November is National Adoption Month. Adoption is obviously a huge deal for children in the foster care system. For those children that are not able to return home to their biological families, a new “forever” home must be found. Although Raleigh’s Place is not an adoption agency, adoption has played a major role in our ministry.
When Tim and Sharon King became foster parents and launched Raleigh’s Place, adoption was an inevitable outcome for several of the children they took into their home. The Kings eventually adopted nine children! I am one of those children.
My journey into foster care came shortly after my twelfth birthday. I was raised by my biological mother who had a lifelong struggle with substance abuse. This addiction led to all kinds of other problems: poverty, constant moving, steady rotation of boyfriends, and so much more. By the time I entered middle school, I had already attended more than ten schools in four different states. Had it not been for government assistance, I do not know how we would have been able to have a place to live or food to eat. Life was rough; even if I did not fully realize how bad things were at the time.
One night, my biological mom dropped me off at my great grandmother’s house and disappeared. We did not hear anything from her for a week or two and had no idea where she was located. Finally one day we received a call from a hospital in a different town telling us that they found her after she tried to overdose on drugs. She had recovered and the hospital was ready for us to pick her up. When we did get her from the hospital, my great grandmother told her that she needed to call DHR. She did not argue and called. A social worker picked me up that night and I entered foster care.
As a twelve year old, I had no expectations for what foster care would be like. I assumed that I would end up in a foster home with a new family and figure out how to adjust to a new lifestyle. That is not what happened. I ended up going to a group home where I was the youngest resident by a couple of years. Most of the other boys in the home were there as they transitioned out of juvenile detention centers, served out some of their probation period, and prepared to return home. I was in this group home for eight months, basically my entire seventh grade year. This was probably the hardest year of my life. My heart did not know how to handle the feeling of abandonment that I experienced so it became hard.
Everything changed, however, when I met the Kings. Even though I did not see it happening, the Lord was doing a work in my life. He was orchestrating an amazing storyline for my life. Towards the end of my seventh grade year I visited the Kings for the first time. This was a short, weekend visit where I probably did not make the best first impression but Sharon showed up at my school a couple of weeks later and said, “You are coming to live with us.” I was thrilled!
It was with the Kings that I experienced so many things for the first time. I had never had homemade mac and cheese before (I refuse to eat the boxed stuff to this day). Nor had I ever lived on a farm; I grew up in the projects and trailer parks. More importantly, I had never experienced consistent love and care, which is what I received immediately upon moving in. It did not take long at all to begin calling the Kings “Mom” and “Dad.”
By far the single most important thing given to me by the Kings was their imitation of Christ. They modeled to me the love of Christ while also teaching me who He was and what He accomplished in His life and death. I do not really remember a time when I did not believe the Gospel but I certainly did not always have a consistent Christlike model in my life. Once I saw what a real Christian looked like, I wanted that in my life. Tim and Sharon faithfully Lived the Gospel by Loving this Fatherless child.
During my early teenage years, I lived my best life. I was able to play football, did really well in school, and was learning and growing in my faith. I will never forget the day my social worker visited me at school when I was in the ninth grade. As we sat on a bench outside of the high school I was attending, she asked me if I wanted to continue having visits with my biological mom. I think I said “no” before she had a chance to finish her question. A month later I was sitting in a courtroom when a judge declared that I was adopted and officially a King.
My life has been radically different since that day. I have experienced such a new life that I can barely remember so much of my childhood. Those memories of some of the craziness I experienced have slowly faded away as new, amazing memories take their place. And in an ultimate show of His humor, God has called me to lead the ministry that changed my life.
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” – Ephesians 3:20-21
– Mike King, Executive Director