November- Adoption awareness month

November is adoption awareness month. I was given the privilege of attending a foster and adoption conference last weekend in Kettering, Ohio. A couple churches in that town put on the conference.
Being a foster and adoptive momma I truly appreciate the times when I get to be around other momma's that foster or adopt. Three of my friends from our mom's support group I attend were able to attend also. We called ourselves the "trauma mama's". For those of you that have or are in this type of ministry you understand how fitting that name is. We pour out our hearts to children that have experienced so much trauma, no fault of their own.
I wanted to share some things that I took away from the conference. I appreciated how the keynote speaker, the worship, the break out sessions, etc... all pointed us back to Christ. He is the reason we do this ministry.
The keynote speaker shared with us that the children in our home are called to be the sons and daughters of the most high. We need to help them come to full adoption through Jesus Christ.
 We need to all pray for our children more.
Statistics from the conference said that there are currently 2,655 children waiting to be adopted in the state of Ohio. If you think about it there are more than 2,655 churches in the state of Ohio. I know in Ashland county alone there are around 120 churches. Therefore if one family from each church would open their hearts and home up to these orphans the state of Ohio would have no children waiting to be adopted. That number seems large at first but when you break it down it really is doable. It takes the body of Christ stepping up and being the hands and feet of Jesus. It takes others who are unable to adopt to fully support and encourage those who are. It was mentioned at the conference that we're not looking for more pictures of orphans on people's refrigerator's but orphans eating out of people's refrigerator's.
The quote that stood out to me the most and encouraged my heartstrings was the saying, "It's not about living happily ever after, but faithfully ever after." I pray that when it's all said and done that can be said about me and my loved ones.