LifeprintsAlabama Baptist Children’s Homes

& Family MinistriesWinter 2015

A Few of MyFavorite Things

My Plan for Parenting— and His —

A Needle, A Thread,and a Mission

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F E A T U R E ST H I S I S S U E

by ROD MARSHALL

Lifeprints1

Winter 2015 2

I really enjoy the holiday season. Each of my five senses is treated to favor-ite traditions during the holidays. I enjoy the sights of fall. I think

the sky in Alabama in late September and early October is as bright blue as a sky can be. I enjoy the sights of Thanksgiving and Christmas. My wife and I like to go for drives and find decorated houses around the Christmas season. I like the sounds of the holidays. There are a few

favorite Christmas carols that evoke strong emotion for me. “Joy to the World” always makes me . . . well, joyous. “O Holy Night” moves me into a place of quiet reverence. My family has favorite Christmas CDs that we are not allowed to play until after Thanksgiving, and I look forward to hearing them every year. I love the smells and tastes of the hol-idays. Nothing makes me more nostalgic than the smell of freshly baked oatmeal cookies. Though I enjoy the tastes of hol-iday feasts, I am really always more excited about the day-after-Thanksgiving creative uses of leftover turkey. Turkey soup and turkey salad, in my opinion, are the true culinary highlights of the holiday season! Though I am a Florida native, I have learned to enjoy the feel of cool fall and winter days, and I will always love the feel of soft cotton of the quilt my grandmother made for me when it’s cold outside. The children in the care of your Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes may

get to experience a holiday season this year that will be different from any they have ever before experienced. This may be the first time some of them will ever have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. In December, many of them will excitedly show off their homes and their rooms to visitors during the Christmas Open Houses at our campuses. They may learn new songs, or hear the story of the birth of Jesus for the very first time.

I have learned that Alabama Baptists can be extravagant givers to children in need. This seems to be especially true during the holiday season. Thank you for your gener-ous support. Happy holiday memories are being made. Hope is being restored. Trust is being built. Children from hard places are becoming adults prepared for success. As you enjoy the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings of this happy holiday season, pray for the children in our care. Pray for our house parents and our foster parents. The holidays are a special time. Pray that we will not lose sight of this unique opportunity to tell the children about how much God loves them (John 3:16).

The children in the care of your Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes may get to experience a holiday season this year that will be different from any they have ever before experienced.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

* The cover art was painted by Allie, who was in our care at our Dothan campus and was recently adopted. Allie loves to play basketball, sing, draw, and write. She aspires to be an English teacher some day!

Lifeprints

y husband Josh and I were high school sweet-hearts. I remember when we were newly married,

all I wanted was a house full of children together! I have two siblings, but knew I always wanted to have more than that when I grew up. I just assumed that we would get married, have a child, have another child, and so on. My brother is adopted, so of course I always thought adoption would be neat to possibly do one day, but I was mostly interested in growing our family the old fashioned way!Unexpected Bumps in the Road However, GOD had other plans. We struggled with infertility at first. It wasn’t long though until the Lord blessed us with a healthy baby girl. Less than two years later, we decided to try for another child. The next pregnancy ended in miscarriage. God quickly allowed us to conceive just a few short

months after that loss, and we thought, “Yes! This is the blessing that God is giving us after enduring such loss and heartache.” We were totally blindsided when I became preeclamptic at five months pregnant, and I got very sick, very fast. I not only had preeclampsia, but had the HELLP syndrome, something more severe that was not only life threaten-ing to the baby, but to me as well. They had to do an emergency C-section at 28 weeks. We had an overall healthy, but very tiny baby girl at only 1 pound and 9 oz. She lived for six months and fought a very tough battle. It wore on us physically, emotionally, and spiritu-ally. Josh and I both questioned God at times, and the death of a child really took a toll on our marriage.Healing From The PainBut GOD (an awesome phrase I love that is found several times in the Bible), being rich in mercy and great in

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Mby MELISSA WILHOIT

( ABCH Foster and Adoptive Mom )

Winter 2015 4

faithfulness, restored our marriage to even better than it was before, just as He promised to repay the years that the locust had eaten in Joel 2. It wasn’t until such a great loss that my (selfish) eyes were opened. I had been consumed with myself, my family, and my plans for children, but the Lord showed me a better way. I can honestly say that if it was not for Tori’s life (our baby girl that passed away), my heart wouldn’t have been opened to compassion for orphans and children in need of a loving home through foster care. God was so gracious to allow me the time and space to repent from my self-centeredness, and has allowed us to grow our family indeed. He has given me the desires of my heart and then some! We went on to have another healthy, full-term baby girl after Tori passed away. We call her our miracle baby! Our Growing Family We had always desired BOYS in our home, but we were three for three with girls so far. We agreed to foster any gender or race, when God placed TWO boys and a girl in our path. We had one baby boy as a newborn, and knew in our hearts that if God didn’t see fit for us to keep him forever, that it would hurt again to “lose” another baby. People always say, “I could never do that (foster care)! I would get too attached!” Well, we were attached; we didn’t have any superpower that enabled us not to have our hearts broken. I would always tell people though, “I just have to trust that if God allows them to leave our home, then He will prepare and even heal my heart.” None of my children are MINE. They are all HIS. I can’t keep any of them on this earth with me anymore than I can keep a foster child in my home forever! I fully believe God prepared my

