The Foster-to-Adopt Journey Update

This past March, after our short and intense experience with our foster girls (I will be doing an entire post on our experience with them...someday) we decided that we were not with the right agency for our us. While they had excellent training sessions, and the caseworker was very kind and really good at her job...the agency was just too small.  We felt that it did not have the broad accessibility to our county, and children in the age bracket we are thinking would be the best fit for our family. 

At that point, I was definitely discouraged.  We had begun the training process in January 2011, and were finally approved 10 months later  (November 2011).  Over the course of the following four months we only got two very unlikely referral calls (one was for 3 children under the age of 4).  Now, if there just weren't children that needed homes, that would be one thing.  If parents were doing what they were supposed to be doing and children were not being taken from their homes-then the lack of referrals would be understandable (and a great thing...to not even have a need for foster parents).  But, unfortunately that is not the case...there are still plenty of children waiting for stable, loving homes.

Upon doing some research, I realized that our current agency did not have a direct relationship with Berks and Lehigh counties...the two counties closest to our home.  In this research (I called those counties), I had asked them what their process for placing babies and children under the age of two looks like.  Berks first called upon their approved families and then "outsourced" (for lack of better word) to private agencies and Lehigh actually goes immediately to the private agencies.    A side note...we would have loved to have just been approved through Berks, but we were a whopping 2 MILES out of the traveling range of their central offices. It all came down to the county's lack of money/resources.  
Another side note, at this point we were doing some serious praying as to if adoption was the route God still wanted our family to go through.  I contemplated whether I was perhaps to try and get pregnant again? But, I continued to seek out another agency in the meanwhile as my desire was still very strong to foster and adopt.  And I still had an overwhelming desire to have more kids in our home (while Julia and Andrew are two blessings beyond explanation, something in me continued to feel our family is to be more than four).  

So upon calling the private agencies that the counties work with, I came across Diakon.  I felt really good about them.  We were thrilled to know that they are only 25 minutes away, that they have been around for awhile, that they have a good reputation, a Christian foundation, and a large amount of staff.

The initial training was two entire Saturdays in May.  The positive was that we were able to complete them in a timely manner.  The negative was that they were two absolutely gorgeous Spring days that we had to spend the entire day inside "relearning" lots information!  Of course we had our supportive parents to watch Julia and Andrew.   The training times were worth the "sacrifice." It was a great opportunity to have a good review, learn some new things, and to understand the agency more.  We were able to spend time together (we did steal  picnic lunches by a quaint little pond), and to confirm our continued desire to foster children who so desperately need loving homes.

So over the past few months we've been doing ALL of our paperwork AGAIN.  I try not to focus on the frustration of having to do that.  We try not to dwell on the seemingly wasted time and effort with our first agency.  We did what we thought was right at the time and for some reason, God wanted us to go through that long process.  It didn't bring us to where we hoped we'd be by now... but we have NO doubts that God wanted us to go down that road and that this journey will continue to be ordained by Him.

I'm so hopeful about where things are going. Diakon has been great so far. We had our interview last week (our caseworker is awesome), we have our homestudy July 23 and then they have 30-60 days to complete our profile.  After that, there is no way of telling how long it will be until we have a child in our home.  But, the encouraging thing is that they have one or two women whose primary job is to match families and kids in waiting.

Our first preference would be to have one child, boy or girl, any race, under the age of one.  But we are open to a sibling group of two and children up to the age of four.  We'd like to be as open as possible, with taking our current family genetics into consideration.

It's difficult to describe the place where I"m at right now.  When I first got pregnant, I knew that most likely I would be having a helpless little infant in my arms in approximately 9 months. The excitement, anticipations, and apprehensions grew as my belly grew.  There were physical, emotional, and mental signs that the arrival was getting closer and closer.  This current situation, on the other hand rocks my "desire to be in control" world. How do you prepare mentally, not knowing at all how your family is going to look in 2 months, let alone 9 months?
For now, I just take a deep breath, take the next step and take all comfort in knowing that the Creator knows.  Really, none of us know what our family is going to look like even tomorrow.  I know all too well, that life is fragile and that our next breath is not promised to us.  The Lord gives and takes away in His sovereignty.  It our prayer that in His timing, He gives us the perfect little girl or boy to be our daughter or son, and the kids sister or brother...to be part of the Derstine family for one week..or a lifetime.  Waiting on God isn't always easy, but it is exciting and I wouldn't want it any other way.

