Fay, my dear, sweet sister in Christ, thank you so much for your reply, hugs, love, concerns, and prayers from March 27, linked below! It is so good to hear from you!

 

Since we last spoke, so much has happened! Yet, our God is SO good! Honestly, so much of it has been a whirl-wind- a LOT of frustrations- BUT our God is ALWAYS faithful!

 

I want to share this in the public forum, simply to give our God ALL praise, glory, and honor! I know a lot of us struggle with a lot of things in life; and I know many of us struggle with our children- even our grown children. I hope what I am about to share will encourage anyone who is struggling in this way, or any other way.

Fay, I believe when we last spoke, we were still in Texas. A year and a half ago, God suddenly moved us to North Carolina. It was a blessing beyond blessings in many ways, because I LOVE this area of the country! I love the weather and love being near the mountains! Also, being here provided resources for help with our middle son, Isaac, which we were not afforded in Texas. There’s a LOT that has happened in the last year and a half with Isaac, to the point that for an entire year- literally to the day- he was not even in our home. While this may seem sad to most people (and yes, I will admit there is sadness in our hearts just that there are so many issues) the reprieve for us was MUCH needed! He came home on February 2, and within 5 weeks was hospitalized again. Insurance fought it, but the school pushed it. Quite honestly, I think the school just didn’t want the liability. There have been so many false outcries, etc., that insurance sees what he is doing. He is home now, with his application in at Job Corp. At the time of this writing, we are literally 38 days from him being 18. He knows that at that point, if he continues on this cycle of behavior, he will have to go somewhere else. The emotional and mental toll the last 6 years specifically with him has reached the line-in-the-sand point with us. So hopefully he will be accepted to Job Corp soon.

Interestingly enough, since he’s been home, there have been issues with our oldest son, who no longer lives at home. He was supposed to go into the military, but backed out of that, ended up getting into a huge issues this time last year and actually moved out here with us. Then he left middle of the night back the end of the summer, went back to Texas and after bouncing from couch to couch to couch, getting kicked out of one place after another. He ended up in the hospital on New Year’s Eve and literally almost died from alcohol poisoning, to the point his organs were shutting down. He ended up moving in yet again with one of his toxic friends from high school. They have a very, very dysfunctional relationship. Unfortunately, and very sadly, not only is there the drinking issue, but also drugs are involved. We just had a conversation last week and he said they had decided to stop doing drugs on April 1. I asked him what happens if something happens on March 31? Fast forward to March 30- his toxic friend kicked him out of the apartment, stole his tax refund, and is now literally homeless. He is completely amazed that I was off by 1 day. I keep trying to tell him I’m not a rocket scientist, this is just logic.

So, through the course of trying to have tough love with him, we are (hopefully!!!!) seeing a little bit of brokenness within him. Jesus, please keep pursuing his heart!

Of course, Isaac has been here, hearing us on the phone with his brother, and we believe he’s really taking to heart the position he sees his brother in. So we are PRAYING this has truly impacted him and he will finally stop his attention-seeking and destructive behaviors. So by faith, our oldest son’s rock bottom may even bring Isaac to his rock bottom! Lord Jesus, I TRULY pray this is what happens!!!!

 

And, now we believe the Lord is leading us to move back to Texas soon. My father-in-law is at the point he’s starting to need a little help, so our legal responsibilities with Isaac will be fulfilled. We will always pray for him, of course, and hope the best for him, and do all we can to encourage him, but if he chooses to continue on this path he’s been on for so long, we don’t have to participate any longer.

Through the course of all of this, the Lord has ALWAYS been faithful! To make it through all of this is ONLY by the grace of God!

 

We’ve had so many people judge us over the years- first, by saying they couldn’t believe we would adopt 5 children, much less 5 children from foster care. We’ve been judged for the children we accepted (obviously, not that it matters to us, but we are Caucasian, all of our children are Hispanic. So we’ve been judged on both sides of the racial spectrum along the way). We’ve been judged on how we’ve raised them- parenting with the fear of the Lord, according to the ways of the Lord. Through the legal issues that have been brought on through 6 false Child Protective Services investigations, the abusive behaviors that we’ve had to deal with, etc., we’ve been judged for not giving up and giving Isaac back to the state. In fact, one of our closest family relationships is fractured immensely due to us continuing to stay the course God has called us to with our kids. But God is ALWAYS with us! There was even a time in one of the investigations that was focused on sending me to prison. All I could do is trust God. I will not lie. There have been many times I’ve questioned the Lord. Even though I knew without a doubt that the allegations were false, I know innocent people go to prison all the time. As much as I tried not to be fearful, quite honestly, facing the real threat of prison was overwhelming at times! But God! When you just don’t see a way out, God IS our Way! During that investigation, one question the investigator asked me opened the door to a whole other line of questioning. I answered the questions truthfully, of course, and it wasn’t long before she literally put her pen down. She told me she wanted me to continue to talk, but she wasn’t going to write another word. She could see that I was telling the truth and there was a WHOLE lot more to the story than what Isaac had presented. Before that investigation was closed, that investigator ended up calling me to ask me to pray with her because her grandmother had recently passed away and she was really struggling. She knew I was a praying woman. In that interview I was very, very open about my faith and trust in the Lord. Over the years, I’ve cried so many tears, wondering did we make the wrong decision by adopting all 5 of them. With the 3 that have given us the most trouble, there were warning signs and issues well before the adoption was finalized. But we knew then, and we still know now that God has a plan! God gave each one of them the opportunity to know Him in a way that maybe they would have never known Jesus if they had not been raised in our home. ALL praise, glory, and honor to our King Jesus! In our weaknesses, our God is STRONG!

 

So, to anyone else who may be reading this- if you are struggling with your children, PRAY! PRAY! PRAY! Don’t give up! We have literally walked the halls middle of the night praying. I have spent countless midnight hours in my prayer closet just crying out to Jesus because the weight of this was too heavy. We’ve been at points of desperation, truly not knowing what to do. We’ve had so many wonderful people praying with us through this process. We’ve learned so much about outright spiritual warfare- our child of 11-years-old at the time (Isaac) literally seeking after the powers of darkness, talking to them, chasing them, etc. All of this has been part of our journey of faith and learning to trust the Lord no matter what. Now, please don’t think we’ve been perfectly at peace in the midst of all of this! Yes, God’s peace has been with us ALWAYS, but our flesh creeps in at times too. But just don’t give up! Our God is ALWAYS faithful! He has gotten us through battles that I never thought we would get through. At one point, during the huge investigation when there was a possibility that I would go to prison, my physical health got to the point my husband was literally having to pick me up out of bed. But God! How I love Him! How I praise my Jesus! It’s not been easy- in fact, it’s been one of the most excruciating journeys I’ve ever walked. But God NEVER leaves me! He NEVER forsakes me! My God is ALWAYS faithful and good!

 

Fay, again, I just want to say thank you to you! You are such a dear person to me! If we never get to meet in person this side of heaven, I cannot wait to see you and give you the BIGGEST hug! Many, many hugs and blessings to you, my dear friend! May the Lord abundantly bless you, always!

 

At The Feet Of Jesus,
Lady Warrior

 

As always….

MARANTAHA! Come, Lord, Jesus! Please come quickly!

 

http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/mar2022/fay327-14.htm