MOM Magazine - the story behind the story...

The truth is I don't have time to write magazine articles.  Shoot - i barely have enough time to keep my blog up to date!  But my awesome and amazingly loving & supportive husband submitted something to the magazine last fall - unbeknownst to me.  It wasn't until late January that he informed me that I may be considered for the cover of Mom Magazine. :)  The editor sent some basic questions and we (mostly he) answered them - i helped & double checking info...  It wasn't until the end of February that the photographer called to schedule a photo shoot that we realized that this really may be happening - FUN! :) We were a little bummed that he didn't call the week before when Taylor was home but oh well... it all worked out! The photographer said that he had already read the article & it was great!  That made me wonder what is in the article - we felt that the answers to the questions were brief and there may be something else that I'd like to share.  So the editor said that i could write something more and they would post it to their blog if readers wanted to read more.  I actually took time to write something that i felt God was telling me to share.  I sent it to them and never heard anything else - still haven't  - oh well.  So, i thought that i'd share it here!  and here's a link to the magazine article: MOM Magazine article

Truth be told, my husband nominated me for this magazine article.  I am honored, humbled and so incredibly blessed by what he has done.  And thank you to MOMS Magazine for this honor to be featured on the cover page.

As I reflect back on the article, I wouldn’t say that I have 1 full time job, but several full time jobs!  Actually, I wouldn’t really say that they are “jobs” – they are “blessings”.  God has blessed me to be a wife, a mother of 4, a teacher and a ministry leader.  If you asked me 5 or 10 years ago if I imagined this is what I would be doing, I would have said “not in your life!”  Ten years ago, I was content in having a very successful real estate business.  It was at this moment in my life that I realized that life isn’t about “stuff”, you know – nice houses, cars, clothes etc.  Instead, it’s about “life experiences” - the people that you meet, the things that you get to do that might be a blessing to someone else or even yourself!  Life is about being available and obedient to the things God is calling you to do.  Up until 10 years ago, I had a plan for my life and it was going just as I had planned and it was great, but there was still something missing.  As soon as I stopped to listen to what God was telling me to do and I started to be obedient, my life has been amazing!  Believe me, there were times that I was little scared to take that first little step to what He was telling me but as soon as I did,  I was blown away with how God reassured me and a gave me little confirmations along the way.  I’d love to share my entire journey over the past 10 years but I don’t have time to write a book (…but maybe someday… :) ).

I just want to encourage other moms out there to really be available to what God has planned for you.  When a dear friend of mine had brought home their precious little girl from China 10 years ago, I never thought that I would also adopt one day.  My thoughts were “oh, good for her”.  The thought of adoption had never crossed my mind until then.  Up until that time, I only really thought that adoption was for people that couldn’t have children.  Even though I had been a Christian my entire life, I had never heard the church tell me that God commands us to take care of orphans and widows in their distress (James 1:27).  Again, since deciding to become more obedient, many exciting things have happened over the past 10 years.  About 6 years ago, we adopted our first daughter from China.  After we brought her home, we knew that God was telling us that we needed to let Christians know that we are to care for orphans.  So, about 4 years ago, we started an orphan ministry at our church.  How God supernaturally brought a group of together in our church to start the Heart For The Fatherless (HFTF) Orphan Ministry is an amazing story.  But God wasn’t done there!  He called us to adopt from China yet again.  We brought our second daughter home from China almost 3 years ago.  “Never say never”-- God will change that!

While it may look like adoption is a fun and blissful experience (and it is!), adoption is also hard because it causes your heart to grow and become more like God’s heart.  Growth can be uncomfortable and challenging.  There are obviously many factors involved with adoption and no two adoption experiences are the same.  However, the one constant is that everyone experiences a changed heart on some level.  I thought that I knew myself pretty well and had “it all together”, but I learned a lot more about myself through this journey.  God is still revealing more to me – some good and some not so good.  But we have to be obedient in order to allow the change to occur.

Lastly, the best advice that I can give prospective adoptive moms is to be educated, to have a support network, and to pray.  The HFTF Ministry hosts a free regional conference every November.  This is an excellent opportunity to get educated as the format allows attendees to tailor the conference to their specific needs.  Also, HFTF offers a support group for both pre- and post-adoptive (and foster!) moms called “Coffee Talk”.  Coffee Talks meets on the last Tuesday of each month at Shari’s in Kennewick at 7:30pm and anyone is welcome.  The friendships and support that this group has provided has helped many of our moms through some difficult times.  Also, Coffee Talk is a more intimate setting where moms can get answers to the tough questions about adoption/foster that they might be hesitant to ask elsewhere.  Anyone interested can get more information on all of our HFTF events at www.cctcorphanministry.org or find us on Facebook.  And finally PRAY, PRAY, PRAY because with God all things are possible!