No news....

Well three weeks later after hearing about the possibility of going from a family of 4 to a family of 7, we are still a family of  4.   As I described in the post, it was an intense time of processing and uncertainty.  We hadn't heard anything and I was eventually able to be at rest in assuming it wasn't going to happen.  I did finally email our case worker the other day, just for definite closure and she said she normally hears back either way, but didn't hear anything.  I'm glad we had the opportunity to pray and to encourage others to pray for that family. It is my hope that this young mom is able to receive the support and resources she needs to provide for those precious kids.

So now we are back to just waiting.  I was warned this was going to be difficult and it is.  I am trying to not get frustrated when I hear about other families who have gotten young children placed in their homes rather quickly. I have to remind myself that we've only been fully approved for three months.  It just seems like longer because we started the process over a year ago.  I just have to trust in knowing God's perfect timing for our family.  There are things behind the scenes that God is orchestrating  that I don't know and may never fully know.  My heart is resting in His sovereignty...my head just takes a little more convincing:)

How do we make a Life-changing Decision?

On Friday afternoon  I received a call from our case worker about a possible placement.  Not one, not two, but THREE children...ages 3, 2, and 8 months.  A teenage mother from a somewhat local county, it is considered foster-to-adopt (although that doesn't mean adoption is guaranteed...they could return home at anytime), and some other details involved.

"So if you are able to call Jeff...," she continued

""Wait, you need to know TODAY!?!?!"

"Uhm, no...Monday morning would be fine."

Sweet relief.  A decision of this proportion would be near impossible to make within hours.  I finished receiving some details and knowing I wouldn't be able to get a hold of Jeff for a couple of hours, on three-way, I called two of my super-amazing friends who know me so well and are constantly my voices of reason.  They never just jump in and throw-up their immediate opinions in my ear and they never judge.  They listen and allow me to process, they support, they make me laugh, and they ask great questions....including, "So what's the next step?" 

Be willing to follow God, trusting that He is going to open and close doors.  

1.  Jeff's response would be the number one gauge.  I know that he is always seeking God's will, especially with big decisions.  I was able to spill out the details in about 5 minutes while he was driving home knowing we weren't going to be able to process things fully together until Saturday night after the kids were in bed.  It was such a sweet time of honest discussion. I am so blessed to have such a secure husband.  We decided it would be a good decision to share with our church body during testimony time during the Sunday morning service.  

2.  Prayers of other believers and Godly counsel and encouragement would be necessary.  

~We did share vaguely during our church service and  were able to talk to a few families that have gone through the foster-adoption process.  They were honest about the difficulties, but we could see the stream of excitement of what God has done in their lives through the process.

~We shared our situation with other friends and family. We are beyond blessed with having wonderful relationships with so many wonderful people.  We would not have started this process if we were not positive that we would have the abundance of support that we would need.

3.  Reading the Word and personal prayers... I love having "discussions" with God. I love how the seemingly silent God speaks.  He speaks to my heart, especially through His Word (He lead me to Psalm 51 this morning, with verse after verse of encouragement and affirmation), and through music (there are so many songs out there that are filled with His Truths), and even through nature (clear blue skies and beautiful sunrises).

4.  Julia's response:  We weren't intending on telling her until it was a sure deal, but she was in the service when we shared.  We hadn't shared the details in church, but then of course she was asking about it when we got home.  Jeff held her on his lap and she was really happy when we first told her about the possibility of having 3 more siblings.  Then a couple of minutes later we heard her crying  because it set in and she was anxious and upset more so about the uncertainty of it all.   But with talking and reassurance, she was fine and later that night she was still fine about it.  It is a great lesson in faith as we explain to her how we are trusting in God's direction.  We will definitely wait on telling Andrew.  We just have to trust that if it is an experience that would be detrimental to him, that doors will close.  

5. Practicality.  Well, the list of practical challenges are loooooong.  But we decided, to choose to trust that God would provide for every need.  Jeff said we can't go into this with a romantic perspective that this would be easy.  I am aware of the many sacrifices it would entail...and I'm sure there will be many more sacrifices that I'm not able to foresee.  Managing 5 kids under the age 6 would seriously take supernatural help.  One of my biggest concerns would be my emotional stability and sanity!!! But, if they are supposed to be here, as a part of our family for a week or for life...He will provide everything.  Including financial security, which of course would be another concern.  

