As Christ-followers, we have a God-given honor and responsibility to care for the fatherless (James 1:27). Why? Adoption is a beautiful picture of the gospel. We have been adopted by God and given the privilege of calling out, “Abba, Father!” (Romans 8:15). God chose us before the foundation of the world, adopting us as his children (Ephesians 1:4-5). When we say “Yes, Lord” to adoption and foster care, we show the unbelieving world a glimpse of the gospel in action.
In 2008, God led our family through a season of secondary infertility. We already had our precious Karalyn, but we had a desire for more children. We had always talked about adopting “one day”, so when we were faced with difficulty having another child, we turned toward adoption. Now we are so glad. that we walked through that difficult season of infertility because it led us to our sons, who we wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. They’re grown now and they continue to make us proud and are an important part of our family.
In addition to our own two, we treasure two nieces and two nephews on Chris’s side of the family that joined the Irving crew through international adoption. On my side of the family we have two foster-nieces and one foster-nephew (with adoption hopefully coming soon!). Adoption and foster care are a big part of our family story, and we love to tell people all about the ways God has moved so far!
But the best is yet to come…
Our immediate family now consists of two adopted kids and four biological kids. And we are expecting three more little gifts through adoption very soon. If you’re good at math, you already figured out that will give us a total of NINE little Irvings! We couldn’t be happier, or more surprised, that this is God’s plan for our family. Check out our story here!
If you’ve always wanted to adopt, there’s never been a better time than now!
Have questions about foster care? I’m here to help. Ask away!
Can’t take any more children into your home? There are definitely other ways to serve. Ask me how!
Have questions? Just email me at amber@thestronghome.com and I’ll be happy to share with you.