Thursday, October 3, 2013

A Story of Adoption: From Starvation to Salvation



Here's an absolute, must share story sent in from Clint. Please take a moment to read and share! He's making a difference right where he's at!


Hello...

My name is Clint. I'm a husband and dad. I've been married to my wife, Amanda, for 7 years. All growing up Amanda wanted to foster and when we were married we QUICKLY began that journey as a calling on our lives. Caleb, our 7 year old, was our very first foster child. He was 8 months old and nearly beaten to death by his bio mother. Two weeks after we took Caleb in we found out we were pregnant with, Houston, our 6 year old. We just thought we were done then as we got to adopt Caleb out of the foster system. Caleb's bio mother had a second son from a different father and DHS called us to see if we would take him in as a foster child. We thought about it for about an hour and let them know we would. Greyson, the brother of Caleb, is now adopted as well. God just kept challenging us and it was very clear that this truly was our calling to care for the orphans and father the fatherless.

Next up was Georgia and her story, as you know, is very heart breaking. Georgia was found and came to us through DHS at the age of 5. When she was found she only weighed 19 pounds and the mother admitted to authorities she had locked Georgia in the closet for two years. According to Oklahoma City Police records, she was kept separate from her other siblings because the mother didn’t like the little girl because she “looked like her father.” She was starved nearly to death, covered in hair to regulate her body temperature. The responding officer wrote, “You could see the bones at her joints.” At five years old her language, police described as “uttered words” was more animal than human. She was on the verge of death. What's even more sad about her story is that she was in the system at 2 years old because she was found in a abandoned home and after a long fight the judge let her go back home to her bio mother. It's been two years since then. We became her parents and officially adopted her in June! She has come so far.

After Georgia we have taken 3 more children in that are still currently foster children and we're hoping they turn into an adoption. I was raised in church and all growing up was wondering what my "calling" was and now honestly I have truly found it! It is not always easy and, to be honest, it's very difficult; but I would not change it for the world. I'm not a perfect father at all, but I love God, my wife, and my kids and love hanging out with them and going through this adventure together.

Make a difference right where you are and help #ElevateDads everywhere at instagram.com/elevatedads or find us at Facebook.com/ElevateDads

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