Once upon a time, there were two little babies who languished in the foster care system for almost 4 months. Far, far away, in another county of the same state, was a couple who were fostering children for different amounts of time, depending on the specific needs of the child. This couple wanted some children of their own so badly and were, as patiently as possible, waiting on their name to come up on the state adoption list for an infant straight from the hospital and fostering in the meantime. If some foster children came up for adoption-GREAT-they would be more than willing to adopt them. But the mission was clear--care for these children until their parents can gain custody back or another suitable relative can be found for the child. This mission was hard to remember--especially for the wife who took these children to the Mother's Morning Out that she worked at and watched over them and their needs 24/7. Thank goodness for her husband who was willing and able to help his wife through this roller coaster ride they were now on!
Funny thing about this lady. While working at the Mother's Morning out; when it came time to tell the story of Hannah praying for God to provide her with a baby whom she later named Samuel,(which came every year when studying the letter H (theme: Hannah) she never would; for it was too much to bear. "Where is my Samuel?" she thought and sometimes spoke aloud to God.
One day, a few weeks after the couple had returned a baby to his mother; the lady received a call for a one year old boy named Samuel who had been in four different homes in the few months he had been in care. Meanwhile, his brother, Austin, who was ten months younger, had been in a wonderful foster home where his needs could be attended to by someone who was equipped to handle them. The lady, of course, accepted the one year old into her home and cared for him for about a month. She and her new charge went to visit his brother a couple of times during that time. The photo above is the first time the lady had ever held those two babies for the first time! Little did she know that one day these two precious gems would one day be forever hers to raise and love and be their MOMMY!
One day, the caseworker called the lady and said that the boys needed to be reunited now that the youngest one was no longer needing special care and would she and her husband be willing to foster both. Of course, the lady said yes. Well, the caseworker then informed the lady that it came down to what the foster mother of Austin decided to do. If the foster mother decided to foster them both, then the state would have Samuel moved and the babies would be reunited. The other foster family decided not to foster both babies and the lady and her husband were elated!
Mr. Phil's Thanksgiving Nap! Full tummy makes for a sleepy man. Here is Austin with my nephew's guitar. He has always loved guitars and drums. He would sit, as a baby, for hours and listen to his former foster brother play guitar and drum. And his air guitar has been working ever since he has been able to stand and hold his hands in that position at the same time without plopping down on his bottom. LOL! Sammy and my brother are torturing each other and enjoying themselves immensely on the left. Sammy is as active as my brother was at his age, so my brother totally "gets" him ;-) Sammy looks so forward to "their" horseplay!