6.  Stay level-headed.  We could get ulcers thinking about all of the practical logistics...but the fact of the matter is that we could call our case worker back (I'm calling her in one hour!!!) and she could say they are no longer available.  So why waste time and energy on unnecessary anxiety?  It was in the back of my mind all weekend, but it wasn't crippling.  There is a family out there that needs help, love and support.  God has put this ministry very strongly on our hearts.  If it wasn't His will, I've repetitively asked Him to take the desire to adopt away in either of us.  It hasn't gone away, it has gotten stronger.  This may be the family He has prepared for us, it may not be. Regardless, it has been a growing experience and I praise Him for His goodness.

 This is what I posted on Facebook and it is my strength:

So glad that my I can fully trust that my Savior has my family's future in the palm of His hand. What a blessing that I can rest in His sovereignty, knowing that His love for us is immeasurable

Update:
I called our case worker this morning.  She let the county of the mom know that we are interested in pursuing things.  There is a court case tomorrow and we will know more after that.  There is no certainty as to if we would be chosen immediately to take the kids or if there are other available families and we would have to go through an interview-type process.  Most likely we will not hear anything tomorrow.  So we just wait on the edge of our seats.................

Encouragement for my Impatience

‎"Now, I can rest in the assurance that if this is to be, it isn’t up to me. It’s up to God. I give what I can give. And then WAIT for HIM to give ONLY what HE can give." I feel God led these words to me through  ‎Lysa TerKeurst.  They were so encouraging for me as I struggle with impatience as we wait for our foster child.  I know in my heart that HIS timing is PERFECT.    I'm just so anxious to "know how our family is going to look a week from now and even more exciting to provide motherly love for a little child.

How will we find our Child in Waiting?

We have approved the multi-paged profile that our social worker, Brenda has spent loads of hours completing.  Side note on Brenda: she is such a great woman.  Her job is so admirable, she works incredibly hard and handles tough situations with such wisdom.  She was the one who provided us with our 12 week training and is so knowledgeable and very patient with our many questions.  We look forward with continuing to interact with her.
There are different avenues as to which we may be placed with a child(ren). Tomorrow we go to a "Matching Event" in Norristown.   From how it has been explained, it is similar to a job fair in that Jeff and I will circulate around to different tables that surrounding counties have set up.  At the tables, they have profile sheets on the available children and we ask further questions on any of the children we may be interested in.  We are told that it will seem, "not right,"  feeling like we are "shopping" for a child, but it is how the process goes.  At least the children are not present-my heart would not be able to take that.  So we'll see how that experience goes.
Another option is the SWAN network.  They have a website that posts the available children in I think all of the state of Pennsylvania.  If there is a child we are interested in, we call to find out more information.
Brenda is also a part of county placement networks.  She is informed on available children and if it seems like a possible fit for us, she will call us to present the option to pursue things further.
Once we find a child(ren) that we are interested in bringing into our family, I believe Brenda submits our profile to the children's social worker and they decide if we would be a good fit.  Honestly, I don't remember the next step... I'll have to ask about that! After that I think it depends on the situation as to how we would acclimate the child into our family if we are chosen.
So it could happen fast,  it could happen slow, or of course not even at all.  Only God's timing will tell!

Feelings on being Officially Approved

Well as of November 17, 2011 we are officially deemed capable of fostering/adopting a child!
Enter in a whole new set of emotions.  Up until now...I wasn't really feeling anxious (just impatient:) because I knew our paperwork still had to be finalized, so getting a life-changing phone call in this area of life was not possible.  Well, now the reality has sunk in that at ANY time we can get a phone call that can and will change all of our lives forever.  Forever is a long time and our life now is really great.  Of course not perfect, but really great.  But the desire to expand our family is even greater.  It is an inexplicable feeling.  I feel I have genuinely given the feeling to God.  Asked over the years for lack of confirmation or a change of feelings if this wasn't the direction He was leading us.  None of that came, so we have just kept continuing to take the steps and are just waiting with anticipation as to what is coming next.
I also feel that I have been consciously trying to rid of any preconceived ideas or notions of how I think things are going to be.  Through our training and others' stories God has been making it clear that there is an infinite amount of scenarios that could come into play.  When I was pregnant,  there was  a very probable outcome....that a baby would arrive in nine months give or take.  There was the excitement of not knowing if we would have a boy or a girl, but we knew an infant made up of the combo of our genes would be arriving.   Comparably, it is so strange knowing so little about what our family will look like nine months from now.   We don't know what gender, race, age, parents, and even if it will be one or two!  We don't even know how long this child(ren) will be a part of our family.  Being known as "the Planner" in my family...this is very ironic.  I am so glad that when the anxiety hits, I can step back and fully know that the God of the universe has this all perfectly figured out.  He is the Giver of life and I do not for a second doubt that His fingerprints are all over this journey.   His grace will be sufficient and His strength, abundant.

