The Virtuous Daughter Magazine Winter 2016/17 Edition | Page 12

We also are foster parents . We had a foster daughter that was with us and we actually were very close to adoption . However , things changed fast and she left to go live with an Aunt . That was so very hard on us . We took the last year off , which was probably the best with me being pregnant and opening the store . We now have a sweet daughter who is just shy of 8 months . Yes , she was born 3 weeks after the store opened . It ’ s been a crazy year ! We are now emotionally feeling ready to get back into the fostering to some degree . We are going to be emergency care givers which means children will be placed with us until a permanent place can be found for them . So 3 weeks is the max that they will be in our home . 100 children a day get placed into the system a day in our county a day . So that is one way we feel God calling us to serve and give of ourselves in our community . We are godparents to 3 lovely kiddos whom we met the summer we moved out here and it has made us feel like we have family here . We have so many people surrounding us that feel like family . Our dear landlord , his wife , and their 2 sons who live in the house in front of us have made us feel like we are a part of their family . We are so blessed .

Life here has been stretching and challenging . We buried one little girl and lost 2 others . Our pastor ’ s wife was tragically killed in a car accident . The emotional rollercoaster of fostering has been tough as well . Our marriage has taken hit after hit and there were times we