And Then Came Lelah!

Now, onto our adoption journeys. As Jamie and I were raising our 2 children, a friend of mine shared something with me that took us on our next journey in life. My friend's sister was in jeopardy of losing her 5 kids to children services. She told us that no one in her family could take them in and that the family was so worried where they might end up. This information just touched my heart and right away I said "We will take them in"!! It was just that instant and just came from my heart. I ran home that night just so ready to hit the door running as I tried to sputter out the words to my dear, unsuspecting husband. Of course like I knew he would, he embraced the idea and we both just felt so sure of our decision.





James and I were quick to call DCFS and started feverishly on the paperwork and all of the hoopla that one has to go thru to become a foster parent. It took us 9 months but we managed to finally become a liscensed foster home. Now in the meantime, my friend's sister did not get her kids removed but hey, it was those precious kiddos that got us on the right path!





I am proud to say that we fostered 4 beautiful children in about a year and got them home to their parents safe and sound. BUT....in that time we knew that we wanted to adopt and I had learned of an agency that specialized in Liberian, West African adoptions. The information I gathered would rip anyones heart out of your chest! These suffering children in a war torn country, it was a very big wake up call to us. Our hearts lay heavy but we knew what our mission was....to adopt a child from Liberia!!! James and I started gathering our dossier and trying to figure out what the heck to do as we never had embarked on such a mission of this magnitude. We were just a few weeks into our journey and we got "the call". A 5 yr old little girl just came to the U.S. two weeks ago and needs a home. The lady that adopted her wanted to disrupt. Oh My! This was the exact gender and age we were looking to adopt in the first place.





Two weeks later we were in P.A. picking Lelah up and taking her to her forever home. It was a whirlwind, to say the least. Just mind boggling how God orchestrated His timing. Lelah has been home now for 5 years. It has been a pure joy yet a frustrating time as we all know. Lelah has grown so much and we love her dearly. She has a ways to go but don't we all in some aspect. Sometimes our kids just come with "baggage" and I don't think that it ever completely goes away. But with God's Grace, he can lead them down the right path in life and it's Gods Grace that teaches us as parents that we have to have FAITH!



Lelah before she left Africa



Lelah Today