heart to grasp this truth, and I have PEACE about it.Our Growing Hearts I can’t explain what God has done in our family since fostering and adopting three precious children. My biological children opened their hearts and our home without holding back, and I have seen tremendous growth in each of them. I have also seen growth and positive changes in the three little children we welcomed into our home, who were with us for a year and a half before making our last name their own. My fairytale dream of having a house full of children didn’t happen in MY timing or in MY way, but then God always knows best! I don’t know why we tend to doubt that at times. He is our Heavenly Father that has adopted us (Eph. 1:5) and promised not to leave us as orphans (John 14:18). When you truly under-stand His love for you, and are so thankful for what the gospel means for you as a child of God, you are more than likely going to feel strongly about caring for orphans (James 1:27) and giving justice to the weak and father-less (Ps. 82:3). At least that’s how it was for us. Through Tori’s life and death, we gained a better understanding about God’s love for us and that He wants us to look outward and not focus on ourselves. That’s what foster care is all about. If you want to receive love and feel personal fulfillment, I recommend purchasing a puppy. If you want to help change lives forever through the help of our Lord Jesus Christ, then pray about serving through foster care. I can honestly say it’s the best thing we’ve ever done! Soli Deo Gloria—to God alone be the Glory!

Lifeprints5

I’ve seen answered prayers, but I’m not sure if I’ve seen one answered that fast!

hile meeting with our Birmingham area social workers one day, the need for weighted blan-

kets came up. Weighted blankets are a great tool for children in our care who are experiencing stress, anxiety, or

have a lot of energy. The weight of the blanket creates a calming effect when placed on them, and can help them sleep better during the night. Although these blankets are very effective, they are also expensive, costing upwards of $80 to $100 per blanket. “Someone

WVanda Davenport

Office Manager

by NICOLE WALKER

Winter 2015 6

in our meeting mentioned how great it would be if a group of ladies or a church could sew the blankets for us to help save on costs,” Vanda shared. That’s where Sewing for Missions came in. Soon after the meeting was over, Vanda checked her voice mes-sages only to hear that Sewing for Missions, a church group from First Baptist Church Hamilton, cities away, having no idea of the need uttered just minutes before, was interested in help-ing with any sewing projects or needs. It was during a Sunday morning service that the ladies from Sewing for Missions had the idea to serve the children in our care through their ministry. Information about Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes (ABCH) and ways we serve children and fam-ilies across Alabama had been shared during the service. After hearing about ABCH, the Sewing for Missions ladies knew they had to find a way to help the children in our care. “I was put in touch with Vanda, and she told me how they were just talking about how great it would be for a sewing group to help them with weighted blankets,” shared Audrey Fikes, one of the found-ers of Sewing for Missions. “When we heard about the need for the blankets, we were all immediately on board!” Nearly two years ago Audrey came up with the idea for Sewing for Missions when she saw the success of her friend’s sewing ministry in her church. Audrey and a few other women from

the church approached their pastor, Eddie Davidson, with the idea of using one of the rooms in the church to start a sewing ministry. Pastor Eddie was immediately supportive when he heard Audrey’s heart for the ministry. Before they knew it, sewing machines had been donated to their ministry, along with fabric, supplies, and more. What started from a simple needle and thread, along with willing hands, turned into a ministry reaching both across the globe and close to home. For their first project, Sewing for Missions made twenty-seven baby quilts for a missions team going to Moldova. They’ve also created blankets, children’s clothing items, quilts, adult bibs, and walker bags for those in nursing homes. This past summer, they created four weighted blankets for the children in our care, as well as 48 backpacks for children attending our annual Camp of Champions this past summer. They loved creating items for the children in our care so much that they’ve started working on another project for us—sleeping bags! “It’s a good time of fellowship and fun with these ladies, and it’s for a worthy cause,” shared Audrey about their sew-ing ministry. “Sewing is something I’ve always loved to do. If you have a love for sewing, or anything for that matter, go after what you’re passionate about.”

Do you have a talent, skill, or passion to help children and families? Let us know if so! If you’re not sure how to get involved, visit alabamachild.org/13ways for ideas.

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KELLEY(Oxford)

age 6

thankful

for

turkeys

BLAIRE(Decatur)

age 9

thankful

for

flowers and nature

ABIGAIL(Decatur)

age 6

thankful

for

her bike

We asked some of the kids in our care what they are thankful for, and here are a few drawings of

their responses:

Names have been changed to protect

identities.

See these and more at alabamachild.org/art