(gentle piano music)

- Hey, I'm Corey Paulson.

- And I'm Ronda Paulson.

When we were taking our classesto become foster parents,

on week seven, they hadus take a field trip

to a Department of Children's Services.

And so, we're sittingin this conference room

and it's state-issued furniture,blank walls, no color,

no warmth, and the gentlemanleading the class said that

when a child is removed fromtheir home, they come here.

And I just kept looking around that room

and I thought, "Why wouldyou bring a child here?'

And so I thought, "I bet he's confused."

And so, I raised my hand and I said,

"I'm sorry, sir, but whenyou say a child comes here,

"like, what do you actually mean?"

And he said, "A little girlslept in this room last night."

I couldn't get over howforgotten she must've felt.

And God had never forgotten her.

I don't know what else was said,I couldn't get it together.

And then I heard God say,"These are my children.

"What are you going to do?'

The case worker saidthere's a nine-month-old

little boy that needs a home.

And we didn't know if Isaiahneeded a mom for, and a dad

for a month or six months ortwo years, but he needed one,

and we could offer that for him.

- And he brought so muchexcitement into the house

and I could see my kids working together

and putting him to sleepand reading him stories,

and it was so fun to have thatkind of energy in the house.

- And I feel like God pursuedme from that moment on.

(music continues)

In January of 2017, I finally said yes

and I remember I justbroke down and I said,

"I don't know what you wantme to do, but I will do it."

- We start going throughthe book of Isaiah,

it's in the first chapter in verse 17

where we read the words,

"defend the cause of the fatherless."

It just hit us like a ton of bricks,

like, "Oh my gosh, that's it."

That's what we have to do.

- Yeah.

(music continues)

So in January of 2017,

that's when the dream reallystarted to take shape.

That's when we started to understand

that this dream was an Isaiah 1:17 house.

And that was really the beginning.

We opened our first home in 2018.

My wish for children,on that day of removal,

I want them to know that they are loved.

We want every part of theirvisit to an Isaiah 1:17 house

to be basically theexact opposite as if they

went to an DCF office in thefact that everything says

you're not in trouble, you are loved.

And so from the colorsto the fluffy furniture

that we choose, to anytoy in the house is yours

if you want it, everythingis about that child.

(slow piano music)

We want them to knowthat they're worth it,

that they, they are thatloved, that they deserve.

And we also want them to leavewith items they've chosen,

items that were their favorite,

and items that are now theirs.

And we believe there's dignity in that.

- They leave with a bag full of a few days

worth of clothes and some new shoes,

and toiletries, and thingslike that, that they might need

for their own hygieneand things like that.

So the foster family doesn't have

to run out the next morning.

- 35 states have reached out, one in the

Isaiah 1:17 house, two countries,

we have over 20 expansions.

We're in Indiana, Tennessee,we've now entered Georgia.

And it just keeps going.

And all of it remindsme, first and foremost,

how big our God is.

There is a foster care crisishappening in this nation.

And until God's peoplestand up, it will continue

because this was always our calling.

(inspirational music)

Isaiah and Eli, I'll lookat one of them and say,

"I'm so thankful thatI get to be your mama."

And Isaiah 1:19 says, "Ifyou are willing and obedient,

"you will taste the best of the land."

And we both believe, wholeheartedly,

that those two littleboys, our family that's now

a party of six, that isthe best of the land.

We are getting to experiencethe best of the land.

(music fades)