God created me to mother. Weather it was the new batch of kittens, my baby dolls, or as I got older babysitting, and holding every baby I could get my hands on! LOL! It is part of my DNA!
I was working on my plan (getting my teaching credential) in the spring of 2000. I was still living at home and I was single and enjoying my time being Auntie to my 4 nieces and 1 nephew. We (my Mom, Dad, and I) had been taking two of my nieces (Kimberly 3 yrs, Kaeleigh 20 months) almost ever weekend since Kimberly was a few months old. We continued to try and help my brother and sister-in-law with the girls. Yet because of their destructive life style things continued to get worse.
On April 1st, 2000 the girls came to live with us for a short time while they tried to get back on their feet. It became clear that things were spiraling out of control and they were not trying to make better choices for the girls or themselves. Fearing for the girls safety we decided the best thing was to file for guardianship. We received temporary guardianship and began the process to have permanent (guardianship is very close to fostering a child). We tried during that time to encourage my brother and sister-in-law to get help with their addictions so they could learn to parent the girls and eventually have custody of the girls again, but things did not change.
It took 2 years to get permanent guardianship of the girls. During this time Kimberly & Kaeleigh had begun to call me Mom. At the beginning of 2001 I made a decision to wait on my schooling so that I could concentrate on helping raise the girls with my parents! I was working part-time and taking care of the girls and Christel after she got home from school.
My brother and sister-in-law had another child (Nathan Sept 2000) and she was pregnant again (Kasey April 2002). The girls continued to have visits with their parents and other siblings. Two years later another baby was born (Destiny March 2004). We were concerned for three children still in their custody. At the time we did not have sufficient evidence to try and and get them removed from their custody. We continued to pray for them.
My job ended January of 2005. By February 2005 we had begun a new adventure homeschooling the girls. Kimberly was in second grade and Kaeliegh was in Kindergarten.
When we picked up the girls on May 20th, 2006 from a day visit with their birth mother (my sister-in-law) the girls told us that if they had to go to a visit again they wanted Grama and I there with them because she was nicer when we were around. We found out a few of the things that had happened that day, but it was not until later did we find out all the that had occurred to make the girls say they wanted supervised visits. That same day Christel had her accident and went home to be with Jesus eight days later. So we had no time to confront the girls birth mother on what happened that Saturday.
As we were learning to live our lives without Christel, more of the story of what happened that Saturday came out. As the weeks passed we become increasingly concerned for the safety of the other three children. Things were going down hill very quickly as the girls birth parents continued to struggle with their addictions.
July 13th, 2006 we picked up Nathan 5 yrs, Kasey 4 yrs, & Destiny 2 yrs to come spend the night with us. When my mom picked up the three kids she got to see first hand how bad things had gotten. We made a decision that something had to be done for them. We went to court for temporary guardianship until we could prove that permanent guardianship was the best thing for Nathan, Kasey, & Destiny. It only took 4 months! Praise the Lord!
November 20, 2006 the Judge granted permanent guardianship.
So I went from being a homeschooling mom of 2 kids to a homeschooling mom of 5 kids. Wow talk about an adjustment! Jumping from 2 to 5 was a roller coaster. Kimberly & Kaeleigh were very happy to have Nathan, Kasey, & Destiny safely living with us.
Over the next couple of years each of the kids expressed to us that they would like to be adopted and change their last name to Conley. January of 2012 the opportunity to adopt all 5 became a possibility. November 15th 2012 all 5 kids will be adopted. Praise the Lord. These are the kids new names:
I am forever grateful that God helped me to see that my plan was a good plan, but his plan was far greater.
Now a new journey begins...
I had a plan to become a teacher, get married, have 6 kids (that changed as I got older to 4! LOL!), and adopt at least one child (not foster that was too painful for my heart)! Did I say I had a plan? I am glad that God sees the bigger picture!
I was working on my plan (getting my teaching credential) in the spring of 2000. I was still living at home and I was single and enjoying my time being Auntie to my 4 nieces and 1 nephew. We (my Mom, Dad, and I) had been taking two of my nieces (Kimberly 3 yrs, Kaeleigh 20 months) almost ever weekend since Kimberly was a few months old. We continued to try and help my brother and sister-in-law with the girls. Yet because of their destructive life style things continued to get worse.
On April 1st, 2000 the girls came to live with us for a short time while they tried to get back on their feet. It became clear that things were spiraling out of control and they were not trying to make better choices for the girls or themselves. Fearing for the girls safety we decided the best thing was to file for guardianship. We received temporary guardianship and began the process to have permanent (guardianship is very close to fostering a child). We tried during that time to encourage my brother and sister-in-law to get help with their addictions so they could learn to parent the girls and eventually have custody of the girls again, but things did not change.
It took 2 years to get permanent guardianship of the girls. During this time Kimberly & Kaeleigh had begun to call me Mom. At the beginning of 2001 I made a decision to wait on my schooling so that I could concentrate on helping raise the girls with my parents! I was working part-time and taking care of the girls and Christel after she got home from school.
My brother and sister-in-law had another child (Nathan Sept 2000) and she was pregnant again (Kasey April 2002). The girls continued to have visits with their parents and other siblings. Two years later another baby was born (Destiny March 2004). We were concerned for three children still in their custody. At the time we did not have sufficient evidence to try and and get them removed from their custody. We continued to pray for them.
My job ended January of 2005. By February 2005 we had begun a new adventure homeschooling the girls. Kimberly was in second grade and Kaeliegh was in Kindergarten.
When we picked up the girls on May 20th, 2006 from a day visit with their birth mother (my sister-in-law) the girls told us that if they had to go to a visit again they wanted Grama and I there with them because she was nicer when we were around. We found out a few of the things that had happened that day, but it was not until later did we find out all the that had occurred to make the girls say they wanted supervised visits. That same day Christel had her accident and went home to be with Jesus eight days later. So we had no time to confront the girls birth mother on what happened that Saturday.
As we were learning to live our lives without Christel, more of the story of what happened that Saturday came out. As the weeks passed we become increasingly concerned for the safety of the other three children. Things were going down hill very quickly as the girls birth parents continued to struggle with their addictions.
July 13th, 2006 we picked up Nathan 5 yrs, Kasey 4 yrs, & Destiny 2 yrs to come spend the night with us. When my mom picked up the three kids she got to see first hand how bad things had gotten. We made a decision that something had to be done for them. We went to court for temporary guardianship until we could prove that permanent guardianship was the best thing for Nathan, Kasey, & Destiny. It only took 4 months! Praise the Lord!
November 20, 2006 the Judge granted permanent guardianship.
So I went from being a homeschooling mom of 2 kids to a homeschooling mom of 5 kids. Wow talk about an adjustment! Jumping from 2 to 5 was a roller coaster. Kimberly & Kaeleigh were very happy to have Nathan, Kasey, & Destiny safely living with us.
Over the next couple of years each of the kids expressed to us that they would like to be adopted and change their last name to Conley. January of 2012 the opportunity to adopt all 5 became a possibility. November 15th 2012 all 5 kids will be adopted. Praise the Lord. These are the kids new names:
Kimberly Elizabeth Denise Conley
Kaeleigh Anaiah Joy Conley
Nathan Aaron Daniel Conley
Kasey Jolene Faith Conley
Destiny Dawn Esther Conley
I am forever grateful that God helped me to see that my plan was a good plan, but his plan was far greater.
Jeremiah
29:11
“ I know the plans I have for you,” announces the LORD. “I want you to enjoy success. I do not plan to harm you. I will give you hope for the years to come.
With my parents help I have the greatest joy being a mom to these amazing kids.Now a new journey begins...
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