Lewis Plain and Simple

I am not afraid to grieve.  I am afraid of what would happen to these children if no one took the risk to love them.

This mama's heart is hurting today.  Our first trip through foster care land has come to an end.  Sweet baby M went to live with a family member.  This was not an unexpected move, though sometimes I let myself believe that it would not happen. This case has been a crazy roller coaster.  In the last 7 months, this sweet baby filled a void in my heart that had been aching for years. She will forever hold a special place in my heart. As I made her a picture book to take with her, I wanted so desperately to share them with the world. Her smile fills her whole face! We pray that she has a safe and happy life.......

God's plans will always be greater and more beautiful than all your disappointments

On August 15, 2014 at 2:30 our adoption lawyer called Brady.  A birth mom had looked at our profile and picked us!  Great.....when is she due?  She gave birth yesterday and is ready to sign over rights....could you get to the hospital by 4:00.  Brady called me.  I was on my way to pick up our 7 month old foster daughter from day care.  In and hour and a half, I picked her up called some friends and got her situated at a friends house so we could get to the hospital.  I am so thankful for my friend that I can call and say "hey I need to go pick up another baby, can I drop M off at your house" and without blinking an eye she says yes!  We made it to the hospital a little before 4:00. We met with our attorney and did a little bit of paperwork.  Soon after, this little bundle of joy was placed in our arms!

Brady's Birthday Present

Born August 14th weighing 7 lbs 1 oz and 20 inches long

On September 9, 2014 his adoption was finalized.  Our happily ever after!

At the courthouse with our amazing attorney!

Love,

  The Lewis Family

Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith- Margaret Shepard

"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." James 1:27

In previous posts I had discussed that Brady and I had taken a 10 week course to become foster parents and then decided to do nothing with it. Well recently this topic has come back up again.

Each year my work pays for me to go to the Governor's Conference for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect in October.  I go there thinking I will sit through 3 days of boring CEU's.  I walk in to my first class and see a girl that I knew from WSU.  I sat by her so we could catch up on the last 4 years. She talked about how she works at St. Francis now. I told her about how we did our PS-MAPP class but never got licensed.  She then took the next 2 days to try to convince me that we need to get licensed.  Did not work....

The on November 4th our church participated in Orphan Care Day.  I helped out with some of the activities.  The videos and fliers really pulled at my heart strings......but I convinced myself, nope not for me.

In December, my small group did a study from Jen Hatmaker (I have a total lady crush on her) called Interrupted.  It was all about how can God interrupt your lives.  The whole time we were doing this study, the thought of foster care kept coming up in my mind.

Brady and I went home to Tennessee for Christmas.  Our usual 10 hour drive took about 12 1/2 hours.  Since we had so much time in a car we discussed foster care at length.  We decided that when we got back to Kansas we would call St. Francis and get the process rolling.

At the end of January, they came out and we did some paperwork and they walked around and checked stuff in our house.  They gave us a list of things to change or get inspected.  After getting this list I wanted to change my mind again....but my dear husband talked me off the ledge.  We started working on our list this weekend. Our goal is to have everything ready in the next couple of weeks. 

We have no idea what we are doing.  A part of me does not want to be "interrupted". Once again prayers would be greatly appreciated.