“By the power vested in me and the State of Arizona, I now pronounce you…” This phrase holds so much power and meaning. The words that come next are binding and are meant to be forever. I have personally experienced this phrase in my life three times now. One was a day that I had hoped would come eventually, but the other two aren’t the ones you think about growing up.

“By the power vested in me and the State of Arizona, I now pronounce you…husband and wife.” These were the words that our pastor said to us just before he introduced us as the new Mr. and Mrs. When I met my wife, it was by chance really. The right place, the right time. We met and there were times of awkwardness, times of learning each other and the ways that each of us operates. There were the arguments and the cuddles, the highs and the lows but our journey led us to that day when we became a family.Photo Credit: Apple of our eye photography

My wife and I knew that we wanted kids and we even knew that someday we would like to adopt. Never did we think of fostering, that was scary. The thought of bringing a child in our home not knowing who they were, what their baggage may be, what they may think and when they may leave didn’t seem like our cup of tea. One day we went to an orientation meeting. There they laid out before us the need. There were thousands of children in the foster care system needing homes and the number was only getting bigger. We knew that we wanted to adopt, but we also wanted to adopt a baby and the more realistic chance of that was fostering to adopt. We realized that if we just adopted, we could miss out on the early stages of that child’s life. We also knew that if we adopted, it would be difficult at best to find out this child’s story. After much thinking and praying we decided that we would foster.

The day came when our license was issued. In fact, it was issued around 3:30 pm. By 4:15 we received a call about a placement and by 8:00 that night we had our first placement. Those next days and months there were times of awkwardness, times of learning each other and the ways that each of us operate. There were the arguments and the cuddles, the highs and the lows but our journey led us to that day when the judge said, “By the power vested in me and the State of Arizona, I now pronounce you…a family.” A family! Two paths that were truly the right place at the right time. We have been privileged to hear that phrase twice now and our family would not be the same and would not be complete if not for our adopted kiddos.Photo Credit: Apple of our eye photography

The number of kids in the foster care system continues to rise and at times it’s hard to see the light. On National Adoption Day, I saw the light from about 200 families who heard that same phrase as we did and now, those kids are all part of a forever family.

 

 

Brian Vehon

Foster/Adoptive Father