Jessaka and Joshua’s wish for a child came true—times eight!

Everything happens for a reason. Struggling with infertility, all Jessaka and her husband, Joshua, wanted was a child to love. And their wish came true . . . in a way so big it can’t help but touch your heart!

Leaving the doctor’s office, Jessaka Clark wondered how she’d tell her boyfriend that the doctor had said she was unlikely to ever conceive.

She’d met Josh when he was her manager at Pizza Hut. At fi rst, Jessaka thought he was, well, bossy! But as they talked, she discovered he was the sweetest, funniest guy.

They could talk about anything. And as they shared deep conversations about everything they wanted in their lives, Josh revealed, “I want 10 kids!” Jessaka laughed. But Josh was serious. He didn’t know why, exactly. He just knew he’d grown up surrounded by love and wanted a big family.

“Me, too,” Jessaka had smiled. With her own two brothers adopted and her parents having fostered dozens of kids, she’d always hoped to foster children.

Still, now that they were in love, Jessaka wondered: How will he feel about not being able to have children of his own? But when she confessed what the doctor had said, Josh gathered her into his arms and whispered, “Then we’ll adopt!”

Seven blessings

After

they married, Jessaka and Josh applied to become certified in the state’s foster-toadoption program. Then they received the most astonishing news: Jessaka was pregnant!

Welcome, miracle baby! Jessaka beamed when Noah was born.

Watching Noah grow, Jessaka and Josh felt blessed. And having Noah only strengthened their desire to have a houseful of kids. They decided to resume the process to become foster parents.

“We’re open to any age and even sibling groups,” they told caseworkers. But when the phone call came, Josh turned white as a ghost.

“What do you think of seven?’” he asked, shocked, yet excited.

“A seven-year- old?” Jessaka attempted to clarify. “No. Seven kids!” Josh said. There were four girls and three boys. They’d been in foster care three years, after the eldest, Maria—just 10 at the time— told a neighbor, “Our mom hasn’t come home in days.” Caseworkers had desperately tried to fi nd the siblings a forever family, but two adoptions had already fallen through. So now, they lived in a group home. They need someone to love them. And they need to stay with one another, the only family they’ve ever been able to count on, Jessaka realized.

“If we don’t take them, what if nobody ever does?” Josh added. And in that moment, they knew: They couldn’t turn their backs on these kids. This was meant to be.

Still, they couldn’t help but worry: Could they give each child the attention he deserved? Would Noah get lost in the shuffle? Did they have the energy? Did they have enough room in their three-bedroom house?

They arranged to meet the “Super Seven,” as they began calling them. Right away, the boys—never having had a father figure—were excited to roughhouse with Josh, tossing a ball around. Jessaka went to Maria— who had been acting as the surrogate mom and gave her a hug.

They are so open to love! Jessaka and Josh marveled.

In the coming days, they showed Noah photos of the kids, helping him memorize their names. They traded in their cars for a van. And after setting up two sets of bunk beds in the girls’ room and another two in the boys’ room, they welcomed Maria, 14; Elizabet, 12; Guillermo, 10; Jason, nine; Christina, eight; Katerin, seven, and James, five.

Though days started before sunrise getting the kids ready for school and Jessaka fell into bed exhausted at night, as the Super Seven settled in— playing on soccer teams and piling in the van for a drive-in movie— they seemed . . . happy.

“Mom! Can you help me with math?” they began calling. And Jessaka would beam: Mom!

A forever family!

Butit wasn’t always smooth sailing. “You won’t adopt us!” Maria challenged, having lost hope.

But Jessaka folded her into her arms. “Just because we’ve had a rough day doesn’t mean we’ll say, ‘ Forget it!’ We will always love you!” she promised.

And one morning, tooting a toy horn, Josh awakened the kids at 6 a.m. “Come on, guys. It’s time to get adopted!”

The kids danced to the van for the drive to the courthouse.

When the siblings marched inside, they were the Super Seven. But when they paraded out, they were proud members of the Terrific Ten, the Clark family!

“Even before the adoption we were a family— one big, happy, loving family!” Jessaka beams. “And thanks to these kids, we now all know that love can make all your wishes come true!”