On the horizon

We have some really exciting things on the horizon right now.
One is that we are pursuing a fifteen year old boy for adoption. The Lord has been speaking to my heart recently about the kids who are considered "difficult to adopt." I felt like He was saying, "You say that you are for me and that I am for orphans. Lets go after the children who are really waiting." This generally includes teens, large sibling groups, and children with disabilities. My pastor spoke about the fatherless a couple of weeks ago and I was looking for some resources and I came across one that talked about adopting teens and my heart was pricked. So, I found a teen on TARE, Texas Adoption Resource Exchange, and called my adoption case worker at Kornerstone. She agreed to inquire about the boy on TARE but she also had a teen that she wanted to tell me about (she always has one that she wants to tell me about, her pockets seem to be full of them). When I heard his story, I immediately felt a connection to him. As Matt and I prayed, we felt as though this boy quickly became cemented in our hearts and we believe that he belongs with us. We are in the very early stages and are waiting to hear if his caseworker even wants to move forward with us - prayers are appreciated.
The other thing is that we met a family, the Cottles, and the Lord has laid a clear vision on our hearts of starting a foster community similar to this one with this amazing family. We are in the early stages of praying, dreaming, and planning, but this is definitely where we are headed and we are thrilled at the goodness of God's plan for our life. We have only had three dinners together but after the first one, I knew that we would be partnering in ministry and that ultimately we would be growing our families along side each other.
I share all this with you because we covet your prayers over both these situations.