I hope you enjoyed my first letter. I concluded in that letter with Jeremy and I getting married. I thought I would back up just a little and talk of our engagement.
When Jeremy and I were engaged, we both spent a great deal of time in prayer. Jeremy was a new believer and wanted with all his heart to know God’s will and walk in it. I also wanted to know where God was going to take our lives next. We had just finished high school. I was working one full time job and two part time jobs, Jeremy was going to school full time and working in a factory full time. Every Sunday, Jeremy would come to church and stay the day at our house. We lived right beside the church. The church was out in the country, so we would go for long country walks, and talk and plan our future together. We both loved kids, especially special needs kids. We were both certified respite care givers, and enjoyed serving at a local respite home for special needs people. It was clear to both of us that God had prepared us to care and love individuals with special needs. We also loved serving in our small country church, not much bigger than the church you attend. We started a Wednesday night program for kids. It was a fun time with games and activities and a Bible lesson. Each Wednesday, Jeremy would take a vehicle and go pick up kids, and I would take a vehicle and go and pick up kids. We also had lots of grandparents and parents that attended Wednesday Bible study bring their kids. It was a lot of fun, and we felt like we were making a difference in the kids lives.
Each Sunday, as we walked and talked we found that in our prayer times alone, God would often tell us both the same message. One of those messages was that we would raise Kingdom Builders. Another message, we both heard was that God wanted us to trust Him in numbering our children. Honestly, we were so young and innocent and so in love with each other, God, and life, that we truly had no idea what those messages were all about. It wouldn’t be until our children began to become adults themselves that we would understand. God also gave us a vision for our family. The vision was that we would minister to families serving them and helping them be the strongest families they could be. We had an actual vision of one day owning property where we could house more than one family and assist them in times of crisis.
This vision has never left either of us. At times we have felt we would never get there. But, slowly God has shown us that He will indeed bring this vision to reality. It may not be in our life time, but if not, our children will accomplish this dream.
When we were first married life was busy with work, I worked as a habilitation instructor for the local county special needs organization. My day was full of training others in how to teach and train special needs individuals to live independently. It was a very challenging and enjoyable job. My evenings and mornings were full of helping two different families with their special needs children. Jeremy spent his days going to school and his evenings working in a factory. We both were so busy.
But then in our second year of marriage we both decided to go to Bible college. So, we moved to Iowa to attend Vennard Bible School. We went to school all day and worked at Wal mart, both of us, each night. It was the first time we were away from our families. We only had each other. It was a bonding time, a time of learning to really trust each other. It only lasted one semester though. The school had a financial crisis and we had to move. It just so happened that my dad had moved and taken a new job as an assistant pastor to a church in Lansing MI. He needed an assistant and called and offered me a job. He said there was a bible college in Lansing that I could transfer my credits to and keep going to school. So, Jeremy and I decided to move to Michigan. Jeremy also decided college wasn’t for him, and he needed to just get a good paying job. We knew that our first baby was on the way, and Jeremy said it was time to have steady income. So, I took the job at the church, continued with college, and Jeremy worked every job he could until he got a fulltime job at another factory.
Oh, I forgot to tell you when we first got married our family verse was Jeremiah 29:11. This verse would be a constant reminder to us all through our marriage even to now, some years God would give us other verses.
Anyway, back to the story.
We took in our first foster child shortly after arriving in Lansing. This was a private placement where we offered a mom a home for her violent, three year old daughter. After Tyler was born, we could no longer help this mom and her children, due to the fact the mom wasn’t willing to work on getting healthy. It was heart breaking to let go of these children and their situation. But we knew we had to protect Tyler first. Several things happened that next year and we were in a tight spot. We soon realized we were expecting again and needed help. Humbly we went to my parents. Who offered to let us live with them in the apartment in their basement and to give us some time to save up and get back on our feet. It was quite nice living there. We had our own space, but we were also right there able to help with the many children my parents had adopted or were fostering at the time. Even after Rachel was born, and we moved out into a country house, we spent many days at my mom’s house. Sharing meals, working together, and just living life together.
Shortly after Rachel was born we began taking in foster children again. We had at least three foster children at all times. It was a busy time, it was a stressful time, it was often an overwhelming time. But it was a blessed time too. We were so privileged to help families get their children back. Then everything took a turn. Jeremy and I would again here a clear message from the Lord separately. An unexpected message, a life changing, family changing message.
I hope you are enjoying reading the story of our family. Please let me know if you have any questions.
I look forward to writing the next letter about the life changing message we both heard.
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