We would like to introduce our May Child of the Month: Bubba!

This sweet boy came into our lives at 5 days old. We immediately fell in love with those big brown eyes! He was his birth mom’s 10th baby and she only had custody of the oldest, who actually lived with grandparents at the time. He was removed after testing positive for methamphetamines. Our plan with foster care was always adoption, and when we met this baby we were very hopefully this would end in an adoption.

He remained in the hospital for a few days after birth to be monitored for any drug withdrawals and none were seen. Praise the Lord. When we came home with Bubba, our lives changed forever for the good! We enjoyed the baby snuggles and smiles. His birth mom never showed up for visits with this sweet boy, though. As the weeks passed, our caseworker said that she was looking for a foster home for Bubba and his teenage sister to be placed together. Over the next few months, we never knew if we would get the call that they are coming to get Bubba. That definitely was the most stressful time during our journey with Bubba. Once we were told that CPS did not have any luck finding a home to take a teenager and baby, CPS attempted to facilitate FaceTime calls between Bubba and his sister. I will never forget our first call. Bubba was only 7 months old so there was not much communication but it was a way for sister to see her brother. I think she enjoyed seeing him, but she did not continue the calls.

Nine months into our foster care journey with Bubba, parental rights were terminated. It was a bittersweet day because his mom and family were really missing out. Bubba is the sweetest and cutest boy ever! Once rights were terminated there was still the 90 day waiting period where family could intervene so even though it was headed more towards adoption nothing was for sure final yet. The next 90 days really went by quickly, but it felt like forever. On March 1, we were officially in the adoption unit! Bubba, our sweet boy, was officially adopted on April 12. The Lord definitely was with us through it all! We are so grateful that we were led to foster care and our sweet boy!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We would like to introduce our April Child of the Month: Miles!

Miles has been in foster care since he was 2 days old. His birth father was violent towards his older siblings, and his birth mother did not provide protection to the children. With his older siblings already removed and placed in adoptive homes, Miles was also removed as soon as he was born. He was placed with a loving family until he was 9 months old. When it became apparent Miles would also need an adoptive home, he came to live with us, just before he turned 10 months old.

After 17 months without the stability of a permanent, loving family, he is now adopted! He and his five-year-old brother have already developed a strong brotherly bond, joining forces against their parents quite often. 🙂

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We would like to introduce our March child of the month: Hailee!

Hailee was delivered to us on a Monday afternoon straight from the hospital. She was our first newborn foster child, and we were super excited! I signed the papers quickly as we were headed to one of our teen’s basketball game. Yes, I toted her in as proud and excited as could be! She was a beautiful blue-eyed baby that a dear friend of mine referred to as a porcelain doll. Hailee had two siblings that were placed with us when she was a few weeks old. We loved them through the 1st year and went through the process of them going to their forever home when Hailee was 14 months old. This was a bitter sweet feeling, wonderful for them to be together in a forever family and tearing our hearts out to say goodbye. We packed them up, hugged them for what we thought would be the last time and said our goodbyes.

A few weeks went by and the worker called us to see if we could take Hailee and her brother, Joe back. The placement was blown and they needed us once again. We didn’t hesitate to bring them home. After just 3 months the Judge ordered them to be moved to the therapeutic home that the older sibling was in. Once again we said our goodbyes and moved them. A year later, the worker called and once again asked for us to take Hailee and Joe back in. We said we would but truly believed that God didn’t keep putting them here for us to keep saying goodbye, so we filed to adopt shortly after they came home for the third time.

Hailee has been our baby for 14 years. One of the sweetest moments I treasure with Hailee is when I asked her about adopting Reyna. She had been with our family almost a year and was one year younger than Hailee. I didn’t know how Hailee felt about making her part of the family and that she would take the youngest position in our family. She and Reyna were very close. I asked her to think about it, and she began to cry. I left her alone and later asked again. Her response to me was, the tears were not because I was upset about adopting her, they were because I couldn’t imagine life without her! My heart was full. Hailee is sweet, sassy, kind and funny. She is a very talented young lady and a good student. She is involved in cheer, gymnastics, basketball, hurdles, running, pole vault and long jump. She loves her youth group and hanging out with friends. She volunteers at LAFPA and summer camp at church helping with the kids. She has been a true blessing to us, and we are looking forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for her. -Submitted by Connie Scarbrough

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Our February Child of the Month is Katie Covington!

This beautiful 11 year old came to live with us when she was only two. We bonded to her right away. She was nonverbal at the time and very sad and tearful. We had 4 young sisters that we had recently adopted that took her under their wing and helped her along the way. Within a short time, she was laughing and talking and running and playing. What a joyful day it was when we were able to adopt her two years later. Katie is our beautiful angel. She loves her family, sports, mac and cheese, and music.
– Cartha Covington

📸 by: Tristan Jones

We would like to introduce Jake, our January Child of the Month:

Jake was the 7th child to be removed from his biological parents. Because of their past history, his biological mother never received prenatal care since she knew CPS would automatically be involved. She miraculously made it to 9 months without complications. Although she tested positive for drugs in her system at birth, Jake did not test positive for anything (proof, in my eyes, that God is very real and had big plans for this baby!)

On the day Jake was born (we were in the middle of our foster training) I had finally allowed myself to believe that we would eventually be placed with a child. So I went shopping and purchase a single pajama set in some random size just because they had pugs on them. (We have 3 pugs) This was my first ever kiddo related purchase and the first time I really felt like a mom. Fast forward 15 months later- those pajamas were the only clothes we had that would fit Jake. That was the first outfit he wore when he came to our house.

Jake’s biological parents “hid” from CPS for over a year which led to some medical complications for the baby. When he came to us at 15 months old, Jake had horrible skin infections, was diagnosed as legally deaf, and had major developmental delays. We were beyond blessed to have an amazing case worker, Ad Litem attorney, and social worker. They worked tirelessly to help get him the medical treatments he needed. Ultimately, both biological parents lost their rights and we adopted Jake on National Adoption Day, November 18th, 2016, which just happened to be my birthday. He is now a perfectly healthy little boy. His hearing was corrected. He is testing above average for children his age in state standardized tests. Jake came to us after praying for 7 years for a child, enduring 3 miscarriages, and undergoing numerous failed fertility treatments. I was terrified of being a foster parent, because I wasn’t sure that I could handle it if there had been a reunification – but God knew what he was doing. I just had to learn to trust in His timing.

– by Charlsa, foster parent and business owner

📸 by Tristan Jones