The Beginning of Our Story

     My husband, Jonathan, and I met when my best friend from high school married his brother.  My junior year at a Christian college, he started his Freshmen year.  To make a long story short, he was looking out for me and praying for me that year.  We became great friends.  We officially began dating my Senior year, and were engaged a year later, while I was teaching school.  He finished his bachelor's degree and we were married in June 2006 in my home church in Medford, OR.  After a wonderful honeymoon on a week long Alaskan cruise, we settled into married life and made our home in Vancouver, WA.
     For our family, we decided to trust the Lord with our future and His timing for children.  As a new bride, I anticipated the possiblity of having a child 9 months later, but hoped we may have a year together before their arrival... ...and we did.   And then another year pasted... ...we began to research ways to increase fertility and causes of infertility.  We had some medical testing done to see  if there was an obvious hinderance.  None could be found.  Meanwhile, my many sister in laws were being blessed with their first, second, third, or even fourth children.  We looked to the Lord for His answer, His timing.  This is not to say there were not brief feelings of brokenness at times, envy, jealousy, or discontentedness.  But each time they came we brought them before the Lord to find our contentedness with Him.
     We began to talk about options, the medical field has opened may possible avenues. For us though, we felt, that if we could trust God with withholding children we could also trust Him with the giving of children.  As we sought the Lord's face and His hand in our lives we set our three year wedding anniversary as the marker to look into adoption if we did not get pregnant before then.  We were both very comfortable with the idea of adoption, even if we could have biological children.  As the three year marker began to approach, we began to read books about adoption and educate ourselves on all the options out there: agencies, legal risk, expense, waiting periods, etc.
     The Lord gave us a burden  for the many children in need of a loving home here in America.  The summer of our three year wedding anniversary we started the process of becoming licensed foster parents with the intent to adopt.  We took many classes, CPR certification, a home study, a large packet of paper work, background checks, fingerprinting, and "babyproofed" our house.  In fall of that year, we finally received our license.  However, my teaching and commuting schedule did not allow us to take full time placements. So, over the next 9 months we served the children and foster parents in our area by providing respite on the weekends as it was needed.  We took in children just for the weekend from ages 6 weeks to 5 years old.  It was a time rich with humor, tears, frustration, suprise, learning, and growing.  Through this time we met some amazing foster parents loving challenging children for the Lord and we were able to give them a brief time of rest.
     During this time, God also moved my husband into working with many of the children's ministries at our church.  In January, we took our adoption class.  Between this class and our respite foster references we built a reputation with DSHS.  During the 9 month school year, there were several instances it looked like God may be bringing a certain child or children into our home to be their forever home.  Though it was tempting to say "yes" to every child or take permanent placements before June.  We knew it was not fair, time wise to the child, and God would lead in His timing, which we knew was June.  It is often tempting to jump ahead of God, isn't it?  Whether it be a spouse, children, home ownership, or _(you fill in the blank)__.

"But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation." ~Psalm 69:13