Reluctant Purpose

Part 2

REBECCA ROGERS NELSON: SCREENWRITER, PRODUCER, ACTRESS AT BEAUTIFUL FEET PRODUCTIONS

My heart was pounding! My husband said “yes” to fostering a little 18-month-old boy. I was excited! We had just sat through an eight-hour seminar on the pitfalls and challenges of adopting through the U.S. Foster Care system, but I didn’t care. There was a little boy who needed us! And we couldn’t wait to meet him.

We explained to our two-year-old birth son, as best we could, that a little boy would be joining our family— for now, at least. Okay, I have to address the obvious question – How in the world could we put our precious little boy through the ordeal of falling in love with a younger sibling just to have that sibling potentially taken away by a family member who surfaces at the last minute? Honestly, it was hard. We asked that same question to another Christian adoptive parent. Their answer: “Don’t you think that God loves your son as much as He loves you? If you are in obedience, God will take care of your son’s heart no matter what happens.”

James 1:27 states that pure religion is to look after the widow and the orphan. Doing so sounds like obedience to me. That said, each person must pray specifically and decide what that looks like for their own family. For ours, it seemed like God was nudging us to move forward.

That is when we met our beautiful, brown-eyed boy. He was adorable, and the two boys became best buds fast!

Soon after, we learned that birth mom was six months pregnant. Not only were we agreeing to foster the boy, we would also be blessed with a newborn baby in about four months. We were overwhelmed with joy — and fear. We prayed. Hard.

Our beautifully perfect girl was born. We were overwhelmed with love for our quickly growing family. We were also overwhelmed with birth parents’ visitations, social worker visits, doctor’s appointments and court room appearances for the legal placement process for the children. We were quickly becoming well-versed in the government process of adoption. Honestly? It felt invasive and scary. We had to hold our children close, care for them — and absolutely without reservation, love them — but at the same time, we knew we might have to give them up.

Side bar — most know that parenting is not easy. Adoptive parenting is no different. In fact, any time we obey God, we expect the enemy to double down. We have to fight! The way to do that is through prayer— lots of it. Transparency with family and friends while in the process is advised. The more prayer, the better!

My husband and I proceeded through the almost twoyear process of court dates and multiple chances for the birth parents to get their act together and parent their children. Of course, we always wanted what was best for the children, but in our selfish heart of hearts, we thought we were the best choice. The reality is, sometimes birth parents DO get their act together and are reunited with their children. As gut-wrenching as that is as foster parents, we trust that the time with our foster kids is enough to make an impact. We teach them love, compassion, and hope! We teach them Jesus! And we pray that foundation stays.

Several months after our little girl joined our family, we had one more surprise. Birth mom announced she was pregnant again! Thirteen months later, we were blessed with another little girl. About this time, the court decided we would be forever parents to these children. My husband and I were the proud parents of four children, five years old and under!

God is so fun! Without our intent or design, we became a poster family or a beacon for fostering to adopt. People asked us how they, too, could adopt through foster care. We spoke at churches about our experience. We met with couples struggling with infertility or other roadblocks for starting or growing their family.

It’s interesting how life comes full circle. In addition to being a mom, I’m an actress. I just finished what I consider to be the role of a lifetime! I played the adoptive mom of an eighteen-year-old son who decides to find his birth parents. Ironic? I think not. God continues to spread awareness for adoption! Stay tuned as this film, starring Kirk Cameron, is the next Kendrick Brother’s project and will be in theaters spring of 2022.

I did not choose this path for growing our family but, praise God, He did! Adoption has not been easy. Now that my children are hitting their teen years, adoption questions surface even more. We pray every day for guidance and answers for our children. We continue to speak about adoption and share the joys and the struggles with true transparency. Even with challenges and clear attacks from the enemy, we would not trade our family or the path to becoming our family — for anything!

Rebecca Rogers Nelson is an actress, screenwriter, and producer. She and her husband, Durrell Nelson, own Beautiful Feet Productions and make films that promote family, celebrate redemption and reflect a Judeo-Christian worldview. On the home front, Rebecca is passionate about adoption and raising awareness for the plight of “homeland orphans.”

www.beautifulfeetproductions.com

Rebecca@beautifulfeetproductions.com