The first call I ever made inquiring about foster care was 4 minutes and 44 seconds. I noticed the numbers as I hung up. Immediately I heard the Lord say, “Isaiah 44:4.”

“Thus says the Lord who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you: ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant; And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, And floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring; They will spring up among the grass Like willows by the watercourses.”- Isaiah 44:1-4 (NKJV)

This became the promise I cling to. For the past two years, I have noticed the numbers 444 multiple times a day. It is one of the primary ways God reminds me that we are on the right path and that our children are coming. I have used this passage as a declaration in times of weariness when my faith is tired. I have celebrated these words, singing them as praise in moments of hope. I have wept over these verses with tears of intercession as God prepared my heart to care for vulnerable families. 

When we purchased our home we inherited a weed-filled lawn. Last month we rallied my family to help us dig up the dead sod and plant new grass seed. It ended up being a huge project and one we could never have completed alone. 

To me, this was a prophetic picture of what our adoption and foster care journey looked like up until this point. God was digging deep to tend to the soil of our souls. The process took longer than we ever anticipated and we had to lean on our family and community for help. The work was both extremely hard and extremely rewarding. 

“Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.” – Hosea 10:12

We planted the grass seed. The next day it poured rain. Then we waited for the new seed to spring up. 

“Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it?” – Isaiah 43:19 (NKJV)

People love to say, “Don’t let the grass grow under your feet.” But in this instance, all we could do was wait and hope the grass seed would, in fact, grow under our feet. 

God can be trusted even in seasons of painful delay. He is the keeper of promises.

When the time was right, both our grass and our family grew. In the same week the grass finally sprung up in our backyard, we finally received our foster license. And before too long, we held our first foster son (whose name means grassy pasture) in our arms. 

God is faithful and we are officially a foster family!

I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring; They will spring up among the grass Like willows by the watercourses.”- Isaiah 44:4