A smidgen closer!

After waiting with absolutely no progress since mid-summer, I was so happy to hear today that our profile is coming along and that our references are being checked!  I am keeping my feet grounded knowing that it could still be a long time, but at least there is movement.
We are excited to go to an Adoption Awareness event put on by Focus on the Family, right in Lansdale this Saturday. http://www.icareaboutorphans.org/Pennsylvania.aspx  It will be a great chance to rekindle our excitement as it's been tough waiting, without being able to do anything.
Whenever I get inpatient, it is so comforting to know that God already has it all worked out.  I believe He has placed this desire our hearts for a reason and I am sooo excited about the possibility of growing our family in such a special way.

While we wait....

The home study went really well. Our caseworker checked out the house and then interviewed us for about an hour and a half (Thanks to Kim for taking the kids and keeping them occupied:).
It was actually an enjoyable time. We were able to answer the questions in a way that represented us and our family and solidified our motivations for wanting to adopt. That was the encouraging part. The discouraging part was that our caseworker told us how much time it takes to gather all our information into our profile and how understaffed and behind they are at the moment. The homestudy was 5 weeks ago, so I checked in with her last week and didn't receive a promising timeline.
We knew from the start that waiting would be a huge part of this process. Initially I was dissapointed, then I really felt at peace about knowing it would take awhile, and as of late...I'm getting restless again. I'm thinking it will continue to be a roller coaster of emotions. There will be times when I will be strong and steady and other times where I will be frustrated and impatient.

In the meanwhile, we had a taste of fostering last week. Friends of ours who introduced us to Friendship House currently have an 8 year old foster boy and his sister, who is 2. Our friends had an opportunity to go to Disney World for business and after much prayer decided it would be best to not take the extremely active 2 year old along. Since we were approved through FH, it was a great fit for us to keep her. It was a wonderful, yet very trying experience!
She is absolutely adorable and absolutely ACTIVE. We could not leave her unattended for a minute. She is curious and adventurous in ways that our kids just never were. Julia was a great help...she was quick to keep me "informed" on all her mishaps. Andrew had a love/hate sibling relationship with her. He got irritated with her one minute, yet he would then be giggling like crazy with her the next. She was totally enamored with Jeff (De-dah), which was endearing and trying for Jeff. So, already long story short, A. was supposed to be here for five days...on the fourth day we received word that our friend (her foster mom) was in the hospital in Fl with kidney stones. What are the chances!? Felt so bad for her and her hubby and the two boys. To make matters more complicated, Irene was on the horizon and a flight home was not definite. So our little houseguest stuck around a few extra days and we reluctantly put our grand plans of organizing and painting the house on hold. I was continually hearing God say People are more important than Tasks. Once again He looked at my agenda and said, "Um..nope, My plan is better. Better than you could ever hope or imagine." The memories of spending time with her are definitely better than memories of "getting things done."
So, perhaps this is just another reminder of how I have to look at this whole adoption process. I want things to go according to my timeline and He is reminding me of His perfect plan for my family's future.

Homestudy Tomorrow

Tomorrow we will have our homestudy and interview with our caseworker from Friendship House. She will be checking out our house to ensure that it is a safe and adequate living environment for a child. We've been going through the check list and feel like the house is ready to go! We believe most of our other paperwork is in line as well.
Tomorrow our caseworker will also be asking us lots and lots of questions, observing how our family interacts, and chatting with the kids. If I'm understanding correctly, she will then compile all of that info, along with the autobiography that we had to write (that was not an easy task:) into our profile. And I think once everything is in order on her end, we are ready to start the search. We are planning on getting more information about that tomorrow as well.
We are so excited to finally be moving along.
So if you could be praying that all goes smoothly tomorrow, that would be great!

