By: Heidi Marie
Kaliah was born on February 16, 2015, she came home on February 22, 2015, and she became ours forever on June 23, 2017.
About 3.5 years ago our family - my husband and our three biological children were called by God to start the journey of foster care. As we went through the process we felt called to only foster children school age and older. After several calls and one placement, we were approached by a family that we attended church with. They asked if we would be willing to take the placement of a baby girl that was soon to be born. This baby was their foster daughters little sister who they were unable to bring into their home, but wanted to keep a connection with. We were not sure if we were up to caring for a baby again and began praying and processing what saying yes to this baby would look like. On a Friday afternoon we received a call asking if we would take the placement of Baby and without any further thought, we said yes.
That evening we began to prepare ourselves to go and meet this little one, that we were going to be within days taking home from the hospital. Although we were nervous because it had been seven years since had a baby in the house, we were very excited. The moment we met her we immediately fell in love. She wrapped her tiny little fingers around our hearts from the moment we met her. Knowing in our hearts that we could help maintain a sibling relationship between these two; we said yes without a doubt. Given Mom's history with the system, we were asked to be an adoptive resource for Kaliah.
This was a tough decision for us as ultimately our goal going into this was to work with birth families and help get their children home. However, Kaliah had grown in our home from birth and had become a part of our family so if she was going to need an adoptive home, we knew it had to be ours. Our whole family loved this sweet girl as our own. After having the opportunity to provide Kaliah with a safe place where she could feel loved and cared for; 28 months later we were able to give her permanency and call her daughter; Kaliah Kateri Faith Williams.
When we were deciding Kaliah's name, we did so with great thought and purpose. From the day we met and heard Kaliah's and her birth mom's name, we decided that her birth mom's name as a middle name would be a perfect story that she can tell. The story that even though she was adopted it is important for her to always know that she will forever have that connection with her birth mom.
Edited by: Manda Jones; Editor in Chief & CEO of Manda & Friends
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