That's a sentence I never thought I would hear myself say.
Our home is considered "full". We have 6 children and that's the limit. We have had 6 children since Amy Belle joined our home last February...but the Lord allowed us to continue taking in other children under the label "Emergency Care" on the weekends.
It has been a complete blessing. Our children are better people because of it. We have seen empathy, compassion & selflessness grow out of them that I'm not sure they would have learned any other way.
We have learned hands-on, how to care for children with special needs. We have learned how very, very blessed we are and how very little so many others have. We have learned how we can be the hands & feet of Jesus to a very hurting world.
Our family has grown by THREE as a result of fostering children who then became adoptable. And oh how I love all my Morrow babies more than I can utter with human words!!!
However, it hasn't always been positive. Our kids have also went without things because we were busy providing for other kids. We serve a mighty God who has NEVER let us go without any necessities. All of our needs have always been provided for. However, there are things our kids have gone without as a result of our finances being shifted to caring for so many others.
What hurts the most is that they have also had to go without our previous constant love & attention being poured into them that they had before we began caring for other children. As a result, we have biological children who are now hurting. It has come out in different forms. And due to our hurting children and spending night after night dealing with all those issues, our marriage is starting to feel the pressure of all this stress. It hasn't been ugly, but it hasn't been pretty either.
So for now, for this season, we are closing our doors to Foster Care. Oh how it hurts to say that. But oh how I am thankful that seasons come & seasons go. We can reopen again within 5 years with not too many hoops to jump through. Gabi will be 21 then. Crazy!
And oh how thankful I am for the healing that is taking place in our children. He is a good God friends. And even in the midst of my children's hurting hearts, I have loved watching from this front row seat, how He stirs hearts towards Him. I will remain forever thankful for the way He works ALL things out for our good dear ones. ALL THINGS.
Thank you to my precious husband, for saying YES to Jesus, even though it went against everything you were most comfortable with 4.5 years ago, when we began this journey. Thank you for allowing yourself to be vulnerable as we journeyed through this new territory. You have been our rock by constantly pointing us to Jesus and reminding us that everything would be ok. I am so humbly sorry the last few months have been so difficult. Thank you for your patience as we navigate through this season with the Lord by our side.
Thank you New Life Baptist Church of Blanchard, OK for the way you have supported us through our Foster Care Journey this past year & a half. Thank you for being such a blessing to our family. Your prayers, encouraging texts & financial help when we needed it most completely blows our mind. May the Lord continue to bless you beyond what you have blessed our family. Thank you!
Thank you to our friends & family who have prayed for us, brought us meals when we had newborns, supplied us with baby items and sweet little boy clothes and simply made it possible for us to do this ministry (because that IS what it has been to our family). Your encouragement means more to us than you will ever know. And I am so sorry that I stink at thank you notes. It's no excuse and I'm embarrassed and so very sorry. But you know who you are and we are so eternally thankful for each of you!
Thank you to my closest, bestest friends who threw us Gotcha Parties with each of our Adoptions. You girls know how to throw parties! And you know how to help a girl feel loved even when her own family lives 13 hours away! I am forever & ever grateful for each of you and so thankful to my Jesus for placing you in my life. I love ya'll from the bottom of my heart!
Onto the next season...
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