‘For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” ‘
Romans 8:14-15
We see the message of adoption throughout Scripture. In His great love, God adopts us into His family through the power of the Holy Spirit. And through the Spirit, we can cry out to God as our Father and know we belong to Him.
Then, the Holy Spirit continues to lead and guide us to live in ways that reflect our Father’s heart. As we walk in Him, we see just how close adoption is to God’s heart. So, it makes sense that He invites us, as His children, to join Him in that story—to step into adoption and share this gift with others.
When we follow the Lord, sometimes He takes us beyond what we could have imagined or planned for our lives.
An Unexpected Calling
Holly* and Calvin* Lloyd* were faithfully walking with the Lord while raising their three children. Then, something began stirring in their hearts—a call to foster care. Initially, they didn’t quite know what to make of it and thought it didn’t make sense to foster with their busy lives. They had never considered foster care before, but the conviction remained, so they began the foster care process.
The Lloyds were licensed as foster parents through One More Child for just two months when they received their second placement, 4-month-old baby Dean.* After caring for this baby boy for a couple weeks, they learned Dean had an 11-year-old sister, Alana,* who was in the hospital due to extensive medical needs. Holly couldn’t explain it, but she felt drawn to Alana, as though she needed to get to her.
But there was one major obstacle in the way. Alana needed to be placed in a medically licensed foster home, a higher level than what the Lloyds initially obtained. Nevertheless, they were determined. Walking by faith, they did the work to become medically licensed foster parents. Within a few weeks, Alana left the hospital with her new foster family and reunited with her baby brother.
Between the challenges of Alana’s medical needs and their case plan, the following months and years were messy and difficult—but all the while, the Lloyds looked to Jesus to sustain and guide them. When others questioned why they would put themselves through so much, the only answer they could give was that they felt led to continue. They couldn’t give up on Dean and Alana.
When it became clear that Dean and Alana’s case plan was headed toward adoption, Holly and Calvin immediately knew these children would join their family forever. Though they never could have predicted this path for their lives, the Lloyd family of five officially became the Lloyd family of seven, and Dean and Alana found their forever home.
*Names and photos changed for privacy.
Following After God’s Own Heart
Holly and Calvin chose adoption by following after God’s own heart. They trusted Him to lead the way and sustain them as they followed this path. Even when strife and struggle came, they trusted in God because they knew this was what He was calling them to do.
At One More Child, we seek to follow after God’s own heart in every aspect of our ministry. God’s heart is for the vulnerable, and so is the heart of our ministry.
We invite you to join our mission as we bring help, hope, and healing to the least of these. Learn more about how to get involved with One More Child today by visiting onemorechild.org/engage.