Romans 8:28 (NIV)
And we know that in all things God works for the good of
those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Regina (Regi) Langworthy was a teen-age bride, and a
mother by her eighteenth birthday. At 19, she had already divorced, and by age
21, she had been diagnosed with cervical cancer. "What a start on
life!" she says. Regi loved children and had wanted more. But it was not to
be. The next several years were difficult as she worked at low-paying jobs and
endured several surgeries. But her love for her little boy kept her going.
Then, things began to look more hopeful. Regi celebrated
her 30th birthday cancer-free. And soon after, "I met the most wonderful
man, and we married two years later," she says. "John Copenhaver had
never been married, and had no children, and he knew that we would be unable to
have any." It was a sorrow for both of them, but they accepted the
situation.
Shortly after the wedding, Regi's brother became
terminally ill, so Regi, John and her son moved to Florida to help support the
family. By the time Regi's brother died, they had put down roots in the area,
and decided to stay. Because Regi loved children so much, she opened a
home-based day care for kids from newborn age to five years old, who were
already in temporary protective custody. "Their parents were usually in
drug and alcohol rehab," says Regi. "A lot of the time, abuse was
also involved. It was both wonderful and heartbreaking to work with these
children. The hardest part was releasing them to go back to abusive families.
Many would return to protective services again and again."
Regi's day care business grew quickly. Along with her
talent and love for these children, she was also open around the clock!
("From being a single mom, I realized that there were times when you have
to work nights, and I usually had four steady "over-nighters.") A
woman came in to assist in the early afternoons, and John helped in the
evenings. "Our weekend outings always included one or more children
too," Regi says. "But we didn't mind. We were very attached to all of
them."
One morning Regi was asked to go to a shelter and observe
a ten-month-old, born addicted to crack and thus developmentally handicapped.
"Ivan cried all the time," Regi says. "But there was something
in his eyes when he looked at me." Yes, she told the social workers.
Although she had never taken a foster child, she would take Ivan. And over the
next several months, Ivan learned that there was no need to cry. In his new
home, there was love in abundance.
After several months, Ivan was allowed regular visits
with his biological mother. But he always returned dirty-and again, crying. How
could Regi stand by and watch Ivan's hard-won gains evaporate? God had always
been with her as she cared for these special children, but now she prayed even
harder that, in some way, this little boy would be saved. And soon her prayers
were heard. Ivan's mother returned to drugs, and decided that since the courts
would no doubt take him away from her eventually, she would rather give custody
to Regi and John instead. "After much paperwork, he became our son!"
During this time, a female family member had left her
eleven-month-old girl with Regi, "just temporarily." "Brandi was
a chubby little girl who sat and looked through sad eyes, not talking or making
any sounds," Regi recalls. Unbelievably, Brandi was eventually freed for
adoption too, and she became their daughter!
Today Ivan is almost seventeen, a very normal young man,
active in sports and on the honor roll. Brandi is almost sixteen, gets good
grades, enjoys sports and is beautiful, says her proud mom. Both have known
from the beginning about their backgrounds. All they really needed, says Regi,
was security and love.
Regi still battles health problems, but as she looks
back, she wouldn't change anything, not even her cancer. "I honestly
believe that God knew there would be two babies who would need us as their parents,
and He led us to them," she says. "Had I not been sick, I probably
would have had a much different life. In its own way, the cancer was actually a
blessing."
And in her own way, Regi lived by faith--and has made the
world a better place.
Dear Lord, we thank You for the circumstances we go
through in our life. We thank You that You can use them to make us into the
person that You want us to be. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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