{"id":1585,"date":"2019-12-09T19:57:06","date_gmt":"2019-12-09T19:57:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/?p=1585"},"modified":"2020-11-18T23:24:29","modified_gmt":"2020-11-18T23:24:29","slug":"desireelibengoodfostertoadopt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/desireelibengoodfostertoadopt\/","title":{"rendered":"Desir\u00e9e Libengood shares about her family’s journey through foster-to-adopt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Desir\u00e9e Libengood \u201906, Ed.D., is the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and has been teaching English at North Central University for eight years.<\/p>\n

In the midst of their careers, Libengood and her husband, Lance Libengood \u201905, felt a nudge telling them it was time to start a family. After attempts to start a family the traditional way, they felt God speaking to them again and at the age of 29 they adopted their first daughter who was 17 years old. Since she was a young girl, Desir\u00e9e always knew that she wanted to adopt, and this was confirmation that this was how God was going to begin building their family. But this was just the beginning.<\/p>\n

After their first daughter moved out, the Libengoods found themselves being empty-nesters at the young age of 30. They decided to go down the road of adoption again. After researching and taking everything into account, they decided on foster care adoption, in part because of the great need that exists in this area of adoption.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a really deep need being met when you take older kids into your home and by starting a family through foster adoption,\u201d Desir\u00e9e said. \u201cThere are some families who adopt kids who are 18 years old to give them a family and a landing place in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Presently, the Libengoods have a family of five children living at home with them\u2014all under the age of six. After going through six adoptions, they have found that there are many mistaken notions people hold regarding foster care and adoption and see sharing their story as a way to help set the record straight when it comes to false beliefs about adoption.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Correcting false beliefs<\/strong><\/h2>\n

False belief #1: Adopted kids are a mission field<\/h3>\n

Lance and Desir\u00e9e see their kids and their family as a calling just as much as any other parents have a calling to raise children\u2014biological or otherwise. \u201cThese are just our kids who we love and adore, just as much as any parent would with biological children. It\u2019s a calling in the sense that we know our family is a kingdom family and to be used for God\u2019s glory,\u201d said Desir\u00e9e.<\/p>\n

There are so many needs in our own community. Desir\u00e9e supports a non-profit called Reel Hope that creates videos of teens who are waiting for permanency. It has proven difficult to get into churches and start the conversation about this. Desir\u00e9e believes caring for kids in our backyard who don\u2019t have a home is one of the most important things we can do as a church. In fact, if one family from every church in America chose to foster to adopt, the adoption crisis would be completely solved.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

False belief #2: Adopted kids are \u2018broken kids\u2019<\/h3>\n

Another misconception is that these are the \u201cbroken kids.\u201d \u201cThe fact is, no matter where your kids come from, adoption is a trauma,\u201d Desir\u00e9e said. \u201cBeing taken from your biological parent is a trauma, but trauma does not make a kid broken. Kiddos placed in foster care are resilient, and we believe in restoration, these kids can thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

False belief #3: Adoption is expensive and can take years<\/h3>\n

It is common to think that adoption is expensive and takes years before parents are able to adopt. This is typically true if parents are adopting from another country or waiting to adopt a newborn. The process of foster to adopt is actually free in the State of Minnesota and typically moves faster than out-of-country or newborn adoptions.<\/p>\n

The Libengoods went through several rounds of interviews and home inspections before they were able to have kids placed in their home and this process took several months. Although the kids were living in their home, there is an interim period between being foster care parents and adoptive parents.<\/p>\n

The Libengood family is full and fun and thriving. Desiree has so much knowledge to share about her family\u2019s journey through adoption! This is just the first blog about adoption in a two-part series, so if you enjoyed this, be on the lookout for one more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Desir\u00e9e Libengood \u201906, Ed.D., is the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and has been teaching English at North Central University for eight years. In the midst of their careers, Libengood and her husband, Lance Libengood \u201905, felt a nudge telling them it was time to start a family. After attempts to start […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":1588,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,35,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-friends","category-christian-college-community","category-christian-life"],"yoast_head":"\nFoster to Adopt: Desiree Libengood - Table Salt | NCU Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Desir\u00e9e Libengood \u201906, Ed.D., is the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and has been teaching English at North Central University for eight years.In the midst of their careers, Libengood and her husband, Lance Libengood \u201905, felt a nudge telling them it was time to start a family. After attempts to start a family the traditional way, they felt God speaking to them again and at the age of 29 they adopted their first daughter who was 17 years old. Since she was a young girl, Desir\u00e9e always knew that she wanted to adopt, and this was confirmation that this was how God was going to begin building their family. 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