God’s Guidance in Social Services and Adoption

The Journey, Winter 2023

Written by Maggie Watts with Jennifer Buchanan and Ben Cox

“That’s the beauty of this thing to me… it's humans who know the love of God helping other humans come to know the love of God.”

Jennifer Buchanan, the kinship navigation specialist at High Country Caregivers, lives her life with an open heart, completely surrendered to the unexpected ways God may ask her to serve Him. 

Buchanan grew up in a split home, with her parents divorcing when she was 6. Although she was raised attending catholic church services, God was not commonly discussed in her home until after the divorce.

“I think they realized that they were missing something and sort of started to find God for themselves. We started going to church here in Burnsville and started going to the youth classes that they had. And so that was kind of my introduction of really starting to understand, you know, what all that meant,” she said.

However, Buchanan still felt she was only “going through the motions.” She responded to an altar call and was baptized at age 10, but she did not really understand what any of it meant. Even so, two years later, a teaching at Wednesday night youth group got her attention.

“I honestly couldn't tell you what that lesson was that night. I just know the feeling that I had… understanding that desire to have Jesus as my Savior,” she said.

After the youth meeting that night, she asked the teacher to pray with her. Buchanan gave her life to the Lord and asked Jesus into her heart that day. 

When God led her to the University of South Alabama years later, Buchanan says she found a wonderful Christian community. 

Buchanan said going to South Alabama wasn't just about the degree. She chose to attend the university because her dad lived near the area. 

“It was where I needed to go to find the people that I met there,” she said. 

When she graduated in 2017 with a degree in health administration, she moved to Asheville and began a job at a hospital. Buchanan never envisioned herself later going into social services, but social services is the plan God had for her life.

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In 2020, while Buchanan was working in Asheville, her cousin was walking through drug addiction, which meant social services had to get involved to ensure her two young children received proper care.

Social Services placed the 1-year-old boy and 4-year-old girl with their grandma (Buchanan’s aunt). Their grandmother was sick with rheumatoid arthritis, so caring for two young children was no easy task.

This is why Buchanan decided to start keeping the children every weekend. By the end of April, she realized their grandmother could not do this alone.

“I think it was in June, that I reached out and started the classes to become a foster parent to get licensed,” Buchanan said. So I have had them ever since, two kids, a one-year-old and a four-year-old at the time.”

She was a single, 24-year-old when she took the children into her care full-time in October of 2020.

“I was like, ‘I do not know if I can take on two kids.’ I was still single and didn't know how to do all that and figure it out. But I just turned it over to God and spent a lot of time in prayer. And I just said, ‘Okay, I'll take the step,’” she said.

Taking on two children changed the dynamic of Buchanan’s life. Now, the children were first priority. This included learning to set boundaries and moving out of her roommate’s home.

In the following years, Buchanan officially adopted the children. 

“I was able to adopt and finalize a little over a year ago,” she said. “When I was starting the adoption process, I met my husband.”

Buchanan and her now-husband, Daniel, were set up by a relative of Jennifer’s. She describes the relationship as “love at first sight.”

“It sounds so bizarre to say it out loud. But really, genuinely, it was,” she said. “We had our first date, and I don’t know how to explain it, but it was kind of like moving forward, we knew we were gonna get married.”

One month after the pair started dating, a family friend of Jennifer’s gave birth to a baby. The friend did not feel equipped to be a mother, and she decided to relinquish her parental rights. However, there was no plan or adoptive family in place.

“I texted my now-husband and was like, ‘I know we’ve been together for like a month… but what would you think about adopting a baby together?” she said.

The two stepped out in faith and decided to adopt the baby. She was born on December 18, and after spending around 10 days in the NICU, Daniel and Jennifer took the baby home. He moved in with Jennifer to help take care of the kids, and they began planning their wedding.

“We basically started planning our wedding because we were like, ‘well, we’re moving towards getting married and we’re gonna raise these kids. So we got married in May of last year. We've been married a little over a year,” she said. “And then we found out a while after we got our third kiddo, that I was pregnant.”

When Buchanan adopted her first two children as a single 24-year-old, she could not see the future. She did not know she would one day be married to Daniel, raising a family together. She simply trusted God to take care of her. 

High Country Caregivers recruited Buchanan shortly after her youngest child was born.

“I never thought I would end up in social work. If you had asked me when I was starting college, I would have been like, “No way, that is not for me. I don't I don't see myself in social work.’ But now, genuinely, I think that this job is my career. This is my forever job because I am just so passionate,” she said. “I'm getting to help these families that have these kids that are in kinship placement.”

Through working in social services, God has shown Buchanan that He truly is a Father to the fatherless. 

“For in You the Fatherless find compassion.”

Hosea 14:3

Publisher’s Note: Kent and Shelley Tarbutton, former owners of Chetola Resort, supported the ministry of High Country Caregivers in many ways. Therefore, when HCC held their yearly fundraising event for the ministry it was held at Chetola Resort. The date of the event was September 14, 2023, which was 12 days after Kent passed away from prostate cancer that he valiantly fought until he was welcomed into heaven on September 2, 2023.

On that night of September 14, Kent’s memory was honored and a foundation to care for caregivers was established in his name! Because he and his family saw firsthand the importance of caregivers as they helped him through his last months, this foundation was established in his name. Each year money from this foundation is given for caregivers to go on vacation to be restored themselves in ways that they might not be able to do without this provision.

In our Summer 2024 edition of The Journey Magazine we are going to do a special tribute to Kent and all the lives he touched!