After being married for 12 years and having three children Kim Lacefield started to think about those children who weren’t loved.
No sooner had she started journaling her prayers and asked God whether she should foster or adopt she received a phone call that set her on a path that would change the course of her life forever.
Kim received a call from the police station saying her ‘god children’ needed a home but Kim didn’t know who her godchildren were.
“It turns out they were from a lady who, 7 months prior, had attended our church where my husband was the pastor,” Kim told Love What Matters.
Kim agreed to take in the boys, aged 6, 8 and 10.
“Thirty minutes later, I had three little faces at my door. They had no clothes other than what was on their back, no toothbrush, no blanket or favorite pillow.”
She recalled their scared faces as they turned up at her house not knowing who she was.
The next day two of the boys were able to go live with their biological father but she looked after the 6-year-old for a year.
“Oh, how I loved him. I knew he had a dad who had just been released from prison and he loved his son. I helped him get his son back. I know that might seem strange for some, but the best gift you can give a child is a healthy bio parent who loves them and wants them. If anyone deserved a second chance, it was this father, who was holding a job down and willing to drive 10 hours for his visits.”
As Kim got ready to let her sweet 6-year-old boy go to live with his father she got a call to take in a 5-year-old girl.
“Later that day, she walked into my house with a trash bag with her clothes in it. I had to take it back outside and leave on the porch. She had head lice, body lice, and pinworms. She had come from a dirty foster home where she said she was made to lay on the floor. In fact, she had been in over five homes in 6 weeks.”
The youngster who had been through so much proved a challenge for Kim who said she couldn’t communicate her feelings. She struggled to treat the girl’s lice and infections and when it was time to go to school, her teacher noted how behind she was.
“It wasn’t long before I was getting calls from the school asking me what was going on. She was in first grade and couldn’t trace the letter ‘L.’ She would mess in her pants and wouldn’t change them.”
Thankfully the school worked with Kim and they set out a plan to help her get back on track and by the end of her first year the girl had made so much progress she was called the ‘miracle child.’
“Teachers and school social workers couldn’t believe how far she came in a year. A lot of kids who come into care are 5 or more years emotionally behind their actual age.”
Just two weeks after taking her now 6-year-old girl in she received a call to take in her 2-year-old sister.
‘She seemed so scared’
“She had been living with a relative. She had a broken arm and big sores on her skin. She came to me during the day while her sister was at school,” Kim recalled.
“She seemed so scared but after a while, she looked up at my wall of pictures and said, ‘Addy.’ That was her sister she recognized. I will never forget that moment. It has made me passionate about keeping sibling groups together.”
The following year the girls’ biological mom signed her rights over to Kim and her husband but the dad, who was in jail, fought to keep his rights as their father – it was a fight that would last for over 3 years.
Knowing that the girls’ birth mother wanted them but couldn’t be the parent they deserved meant Kim made sure the girls stayed in touch with their biological mother so they knew this.
“She has been in and out of rehab. She truly loves her children and we all love her. She comes for visits during seasons of life where she is doing well. I think it’s best for kids, when possible, to stay in touch with birth parents. I know some may disagree. I talk to a lot of adults who have had messed up childhoods and knowing their bio family wanted them goes a long way.”
Then Kim got the call that the girls had been cleared for adoption.
“Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to adopt. The thought of kids not being loved caused sleepless nights even as a child,” Kim said.
“The courts made it happen and both girls were adopted last week on (on the younger sister’s) seventh birthday, 5 years after coming to me with her broken arm.
‘Having 5 daughters is a fun thing’
“We are now a family of nine with two of my older ones having just graduated and moved out.
“Having five daughters is a fun thing, lots of hair and makeup, and emotions going on!”
Kim and her husband continue to foster and when returning home isn’t a possibility they adopt.
“I hear this a lot, ‘I could never do what you do, I would get too attached.’ My response to that is, ‘That’s what the kids need. If you don’t get attached, then you are doing it wrong.’ Kids deserve love. It is better for me to hurt than them to keep being hurt.”
What a beautiful family this couple have created; being a foster parent is such a selfless act and I’m so glad these girls came into Kim’s life and got the love and forever home they deserve.
Please share their beautiful story with everyone you know.
