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Follow Chris, Project 1.27's Executive Director, and his wife Sarah as they adopt a child from foster care, too!
Part 1 (December 4, 2006)
Dear Friends of Project 1.27,
Summer is so much fun when you have children. No more alarm clocks when it’s still dark out. Tea parties with the neighborhood girls, and Star Wars battles with the neighborhood boys. And of course, swimming. Lots and lots of swimming.
But like most Moms, I did breathe a sigh of relief when the air began to get nippy and I could smell fall coming. “Back to school” sales means structure and some time “off” are just around the corner! Time to focus on “me” and what I want to do.
We have a rule in our home. Once you go to bed, you are not to get up until morning unless (1) you have to use the bathroom or (2) you are hurt or bleeding…so when my daughter came downstairs the second week of school and said she needed to “talk,” well, I was a bit irritated. We went and sat in our “private spot” where we have our girl talks, and she said, “Mom, God’s been giving me visions and He says I have to tell you…” Gulp. I changed my attitude real quick!
It turns out the Lord of the Universe has been telling my daughter that we are supposed to adopt again...Uh…. “I think we need to go talk to Daddy, honey.”
That night the three of us prayed about it. My daughter prayed, “God, thank you for my visions. And please help Mom and Dad know if we are supposed to adopt again. And please send me my dreams in color next time. Amen.”
Chris and I were a bit stunned, to say the least. We hadn’t been considering adopting any more children anytime soon. Don’t we already have enough kids? Our 4 children already keep me and Chris hopping. Our life has just finally settled down after 2 years of crazy busyness in starting the Project 1.27 ministry. And I was looking forward to a “break”. Our income is stretched to the limit. There is only one more space in the van before we run out of room…
The next day I was sitting at the computer arguing, I mean talking, to the Lord about it. “Oh God, you are going to have to make this very clear. Is this just my daughter’s ‘wishes’ morphing into Your will? Or is this really You? It was so hard last year when we tried to adopt baby Adonaia at Christmas and then had to return her to her birthmom. I don’t know if I can put us all through that again. And frankly, I really don’t want to go back to diapers. If it is You…well, it would have to be a school aged child…and I’d prefer a girl around Jacob’s age. But, I don’t know. How would an older, needy child affect our home-life? Do I have the ability to do more? And what about…”
In the middle of my rambling, He stopped me.
Jalaha.
What?
Jalaha.
Because of the Project 1.27 adoption ministry, we see dozens of pictures and profiles on children in foster care needing homes. We first learned about a little girl named Jalaha (Juh-lay-uh) about two years ago. She was four-years-old at the time, and in one of our partner county’s foster care. I remember thinking she was a beautiful little girl and hoping that one of the Project 1.27 families would adopt her...but as far as I knew, no forever family had been found for her yet...
I immediately looked her up on the internet. There she was. Six-years-old. First grade. Legally Free.
As the hair stood up on my arms, I thought, “Oh my gosh. I have to tell Chris.”
In Him,
Sarah Padbury
To Be Continued Next Week
Read other parts of the Padbury's adoption story |
