When I was newly married, if you told me that I would have four children but wouldn't give birth to any of them, I would have thought you were crazy. That’s not the life story I imagined or planned for myself!
But God had other ideas. Not able to conceive after years of tests, fertility drugs, prayers, support and begging Him to let me get pregnant, my first husband and I, within a span of two years, adopted two beautiful girls from Korea whom we named Allison and Jillian. My family was perfect and complete and I couldn't have been happier. Or so I thought.
Many years later, divorced, I fell in love with an old friend who had been widowed and left with two children. I met Charlie and Maryann thirteen years earlier when they were starting the adoption process for their daughter, Samantha, born in Colombia, South America. Four years later, their homemade surprise arrived: Scott was born.
So here I was, in my mid-forties, with four children: three daughters and one son ranging in age from six to eighteen years and I didn’t give birth to any of them! I was a mother because four other women couldn’t — for whatever their circumstance — raise their children. How could I thank these four precious mothers for the gift of family when I would never meet them nor see them again?
I wanted to give people the chance to help others, and be a Godmothers like my children's birth mothers were to me. And so I started The Godmothers Club as a way to thank God and honor my children's birth mothers.
My hope is that my posts and the stories people tell about their faith walk with God will inspire others to want to know more about Jesus. And if people are looking for ways to 'pay it forward' or 'pay it back' they might find a charitable organization that inspires them to help.
Kathleen Armentano
P.S. Just can't end my story without thanking my talented, graphic artist husband, Charlie, for all his support while I created The Godmothers Club and for designing the fabulous logo you see at the top of every page.
