Enough Kids

So, I was going to delay making this announcement for awhile, but something happened yesterday that I am still trying to process, so I want to share our news now and write in an attempt to process what happened yesterday.

Hubby and I are in the process of becoming certified to take in Foster Children.

This is something we have talked about doing for years, we bought our current home with this in mind, and we even started the process a few years ago before we found out we were having twins.  We are taking the certification process slowly (relatively speaking) because we have a lot on our plate currently, and we know that it will have to be a very specific child in order to be a good fit with our young family, but it is something we are committed to doing.

Hubby came in our marriage with a heart for foster children, and we have always talked about this as a possibility.  In his work at the middle school, he works with foster children, Child Protective Services, and broken families on a regular basis, and sees the great need for good foster homes in our community on a regular basis.

While we are carefully and slowly moving forward with this process, we both know that we don't know where it could lead.  We both acknowledge that once we really begin to see the need in our community, and meet the children first-hand who are in need of loving homes, we can't un-see it and we have no idea what could lie ahead on this road.

All that being said, Hubby and I attended a training workshop last weekend to further continue this process of becoming a foster family.

Apparently Hubby shared with some of his colleagues some insights that he had while at the training, and several of them (like four or more of them) had the same response to him when they heard we were becoming a foster family, which was,

"Don't you already have enough kids?"

 I guess I've been pretty sheltered in that we have shared with some friends and family that we are beginning to process, and we usually get a very positive feedback.  Sure, our family especially reminds us how busy we are right now and ask if we really think we can handle this... but in the same breath they tell us it is a very noble thing to do, and they know we aren't going to enter into this commitment without a lot of prayer and faith.

I've never thought of our having "enough" kids.  When I think about our family down the road, and imagine a few more children, I never think a certain number is "enough" kids.

Hubby and I love children.

Hubby and I are a good match for each other because we love children.  We love our own, absolutely -- above anything on Earth.  But we love children in general.  We cannot ignore children in need.  We cannot deny how incredibly fortunate we are -- with space, food, heat, and love to spare.

The Bible tells us to care for the orphans and the fatherless, and that children are a blessing for God.  Hubby and I cling to both of those scriptures very dearly and trust that whatever we are called to do, with God's strength and Jesus' love we will be able to do.

 Psalm 127:3-4

"Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.  Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth."

James 1:27

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."