One Blessing After Another

In late summer, we decided to re-open our home to foster placements. We already felt somewhat maxed out with four kids ages five and under including a baby (Mallory), but we knew the need for foster families in our area was great and felt that we could handle an extra child here and there in short increments of time. So we said yes, but we specified NO babies (Mallory was still not sleeping through the night yet), and ONLY short-term placements.

Then……one day in September, we got a call from placement. They knew we weren’t open to babies, but there was a newborn baby boy being discharged from the hospital and there was nowhere for him to go. DCF had been trying for two days to find a placement for him before he was discharged but had been unable to find anyone to take him due to his age (newborns can’t be put into day care) and some health issues that would make him a high needs baby. That evening, a tiny little baby weighing less than four pounds was delivered to our doorstep. He looked barely able to sustain life, and we knew his precious heart was breaking from the trauma of being separated from his birth mother. He was precious. And so tiny. And he didn’t sleep. And he occasionally stopped breathing. It was an exhausting and intense balance to be trying to care for this needy baby in addition to our own baby and the three boys  - and all this at the start of our home school year, but it appeared there were some possible future placement options for him, so we figured that - by the grace of God -  we could make it work for a couple months until he found his more permanent placement and moved on.

We will keep the details of his sad little story private since it is Solomon’s story and not ours, but long story short, all of his placement options fell through, and much to our surprise, we were officially asked in early March if we would be willing to adopt him.

And so here we are today! Solomon is 9 months old, weighing in at 15 pounds, and although he is behind developmentally and will have some challenges ahead of him, he is making great strides toward catching up on some important developmental milestones.

Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” We are so grateful that God in his kindness took our “no” and turned it into a “yes” for His glory.

We chose the name “Solomon” for a number of reasons. Solomon was the second son of David and Bathsheba, and despite the circumstances of his birth, God loved Solomon and used him to build his temple and bring God glory. Though our Solomon’s start in life was a very messy and broken one, we are grateful for a God who offers grace and mercy and second chances and can redeem even the most seemingly hopeless situation. In Hebrew, the name Solomon is related to the word “Shalom,” which means “peace” (or more specifically, the “peace of God”).    A further derivation is the root word “shalem,” which means “whole, complete, or unbroken.” We felt that it was appropriate to give him a name that means “complete” as he becomes a part of a family, and it is our prayer that he will one day be made fully complete through a relationship with Jesus.  Scott chose to give Solomon his name for a middle name.  Solomon did not have a birth father from whom he would receive a name, so Scott wanted to give him his for a middle name. 

Thank you for rejoicing with us over this sweet gift from the Lord.

“For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” ~John 1:16