Are You Ready?

             SO YOU WANT TO ADOPT THROUGH THE FOSTER CARE SYSTEM

ARE YOU READY?
are you ready to be lied to....to be stolen from.... to be so exhausted you can barely speak in complete sentences?
Are you ready to hear words that you thought would never be spoken in your home....
Are you ready to be humbled at every turn?
Are you ready to give up most of your worldly possessions?
Are you ready to be hated for a season because of all the wrong things that were imposed upon your child from others that came before you?
Are you ready to face the stares of others? Or to face the parents of those your child caused harm to?
Are you ready to walk away instead of engaging in a battle that you certainly won't win? And are you ready to stay right beside your child even when every part of your being just wants to walk away? Maybe even run away?
Are you ready to face the fear that maybe you can't handle this and know that you can't ...only the God of the universe can?
Are you ready to face feeling like a failure at this whole parenting thing?
Are you ready to know with certainty that you did not take the comfortable route in this life?
Are you ready to live a life that has not been wasted and experience immense joy in the smallest of accomplishments?
Are you ready to give up the privacy you once had? There are therapists, PCA's and law enforcement that will know more about you than you may have been willing to share? And they will all have their opinions about the way you are parenting.
Are you ready to show love to a child that you don't feel much love for?
And are your ready to get up the next morning and choose to show that love all over again?
Are you ready to accept that your child's future may not be anything like you envisioned when you started on this journey? Are you willing to give a huge part of your life so that your child may have just a chance at fully living theirs? And if they fall, are you ready to know that it was worth it even if they do not come to know the Lord in the way you dreamed for them?
Are you ready to trust that the Lord knew your every step before you took them... He knew that you would endure...He knew what your other children would endure...and He says, "I am enough."
Are you ready to deal with the realities that love is not enough but Jesus is...
If you are being called by God to walk down this path...
Are you ready? If you are not, but you are confident that you are being called to this-- hang on for dear life and you will find a life waiting for you that is so worth living. You will experience the depth of God's provision and grace in ways you did not know existed. You will be amazed at all that God has in store for you...if you are ready to trust Him with all your heart...then you are ready whether you like it or not. You will not walk this journey alone. God will always be there....always. And there are lots of us walking this journey alongside of you...we will be there too.

When I copied this poem I never dreamed how much I would be able to relate to the writer. Is adoption hard? YES! Is it a blessing? YES, a thousand times YES! Even if our path of adoption has not led us where we thought it would... we have encountered things that we never could have envisioned. Who would have thought one could get into so much trouble for seeking help for your hurting child? We didn't know that love is not enough, we were naive enough to think love cures all ills. We thought we were good parents, we knew how to nurture and care for children but we had never encountered children who cannot accept that love. Children who are so hurt they react in pain and fear when you try to give them a hug. Children who do not trust you to keep them safe even after years of safety in your home. Little ones who's eye's light up when you come home from a trip because they thought you weren't coming back...even though you have reassured them time and again that you will always be there for them. Neither did we know the intense joy of having a hurting child throw their arms around your neck and exclaim, "I love you!" The pride you feel when your child accomplishes a milestone that he struggled long and hard to attain and above all, the incredible peace of knowing you are following the Father's leading.