“Here is my story about Ashley (written by an Arms of Love foster dad)
God takes you to unexpected places when you ask for guidance. After one year of living with our first adopted daughter, Shyley, she began asking for a sister. We began praying that God would show the way towards this outcome, but I had a lot of changes already going on and I was reluctant for yet another change.
In the prior year, my boss for fourteen years retired and my 6th grade position at my elementary school was being moved to the local middle school. I gave my heart and soul to that school and thought that I would never move. I was wrong. My new boss would not guarantee me a position at my current site and I transferred to a new school. This meant building up new curriculum, new friends among the teachers, and new relationships with families. There was simply too many new things going on.
God got me through that first year at the new site and gave me glimpses of my future daughter. A cute little blonde, third grade girl would occasionally say hi to me. My daughter, Shyley, would have conversations with her on the playground. My heart broke for her when she was left on the last day of school with no one to pick her up. That is when I first heard her name, Ashley. In my mind, I hoped that this little girl would be taken care of.
Over that summer, my wife and I requested to take in another foster child. We were told that a girl at my current school needed placement. She was named Ashley and she was in the 3rd grade. It couldn’t be that same little girl from the last day of school that I worried over, could it? It was her.
After just over six months of fostering, we took Ashley in as a permanent member of our family. It took God moving me out of my comfort zone and placing me in an entirely new circumstance for the adoption to happen. My advice for anyone is to look for the reason for God’s change in your life. What truly doesn’t make sense one day might be one of the biggest blessings that you will ever receive.
Keep up the faith, burn with hope, and continually share God’s love,
Mark”
EN 
ES