Family are the ones you hold close to your heart

This is my first attempt at blogging and I'm so excited! I am so inspired by the blogs that I follow daily, especially the blogs of moms from large families!

I am married to the man that God designed especially for me. I remember the night over twenty five years ago that I stood outside under the stars and prayed for my future husband. I knew that God was protecting him for me. The sweetness of our marriage is a blessing that I am especially thankful for. We celebrated our twentieth year this past May.

We have five beautifully unique children. I LOVE the way that God gave us each gift. We believe that children are a truly a "gift from the Lord". Our oldest daughter is 17. She was born after two and a half years of infertility and she was answer to a lifetime of prayers! Her name means "cherished one". To this day the word cherish describes how we feel about her perfectly. She is an excellent daughter and I am holding on so tightly to the years that I have left with her. Our next daughter arrived as a complete surprise and full of spunk exactly seventeen months after her sister. She is passionate. Passionate for Christ, passionate in her love for her violin and passionate in all that she does. I can't imagine a day without her unique insights. Four years later and after a painful miscarriage, the son that I asked God for was finally ours to hold. He had a rough start with a premature birth but I knew that he was an answer to prayer and that God would sustain him. He did! He is a strong, strapping eleven year old with a mature insight into faith. He's opinionated and sometimes argumentative but working very hard to learn to be a man.

This is where our life story takes an unexpected turn. Our family was called to the ministry of foster care. We never DREAMED that God would expect this of us, but we are so humbled that He did. Our daughter was with us for three years before she was available for adoption. I have so much to write about this in later posts. But for now, we are very thankful for her, love her and can't wait to see how her story turns out. Our final addition to our family is not yet complete...however, we've loved him, held him and adored him for the past two and a half years. As soon as TPR is finalized we will proceed with his adoption. I remember thinking one day almost three years ago, "I wonder if I have a child being born somewhere at this minute". Now I see that the Holy Spirit was whispering to me that my son had just took his first breath. In a way I feel like I was more "there" than if I had been there. Five and a half months after that experience, he was placed in my arms for the first time. He looked right into my eyes and relaxed and I knew that he was ours.

I look forward to this opportunity to share my life and my faith and hopefully encourage someone who might be struggling with their responsibilities, their calling or their faith.

Vanda