So what is the next step?

Now that we are finished the training it's paperwork galore. We already got our clearances, but need to complete: our application and autobiography, our fingerprinting, our physicals, our home study along with a I think 3 hour interview, and a bunch of other odds and ends.
I am not super-great at motivating myself when i don't have a set timeline, but I am chipping away at stuff and it's coming along. I'm not sure what the total timeframe until we are officially approved will be. I think it will depend on how quickly we submit everything, and the amount of work our caseworker (CW) has going on (she works sooo hard..you would never believe all of the hats she wears in one day).

This is how I am understanding the rest of the process (but I could be wrong, bc it's not totally clear in my mind):
-After we are finally approved as resource parents, we have an established "Profile."
-We wait until our CW calls us with a possibility that might suit our family (she hears about possible children through surrounding counties and other resources), we must quickly decide if we are interested or not. I've heard adoptive families call this "shopping" and it sounds TOTALLY strange, but in a way that's what is going on.
-Anyway, if we are interested our CW will submit our profile to the child or children's (yes, we are open to a sibling group of two:), CW. That CW will review our profile, along with all those other interested applicants (I believe this could be up to about 40), and selects I believe three applicants to interview. Yes, this sounds like a job interview process now.
-If they believe we are a good fit, depending on the child's situation, we meet with them informally with our CW about three times, and then he/she/they comes to live with us.
-Again, depending on the situation and their status (if they are open for adoption, or just foster or foster with the possibility of adoption...) we take it from there.

Exhale and trust. I think I just decided that will be my mantra:)

If you are reading this that means you are interested in our journey and we are so grateful for that. PLEASE feel free to ask any questions along the way as we will be as open as we are permitted to be.

Another Step Ahead

Last week we finished our 12 week training sessions! It was a pretty big time commitment to leave the kids every Wednesday evening around 5p and not get home until 9p but we were SO blessed to have a rotation of around a dozen friends and family members who were willing to watch the kids during that time! All went so smoothly on the homefront.

It was well worth the time. Each week we learned about different aspects of the adoption/fostering process:
Overview, Child Welfare Team, Effects of Abuse and Neglect (an emotional night), Attachment and Separation, Discipline, Cultural Issues, Primary Families, Sexual Abuse (another tough topic), Effects on the Family, Permanency Issues for Children and Family. It was tons of information and at times lots to process, but our case worker was very knowledgable and super patient with our lack of knowledge.
There is still so much to learn, but we definitely feel more confident about the process and our level of excitement and anticipation is continuing to rise.

Eventhough it has been made clear that there will be lots of challenges along the way, we still feel that this is the road that God wants us to travel. The last night of training was an extra measure of encouragment. A family with with two biological children and two adopted children came in to speak, and their family and their family story was just so beautiful that only the Master Weaver could have woven it together. Through trials and painful pasts, this family was full of grace and love for each other. Sometimes I wonder, "This is crazy, what the heck are we doing?!?!" But then it seems that I am reminded to just take it step by step and trust.

Judgemental Attitudes Gotta Go....

We are still attending our Wednesday training meetings through Friendship House. They are going well. We are joined by another couple who has a daughter/stepdaughter who is 36, a single woman who works in a state hospital (boy does she have interesting stories), a single man who seems to be about our age, and another woman who has two young kids as well (her husband will go through the training next time). From day one we have learned so much, not only about the adoption process, but about life. One thing that continues to stick out:
*We have a lot of judgmental attitudes and preconceived thoughts. It seems God keeps pointing out that we judge WAY too quickly and are WAY to prideful about our own lives. Before knowing anyone or their past or present circumstances, we think we have the right to formulate an opinion about them. It will be so important for us to not judge the family that our foster child will be coming from. It may be difficult, especially knowing that it is a very real possibility that abuse will have been involved. But, we are trusting that we will learn to forgive as Christ does, regardless of circumstances and beyond that extend love and grace to her hurting heart.
It has been challenging learning about abuse and neglect the past two weeks. It is just unfathomable in my mind how anyone can inflict such pain on their child. We are continuing to see how very real sin and the affects of it are. I've been wrestling with this during my quiet moments with the Lord. How could you allow this? I don't have a definitive answer, but I did read something this week that I feel like I knew, but it just really resonated with me reading it again. It was something along the lines of how all of nature just does as GOd created it to do (grass just grows, cows moo, flowers bloom...) But He gave us humans only the ability to make decisions because He wanted to be loved by choice. Therefore, he had to create us with the ability to make decisions even ones that sadden Him because it would be worth it for even just one of His creations to choose to love Him. Furthermore, He sent His son so that we could be redeemed of our bad choices so that we could still spend eternity with Him. Sounds confusing, I'll have to clean that up after I find out where I read it! Anyway I just have to remember that God's heart is breaking for these kids as well. It makes me all the more eager to have one in our home to love on like crazy.

