Where have I been?
UPDATE: Just so everyone knows, nobody in our family is doing drugs. We are just concerned about everyone being in the environment of the neighborhood that has that stuff in it. Tempation and the like...
Yes, I know a post from me is long overdue. So much has been happening lately, and I just haven't kept up.
My family decided it was time to do an intervention on behalf of my sister Debi and her children. After many, many years we were seeing no improvement in their living environment or situation. And we found out in December that Debi was six months pregnant with another child, again out of wedlock.
I got permission from the dean to postpone my qualifying exam and from my mentor to be in Austin as much as I needed to be, and the family started counseling in January. Debi's two oldest kids are at the super impressionable teenage years, and they were surrounded by drugs and violence in the projects. The youngest guy was already following suit by becoming more aggressive and aquiring the neighborhood vocabulary as well. The two oldest kids are now under the legal guardianship of my oldest sister and her husband, and while their house is now even more crowded with four children of their own, Brandon and Brittney are now being well cared for. My youngest sister and her husband made the decision to go from zero kids to a seven year old by taking in Bryan, and I must say they are doing an outstanding job! We are all so proud of them. I am proud of everyone for the tremendous sacrifices they are making to give these kids a better life.
At first I felt guilty since I was not taking any children, but while my situation might offer them something better than what they had, the other two situations can give them a lot more. The fact of the matter is that I am just at a different place in life, and above all, the kids really need a home with two parents.
All along we were hoping that Debi would give the baby up for adoption, and this was the focus of many of our sessions. She did not want to do that even though she could recognize that the cycle could very well repeat itself. In the end she ended up marrying the baby's father. We all met him and he seemed like a good guy and even though it happened fast, we give them our support. They were married on Sunday, March 19 and five days later Christopher Farris Barefield, Jr. was born - on his mother's birthday!
I did not go to Austin this weekend so I do not have any pictures of my own yet, but will post them once I do. He is the ninth grandchild and my fifth nephew. My sister Rebecca put some other pictures on her blog.
This situation is what I was referring to in one of my earlier posts when I talked about being able to see God at work and being so thankful for that opportunity. To us this seemed like such a large task and at many times we felt hopeless. Not about God's ability to work it for good, but just about the situation as a whole. But as I recognize all the little details that He was able to see through at the same time He was handling the huge story, I'm humbled once again and reminded that nothing is too great for our God. And for that I give him praise!! There are still many prayers to offer up for this area of our lives. Please join us in doing so.
Yes, I know a post from me is long overdue. So much has been happening lately, and I just haven't kept up.
My family decided it was time to do an intervention on behalf of my sister Debi and her children. After many, many years we were seeing no improvement in their living environment or situation. And we found out in December that Debi was six months pregnant with another child, again out of wedlock.
I got permission from the dean to postpone my qualifying exam and from my mentor to be in Austin as much as I needed to be, and the family started counseling in January. Debi's two oldest kids are at the super impressionable teenage years, and they were surrounded by drugs and violence in the projects. The youngest guy was already following suit by becoming more aggressive and aquiring the neighborhood vocabulary as well. The two oldest kids are now under the legal guardianship of my oldest sister and her husband, and while their house is now even more crowded with four children of their own, Brandon and Brittney are now being well cared for. My youngest sister and her husband made the decision to go from zero kids to a seven year old by taking in Bryan, and I must say they are doing an outstanding job! We are all so proud of them. I am proud of everyone for the tremendous sacrifices they are making to give these kids a better life.
At first I felt guilty since I was not taking any children, but while my situation might offer them something better than what they had, the other two situations can give them a lot more. The fact of the matter is that I am just at a different place in life, and above all, the kids really need a home with two parents.
All along we were hoping that Debi would give the baby up for adoption, and this was the focus of many of our sessions. She did not want to do that even though she could recognize that the cycle could very well repeat itself. In the end she ended up marrying the baby's father. We all met him and he seemed like a good guy and even though it happened fast, we give them our support. They were married on Sunday, March 19 and five days later Christopher Farris Barefield, Jr. was born - on his mother's birthday!
I did not go to Austin this weekend so I do not have any pictures of my own yet, but will post them once I do. He is the ninth grandchild and my fifth nephew. My sister Rebecca put some other pictures on her blog.This situation is what I was referring to in one of my earlier posts when I talked about being able to see God at work and being so thankful for that opportunity. To us this seemed like such a large task and at many times we felt hopeless. Not about God's ability to work it for good, but just about the situation as a whole. But as I recognize all the little details that He was able to see through at the same time He was handling the huge story, I'm humbled once again and reminded that nothing is too great for our God. And for that I give him praise!! There are still many prayers to offer up for this area of our lives. Please join us in doing so.
posted by Karen at 3/28/2006 01:15:00 PM
4 Comments:
I am proud of your family for stepping up when it is needed. It is hard sometimes to know when to intervene and I salute you. Sweet baby!
your family is doing so much, you truly are a loving bunch of people
and the baby is a blessing of the Lord (given on the same birthday is too awsome) I'll be praying for your sister to find the strenght she needs to get her family back into line and on track, and for the little ones and their emotions at this time.
God Bless you all
It sounds like you are very concerned. Debi and your nieces and nephews are lucky to have a caring family. But, Karen, do you think it is appropriate to be posting this information on the internet? It is violating Debi's and the children's confidentiality. Debi deserves to be treated with respect at this time, please be more thoughtful. How would you feel if someone blogged about your personal issues?? That being said, it is good that your family stepped up to help. She is lucky to have someone intervene to teach her how to parent, hopefully soon they'll be reunited permanentally with your help.
Caroline, thank you for your comment and concern. I took great care not to say more than was needed to update my friends who had been praying about this, some for many, many years. All throughout the process so many people told us how encouraging it was to them to see a family do this together. And while I was in no way trying to toot our horn, especially at the expense of another, in posting this I was also hoping it might give hope to some to hear about God working in a very tough situation.
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