Mountain Life 5

There are moments in life when you are utterly and completely in God’s mercy. The world around you is falling to rubble and stumbling blocks barricade your escape. On your own, you will dig and dig; trying to get out. What you end up doing is digging yourself deeper into a pit. Best advice I can give is to put your shovel away and pray. HE will make you stepping stones.

Back to my story! The officers and the angry CPS lady continued to stand outside in my driveway for twenty minutes after I re-entered my house. Nazi scare tactics, anyone? Needless to say, we were terrified but God fortified my family.

I called our lawyer and Quinton called family and friends. My lawyer informed me that I had no choice. I would have to play along to CPS’s tune. I would more than likely not get an appointment but instead, CPS would show up at the school and just remove(kidnapping is kidnapping no matter what badge of authority the culprit wears) my children. I asked about the law and my lawyer actually laughed. Not in a funny ha-ha way but in the “this is a joke” way. I hung up the phone feeling hopeless.

The kids and I prayed but my husband, God love him, was formulating a plan. Tony and Diana, friends of ours, showed up in minutes. That is the kind of people they are. I am blessed. My husband and Tony were the schemers. See, they are smart…very smart. They know the law like I know the grocery store. We were all in agreement that hell would freeze over before we allowed CPS or anyone else to violate our rights or those of our children.

But the system is flawed, you see. So you must know how to work within the law to win. We decided that the only way to save the children was to get them out of state. It is all about jurisdiction. A little law fact for those of you that care to know; CPS and agencies like it are limited within their county. They can not cross county lines without first calling the other county and asking for permission and/or assistance from that county’s agency. This is equally true for states. When crossing state lines, the agency must find out what county you are in and ask special permission and/or assistance from their agency. At any time, the agency being asked can and usually does refuse to take on the work of another county and they almost never take another states case. Remember, it is a business. If they take another agency’s work, they lose money.

So within an hour, the kids were packed with a backpack each, a kiss, a hug and God’s protection. Diana loaded them in her car and drove them to Quinton’s mom. From there, Quinton’s sister drove them across the state line and met my mom and sister. By 8 that evening, the girls and Peyton were at my sister’s and the older boys were at my mom’s house. The reason we separated the kids was an extra layer of protection.

I have to make special note of a few people before I continue. Without them, this would have ended differently. I know this fact as well as I know the sky is sometimes sky-blue-pink. Tony and Diana Varnes are dear friends of ours. God sent them that day to our house within minutes. Also, Quinton’s mother and sister, my mother and sister, along with all the prayer warriors fighting on the spiritual front. That day and the weeks and months following, I could literally feel God’s heavenly host around my family.

I’ll write more later. Writing this down is like reliving it. Peace, love and God’s will.