“Train a Child up in the way he
should go and when he is old he will not part from it.” Proverbs 22:6. We are school teachers by profession. John is a teacher at MBJH and coaches the 9th
grade football team. I am an adjunct
professor at Samford where I teach English to the International students. We both felt called to be teachers/coaches,
but had not realized that God had a bigger plan for the two of us and our
family.
My first year of teaching I taught
and coached at Chelsea Middle school and it was at Chelsea that God began
revealing His plan for us. There are
many group homes for children in Chelsea and therefore, I taught many of these
children. At this time John and I were
engaged and we began inviting one of my students to spend holidays with our
families and soon became a visiting resource to him. Eventually, DHR sought us out to become
foster parents and the young man came to live with us. He was the beginning of our journey.
During that time, we married and
had two beautiful healthy children who are now 5 and 3. John changed schools many times in order to
pursue his coaching career. He was DC at
Oak Mtn., Foley High, and Homewood High for the Varsity teams. Into his second year at Homewood, the Head
coach resigned and John was faced with finding another job. We had just moved to Mountain brook from
Chelsea at this time so he could be closer to his job. And of all places, he was hired at Chelsea as
the DC for the Varsity team. We could
not understand how this could happen and at this point we had just had our
third child. However, once again God had
a greater plan.
During his year at Chelsea, we both
felt a calling from God to adopt. We
were hesitant to adopt because of the expense and at the time I was a stay at
home mom. Therefore, we thought we would
silence the calling by doing foster care again.
We then began the long journey of working to become licensed to foster
care and more importantly we are licensed for therapeutic foster care. At Chelsea, John taught Driver’s education
and he soon realized he had many students who were living in group homes as
well. One of the teachers asked John if
we would consider fostering one of the girls.
We discussed it and decided we would do it. Today, I am proud to say that that young lady
is our daughter and has recently graduated from Mountain brook high
school. John’s time at Chelsea was
short-only one year-but we know God used John so that Lauren could experience
the love of a family- specifically a mom and a dad, a brother, and sisters but more
importantly learn about God’s love for her.
After a year at Chelsea, John got a job at MBJS.
Three months after Lauren moved in
with us, the Director of the English Language program at Samford contacted me
on facebook and asked if I was interested in teaching. I had not turned in a resume or applied for
any jobs. Within a week, I was back at
work part time working with the Chinese students. I thought I would be teaching speaking and
listening in the English language but soon realized my job entailed so much
more. My Chinese students are interested
in knowing about God and they will use class time to ask me questions-this job
has been very different than working in public schools. One question I get asked frequently is “How
do I know God exists?” The only answer I know to give to prove His existence is
my family. I tell students about what
God is doing in our family and how he has guided us through our lives so that
we would be equipped with the right tools to parent these children and then it
is only through God giving me strength each day that I can keep up with my
kiddos. My students spend a lot of time
with our family. They come over on
holidays, and eat dinner with us, and enjoy seeing the different attractions in
Birmingham. It didn’t take long for me
to realize that we could not keep ignoring God’s purpose and calling in our
lives. We both knew we were supposed to
adopt. We knew we had to be
faithful. We just still needed a little
more push because we were afraid of the expense. One Sunday, Dr.Barnette was preaching about
some people being called to give and other’s to do. He said, if you are a doer then God will
provide. John and I looked at each other
and we knew that message was for us.
We knew for many years we were
teachers, parents, and coaches. However,
we had no idea that God would call us to this ministry. Ephesians 3:20 tells us, “Now to him who is
able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power
that is at work within us.” We never imagined we would have so many
children. We never imagined the length
we would travel to obtain our children.
But we are so glad that God planned this for our lives and prepared us
as well as our children for this work. Our
children have been called to this ministry without a question in our mind. Specifically, our son, Ayden. Ayden shows God’s love to every child who
enters our home. He is a great example
of love.
Over the course of our six year
marriage, we have had three biological children, fostered three children, took
in at least three others for short periods of time, and now plan to adopt TWO
boys from China. We are excited to be
called to this mission to share what a Christian family looks like and teach
children from different socioeconomic and cultural environments who God is. We are more than humanitarians because we
share the gospel with these children during their time with us, and to other
families through our work whether on Facebook, in the grocery store, or at work.
We share God’s work in our lives and give hope to others. We are committed and hope to build a
Christian foundation in these children’s lives so that when they are older they
will not part from it.
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