The "God-incidences"

That's what we started calling them - "God-incidences" - when the Lord started speaking to us about Foster/Adopting.  They were consistent in our lives starting in January of 2013 all the way through June - too regular and too direct to be coincidences, so we knew the Lord was speaking to us and guiding us in a new and fresh way.  Some of them were crazy, some of them were just plain funny - and as we wait for May to approach, I want to share some of them with you!

One of the first big ones was on a date night.  I had coffee that Friday morning with a friend. She and her husband have two kids of their own, and they were in the process of adopting their first daughter out of the foster system - it was the first time I was really able to talk to someone walking ahead of us in this journey, and it was so helpful!  I got a lot of questions answered, saw how big the binder really is (This binder is huge!  Serenity gives it to families who foster, and it has all the rules and regulations of fostering.), and got to hear first-hand from her how much this choice is a ministry to the kids and their families.  So good!

That same Friday night, Dan and I went to Lucille's BBQ for date night.  A yummy splurge for us!  We sit down, and Dan says, "So?  Tell me all about it!  What did she say?"  I tell him everything, and we start to discuss what it would look like if we were to foster/adopt.  Looking back, we actually decided some big things that night during that conversation:
- We would want two sibling boys: The state is in desperate need to place siblings together.  We want an even number of kids.  We still have a desire on our hearts to have sons. With a family of ALL girls (no seriously - ALL girls.  I am one of 6 girl cousins, who have 7 daughters total among us.  My grandmother just had her 15th girl in a row last year!  On Dan's side, again, 7 girls. Wouldn't it just be cruel to bring ONE boy - the youngest - into these two families?  If we are going to bring a boy into this family, at least two will have each other in the craziness!), and we just had peace about this decision.
- We would want the kids to be around the same age as our girls: Keep Kate the oldest if we could, but they would all be in the same stages and grades and schools together.  Because we both work full time, we didn't feel right about taking on a baby (which most likely would be a high-needs baby at that).
- Full disclosure: We didn't feel called or equipped to take on physically or mentally handicapped kids.  There are people who are so good at and passionate about these kids, and the Lord bless them!  With two of our own, and me being a working mom, this was something we didn't feel called to.
- We are open to any and all ethnicities.

Looking back, we didn't really know what a big step in the process we had made that night, but as time went on, these decisions were solidified strongly.  SO...we finished dinner, and decided to leave the conversation behind us and go enjoy a movie.

There wasn't much playing that night, so we decided to go see "Identity Theft" with Jason Bateman.  We were hesitant because of the rating, but were up for a good laugh.  (For the record, it was one of those oh-so-funny, redeeming movies that absolutely didn't need to be rated R.  It was a few words and one awkward scene away from being a great movie...)  Now forgive me (spoiler alert!) for ruining the movie for you, but the entire thing builds up to this pivotal scene of dialogue about why the main character is the way she is, and why she's such a lonely, miserable wreck.  She is finally honest for the first time in the film, and her answer is, "Well it started when my mom abandoned me in the hospital.  I spent my childhood shuffled through the foster system, and when I was 18 I was on my own and had nobody.  I've never had anybody."

Wait a minute.  Hold the phone.  This whole movie is a redemptive story about a lonely foster child who comes to finally have a family and people who care about her, and love and accept her in spite of her faults or her past?  WHAT??

Dan and I leave the theater during the credits, and whisper, "Did that just happen?  Is God speaking to us through movies now?"  We just chuckled the entire ride home.  If that wasn't a confirmation after the conversation we just had, we didn't know what was!

Does God speak through movies?  He's the author of the whole universe, and everything He makes and does is trying to tell us how much He loves us!  I think the question isn't "does God speak to us through movies", I think the statement is that God is always speaking to our hearts.  The question is, how often are we listening?  This process has caused Dan and I to listen to the Lord in a new and unique way.  The message wasn't what we were expecting.  (In fact, the question we were asking Him at the beginning of last year was, "How and where will the Lord put us back into formal church ministry after taking a hiatus to have two little ones?")  His answer was surprising - we aren't going back into formal church ministry - we are going to expand our family for His glory and to expand His kingdom!

Here's to the adventure that is obeying that call.  :)