A Testimony of Family

Tonight, I sit here in tears.

I recently watched a documentary on a mother who adopted 11 children with disabilities. A few of their stories are extremely compelling, but the one that touched me the most was Joe.

In short, Joe was given away by his 13 year old mother and in and out of foster homes for the first two and a half years of life. Poor Joe never felt connected or loved by anyone. He was destructive and verbally abusive to his family. Joe died at the age of 15 feeling lonely and unloved.

This shook me to my core.

There is a reason our Heavenly Father sent us to this earth. There is a plan.

"Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations."
- The Family: A Proclamation to the World

I want everyone to know that I KNOW the family is ordained of God. I know there is a reason our Heavenly Father established the family. I know it is my sacred opportunity to raise and love my children and the children around me. I know there is a plan for us and that within this plan I will live with my family forever. And I will do everything in my power to do so.

No child should die like Joe did.