protect our hearts at all. So imagine the shock when several days later we get a call from a caseworker that they are coming to get the baby because a friend of a friend of the biological mother was going to be the placement.  Devastated!! That word does not even begin to describe what we felt during that phone call.  My heart literally felt like it was being ripped from me at that moment.  I still recall the last words I prayed over OUR baby girl as we placed her in the back of some CPS worker’s car that we did not even know.  As I walked back into the house I picked up all of her belongings that were left and placed them into the nursery and closed the door.  I was DONE!!! I remember yelling out to God why and became angry. 

 It took me several months to open those nursery doors again.  Shawn and I prayed and prayed and we still felt the Lord telling us this is the path that I have laid out for you, trust me.  It wasn’t until May of 2009 that we received another phone call. Shawn was gone TDY with the military and it was just me alone in the house. Our caseworker asked us if we were interested in adopting a little boy who at the time was 16 months old.  I was very hesitant because all of the emotions came flooding back. Will he be taken from us just moments after he was placed. Is this another dangle a carrot in front of my face moment?  Then the shoe dropped. Our case worker said before you answer there is more. She stated that if we wanted to adopt the boy we would have to be willing to foster his unborn brother.  I called Shawn and told him what was going on. We prayed and then we said yes.  Boy am I glad that we said yes! We welcomed Ian and Owen into our home and they have been ours for almost 11 years!  Now that was a shortened story of how we got them, maybe one day I will share more of Owen’s foster story in a later post.

Between 2010 when we finalized the boys’ adoptions and 2013 we tried several times to adopt privately and the Lord just kept slamming that door closed. Well fast forward to 2013 when a sweet 14 year old girl came into the picture.  I mentored this sweet girl for a while and then in the spring of 2014 her grandmother became deathly ill.  We were asked to take this seeteen girl in, just for a few months while her grandmother recovered.  Well those few months turned into a few years. Around the 3rd year she started throwing the word adoption around.  We talked with her grandmother who at the time was still in the hospital and could not take care of her.  So we said YES let’s adopt.  WE had to wait until after her 18 birthday but in August of 2016 we welcomed Dasia into our family officially.

Again Shawn and I tried adopting privately for just one more child and the door said a hard and fast NO. We knew that fostering is where the Lord wanted us.  As hard as fostering is, it is so worth the risks.  In 2018 We said yes to two little girls.  We had these precious girls for about 8 months and then they went back to their family.  I will save our time with them for a later post.  A few days after we found out that the girls were going back we received a phone call from our caseworker asking us if we would  be interested in foster and then later adopting a set of twins.  Shawn and I prayed about this and knew instantly that they were supposed to be with us.  So in May of 2019 these precious twins came to live with us. During this time COVID happened. So our adoption did not take place in a courtroom but in our living room. WE were surrounded by our family and friends as we welcomed these precious 1 year olds into our family permanently.  One of the biggest blessings for the twins and for us is that their biological great-grandparents were sitting on our living room couch witnessing our adoption. That day we not only made the twins a Moore but we also welcomed the great grandparents into our family as well. 

You may be counting at this point and yes we officially have 5 kids! All of them have been adopted.  We currently have one foster love who is now 6 months old. We don’t know the next chapter of his story but the Lord does. So we wait to see how his story unfolds.

The biggest thing is that we were obedient and we said YES!!  Was it hard absolutely! Did we understand what God was calling us to do? NO. Would we do this all over again? YES!

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