We Have A Wonderful Life...

These words, these simple, simple words. 

Spoken out of awe, wonder, sheer amazement and stun tens if not hundreds of times from the lips of my dad. The thing is, the statement is never puffed full of pride and accomplishment- no, not at all- all I hear when those words spill out of my father’s heart is thankfulness. The life we’ve been given is just that.. Given. A gift. A beautiful, undeserved one. 

Recently, I’ve heard these words everywhere- whenever I’m with my dad...and sometimes it feels like he ends almost every sentence expressing once again how awestruck he is. Maybe I’m so utterly shocked by the tone he uses, or the times he chooses to say it or just the simple peace it brings.... Or maybe I hear those words so often because I’m just as shocked, amazed and thankful as he is. 

My thankfulness is not only attached to the material commodities a nice life in America brings- those don’t even begin to start the list. Mostly, it’s the richness of relationship, the privilege of being so *known* and having such undeniable hope... And this sparked a journey to adopt.

Not unlike other areas of our life, our idea didn’t exactly succeed... Mom and Dad went through an entire Foster Care course in order to take kids from Wake County into our home upon a phone call that a home was needed. We were a certified family, our home was a certified house, now all we needed was to receive a call and we’d have a new kid in our home! ...if only anything like this worked that smoothly! 

Switch gears

It was during that month that our home and family inspections were occurring that the Lord set a beautiful little boy in my path. He didn’t stumble in my direction. He leapt toward me and hopped on my back- refusing to let go. I met him at Hope Reins, a non-profit ministry I volunteer for (blog here: www.hopereinsraleigh.blogspot.com) and the second I laid eyes on him I felt this childish sense of freedom and saw a deep sense of alone-ness. What an odd combination. Freedom. Alone-ness. Seems like it doesn’t fit? All it takes is one look into those uber dark brown eyes, one witness to his throw-my-arms-back-in-laughter release or one of his pearly white smiles to make you smitten and get you in a playful mood- he just does that. The feeling of alone-ness I saw, he later explained to me over poop scooping (remember, Hope Reins is a farm...not every job is glamorous ;)). His parents died within 3 months of each other. He was 5. His mom and dad were never married. Now, he was currently living at a boarding school.

Tears. 

There’s only one way to say it, he snuck into my heart, nestled himself real cozy and snuggled- it didn’t seem like he could ever leave. After my parents had the grand opportunity to meet him, they were soon smitten as well. That little trouble-maker just has his way with us! We okay’d it with his guardian to have him spend the night one weekend...and those weekends just never stopped. Pretty soon the questions of “Can you adopt me?” “I want to be home schooled!”  “Why can’t I always live here?” crept in, and great patience, prayer and petition became my necessities. 

I just want to clear one thing up, sometimes Jordan annoys me to pieces. His outgoing- always running- needing attention- thriving on people- can’t sit still and settle- thing can drive me bonkers. I get angry- I reprimand- I ignore. But then, he knocks on my door one hundred times, starts that mope-y shoulder look and I realize how much I absolutely adore him. 

I’ve seen my dreams come true, I never lost hope for my desire to have a little brother...and that’s just what he is to me. All the previous story to say, Jordan is officially moving in with the Foulkrod family... I can’t even comprehend my excitement currently. There is shock, worry and unabandoned JOY...dumbfounded that Jordan’s guardian, a sweet friend of his mom who died, has allowed this life- this wonderful life- to improve all the more. Life gets sweeter when more life is added. 

I know that many of you have prayed for this day to come, also...Thank you for your prayers!! I know that these crazy schemes only come from God and his plan and so of course, I’ll continue singing his praises all through the night :) As I continue posting stories on this blog (my learnings, mistakes, experiences, ect.) I am sure Jordan with be a common theme as I know I have so much to learn from him and having him in our home 24/7. I am beyond pumped. There’s a lot of new stuff for me to figure out. 

I guess Mom will never experience the feelings of empty-nesting because after Jordan graduates, who knows what’s next for these parents o’ mine? ;0)

“Now to him who is able to more than all we could ever ask or imagine!” “Every good thing comes from You!”

As Always,

Anna