We found an Adoption Agency?

We met this really wonderful couple from our new church, UPCC who has adopted a child pretty recently through an organization called Friendship House. I had never heard of them, but checked them out and was immediately happy that they are located right in Pottstown. The lady I spoke with was very personable and let me know about a 12 week training course that was to start Feb. 2 (one meeting each week). I didn't know how it would work out with Jeff still being in basketball season since the meetings are from 5:30p-9:00p, but she said as long as i was there and he wasnt missing too much, there could be some flexibility. I don't feel comfortable just going on "feelings" but this organization just feels right. I was hoping that there was a general orientation, but you just jump right into the training, but after the first meeting I'll feel like we will be able to say a definite yes or no to pursuing things further with them.
It helps that we were able to meet on Sunday with the couple I had mentioned. They had us over to their house to talk about their journey and they had great things to share about their experience with Friendship House. They are actually going through the process again, and after checking out other agencies, decided that they just can match the personal attention they have received. Our time with them was so encouraging, and affirming and honest. These are a few things that I especially want to remember:
*It is a very, very emotional process beginning with the training meetings. Expect lots of tears and prepare for time to process the meeting together.
*It will be a marriage bonding experience.
*There will be a lot of paperwork, procedures...be educated on what is going on.
*Remember that God is sovereign and whether a child is to be with our family for a day or a lifetime, trust that God has ordained us to be a part of that child's life for that period of time.
*Be thankful for the supportive friends, family members and others that we will meet along the way.
* Be aware of and obedient to God's prompting--for it is he who works all things together for good.

Two other encouraging scheduling things-With the 12 weeks, of course that leaves us with needing to find babysitters to come to the house to be with Andrew and Julia. I had spoken to 6 different couples about watching the kids, each willing...i sent out an email about scheduling and within a day, I was able to know that every week would be covered. We are SO blessed to have such supportive people in our lives who we know are happy to watch our kids.
Also, with Jeff's schedule being sooo busy these past couple months and currently-it is amazing that it is working out that Wednesdays are open and that he's able to get there on time to the meetings. This is weather pending, so hopefully it will stay that way.

The first meeting was supposed to be last night, but was cancelled bc of weather. Just another heads up that there will be lots of set-backs!

The start of an exciting and long journey

Even since before we had our own kids, I have had the desire to adopt. I was thrilled when Jeff was immediately in agreement when we originally started talking about the posibility (not sure when that was). While it has been on our hearts and in our prayers for awhile, it seemed like now is the time to start-now that Andrew is a little older and we are now more settled in our new home. We are trying to keep our hearts open to where God leads us in this journey. We definitely want to adopt, but feel that we should foster first. I know this is an emotional risk...i can't imagine how difficult it would be to "give back" a child that I'm sure we would have immediately fallen in love with, knowing that he or she may be going into a rough homelife. But, if we aren't willing to do it, who is? We can guarantee that we won't be perfect temporary parents, but we can also guarantee that that child will be loved for however long he or she is with us and that he or she will continue to be prayed for years to come. It will be tough to know how pray-while we have the child in our home. I guess our prayer would be for the birth mom to become stable and even to accept Christ and to be able to provide a safe and loving environment...but our prayer would also be that if it is in God's will that we could keep the baby (or child) knowing that we would provide better living conditions.
Regardless, I'm excited. I feel as though I just found out that I"m pregnant in a way. It's going to be a long process (the lady I spoke with at Coby's said 6-12 months), but that's not much longer than being pregnant (may even be shorter!). I feel really at peace about not being pregnant again and i just feel like our family is not done growing yet! God is so creative. No two families are the same. There is no mold, no formula--each special and unique. I love my family and can't wait to experience the highs and lows and everything in between of what lies ahead.