Joseph was just two and a half months old when Adam and Anna Horsley got a phone call asking if they would foster him.
“Like we always do, we prayed about it and talked about it, and we just felt like this was the placement we needed to take,” Anna said. “Of course, when you take in a placement, you don’t think it will last nine and a half years.”
Daily life with the Horsleys with weekly visits from his biological mom was all Joseph had ever known. She never missed a visit, and unlike many foster children, he never moved once he came to stay with Adam and Anna.
“So he almost had the best of both worlds,” Adam said. “Because a lot of times, you have kids where their parents don’t show up or they’re very inconsistent. So he had this opportunity to have a very stable family day in and day out and also have that predictability of having that visit every week.”
Through those years though, it became evident that he wouldn’t be able to go back to his biological mother. In early December 2024, Joseph’s adoption was finalized, officially becoming a Horsley and adding to a story that started with an unexpected calling.
Being foster parents or adopting was not something that had ever crossed Adam and Anna’s minds prior to 2009. They were recently married, just starting grad school and beginning their careers. They were in no rush to start a family.
So when close friends who were considering adoption had asked them to come to an informational meeting as a support system, Anna and Adam agreed, not thinking much about it.
“I was sitting in that meeting, and I had zero intentions of even really paying much attention because it wasn’t for me, it was for my friends,” Anna said.
But God had different plans.
“It was not something that I really had on my heart or really cared about, but all of a sudden, I did,” Anna said. “I felt burdened for the children in our city and knowing that I had the bandwidth and capacity to help, it just felt like it was now my responsibility.”
Adam felt the same burden. However, it wasn’t until days later — worried about what the other would think — that they finally confessed to each other what they both had felt called to do.
“This is something that I didn’t want to do, but for some reason, it’s on my heart and it’s also on my wife’s heart, so it probably means that there’s something to it,” Adam said. “God is pretty clear. He will open doors that you’re like, ‘I don’t know. This is crazy.’ And then shuts the door on all those excuses of why you shouldn’t do it.”
They wrestled with the idea, prayed and stepped out in obedience to God’s calling on their lives. As soon as they were through the certification process, the Horsleys started fostering children.
They lived in New Orleans at the time and leaned on their church family for support as they navigated the challenges of first-time parenthood and foster care.
“You have your idea of how you’re going to parent how you’re going to handle things, and then that quickly goes out the window when faced with the reality of it,” Anna said. “We knew we had strong conviction in what we were doing. But once you’re in it, you realize there’s a lot that goes along with a child who’s grieving and going through brokenness and loss and the behaviors that go along with that.”
“You just can’t prepare for it,” Adam said. “It really helps to have somebody who loves your family and loves what you’re doing to step in and take a kid out for ice cream or give you a chance to have some one-on-one time with a child or whatever your needs are at the time. It became very evident very quickly how much we needed prayer along with practical support as well.”
With that support from their church, the Horsleys remained obedient to God’s call on their life. Dozens of children stayed with them — some as short as a week, others as long as 18 months — each an opportunity for Adam and Anna to model the love of Christ for those who came into their home.
“God made an impact on the kids that we had for the long term and on the kids that we had for a week,” Adam said. “We could see it. We could see that here’s a kid who’s never seen a functional mom and dad. Here’s a kid who’s never been to church, and we were able to supply even just a glimpse of something.”
In 2014, Adam and Anna made the decision to move from Louisiana to Georgia to be closer to Anna’s family. Once they were settled, the call to continue to be foster parents stayed with them, but they knew they needed a support system like they had through First Baptist New Orleans.
They eventually found it in Wayne and Kelli Naugle and their organization Families 4 Families.
“Wayne and Kelli are amazing people. They’re very genuine. They’re very real. They don’t put on a face,” Anna said. “When we talked with them, they were just so open and available even though they’re probably some of the busiest people on earth. They wanted to know everything about us — and not in a vetting kind of way — but they just genuinely wanted to know us and wanted to almost be friends first. And that obviously made us feel really great to know it was very much like a family. Being in an organization where the founders are genuine and love the Lord and truly want God to get the glory for what they’re doing meant a lot to us.”
Adam said he, too, felt an immediate connection with the Naugles. Through the common bond of being experienced foster parents, he felt he could relate and have honest conversations about navigating tough, hard situations.
“I could tell pretty early on that they knew what they were talking about,” Adam said. “They know what it means to be really in the trenches in foster care.”
That relationship and the way Families 4 Families came alongside the Horsleys has been a vital lifeline as they cared for Joseph. Everything from the monthly date nights to gift cards to deep, honest conversations about tough situations reminded Adam and Anna they were supported and allowed them to persevere, even when they thought they were going to lose Joseph.
“There are so many times where I guess most people think, ‘A gift card? What difference does that make?’” Anna said. “Oh, it makes a huge difference when you’re in one of the hardest situations of your life; you think you’re about to lose a child — your child — you’ve had for seven years. The last thing you want to do? Cook a meal. I’m just emotionally and physically spent and exhausted. And when a gift card comes in the mail, that is huge. It shows that somebody cares about us and knows that it would be helpful.”
Adam and Anna don’t believe this kind of support would have been there if they had gone through the state to be foster parents. The generosity of donors allows Families 4 Families to see and fill their needs and be a visible expression of God’s promises for the Horsleys.
“We were told by everyone to prepare ourselves after seven years that he would go back, like, there was no question,” Anna said. “You know, at your lowest point, I think that is where you encounter God’s promises the most. He’s faithful in those times. He’s faithful to be there for us. He’s faithful to comfort us. We wanted things to go the way we wanted them to go. However, we knew without a shadow of a doubt that we could trust that God would care for Joseph no matter where he ended up. We could put our trust in God because He promises to care for His children.”
Although it was a lengthy, emotional journey, Joseph is now forever with the Horsleys and their four other children.
“Joseph means so much to us,” Anna said. “He’s hilarious, curious, loves to learn, full of questions, kind and keeps us on our toes. Throughout the years, he has taught us how to loosen our grip on the people we love so much, and to place our trust in the Lord that He will do a much better job caring for us all.”
Reflecting on their decision to say yes to God’s call, Adam said there are a few things he knows for sure.
“I know that our best life was us as foster parents. Our easiest life was not us as foster parents. I wouldn’t want to go through all the things that we’ve gone through in the past 15 years again, but I would not want to trade them,” he said. “If you’re part of an agency like Families 4 Families, then it’s possible to be a long-term foster family. Without that, I don’t know how anyone can do it long-term.”