Family At Last: Celebrating Adoption Month with Sera Griffin and Her Officially Finalized Family
At the end of October, Sera and Jason Griffin finalized the adoption of their two youngest kids, Natalee and Ozzie, whom they adopted out of foster care. Sera has been a foundational member of the C127 team since January of 2021, and her and her family’s story is the perfect one to share in celebration of National Adoption Month! The Griffin family’s journey represents the hope and redemption that we fight for everyday.
Adoption and caring for the vulnerable were on Sera’s heart for about as long as she can remember. She grew up with three younger siblings who were adopted from China, and in her teenage years she began to participate in missions work with her church, journeying to Cambodia three consecutive years. Sera eventually took on an internship there teaching English. Her passions for vulnerable children and missions work were steadily taking root; Sera was poised to embark on a life of adventurous service to God and His children across the world. It was around this time that the Lord began to flip the script, and as he often does, He did so through the entrance of a dashing man into Sera’s story.
Jason met Sera at a bible study, and it didn't take too long for them to figure out that they were prominent characters on the pages of each other’s stories. Their connection took deeper roots when Jason learned about Sera’s heart for the vulnerable. He knew that love for a vulnerable child was love for him. Jason also lived with a fire in his heart to protect these kids, but his came largely from a place of experience. As a preteen, Jason was abandoned by his biological family; he was raised by several different families that took him in, including his pastor’s family who raised him since high school. In a beautiful redemptive circle, Jason had come out of his tumultuous youth with a powerful desire to engage in missions work and care for kids who found themselves alone and family-less, as he once was.
Upon getting married, Sera and Jason planned to move overseas and live as missionaries, but once again the Lord had other plans for them. He grew their roots deeper into the ground they already stood on, and Central Florida became their mission field.
Since then, the Griffins have raised a beautiful family and been active in fostering and adopting. Their family now officially comprises five precious kiddos: Flynn (8), Jet (6), Abel (4), Natalee (2 ½), and Ozzie (1 ½).
While the Lord was putting together this wonderful family, He was simultaneously making some big moves in Jason and Sera’s lives and careers. While Jason was in the midst of firefighter school, Sera was working at One Church-Park District.
They were also foster parents, and before they learned about C127 and were wrapped around by a Care Community, they ached for community.
The Griffins knew only one other foster family. But their Care Community quickly became their strength along the perilous journey of fostering. So when Jason and Sera decided it was time for their family to take a break from fostering, they knew that their Care Community would be ready to help them get started again when they resumed their journey. In the meantime, Sera wondered how she could continue to make an impact in the lives of vulnerable kids. In hindsight, she should have known that the Lord would introduce a big change through the humblest of locations.
One day in the church parking lot, Sera ran into Rechaud and Deana from C127. Rechaud earnestly stated his case; he explained that C127 was growing and needed to hire someone who knew and cared deeply about vulnerable kids, foster care, and adoption in order to continue making a difference in Central Florida. Looking back on that day, Sera recalled that although she wasn’t looking for a new job at the time and was very content with her position at the church, she felt the stirring of confirmation in her heart.
After completing the interview process, Sera was hired onto the C127 team where she still works as our amazing Senior FAM Specialist! In her role, she helps engage churches with awareness of the current crisis in Central Florida’s foster care system and equips them to support local foster and adoptive families.
One reason Sera is so effective in her work is that she knows and understands multiple angles of the work we do.
She has experience as a foster mom, an adoptive mom, and a church staff member, making her the perfect person to train and equip churches to strengthen foster and adoptive families.
Behind her work and her journey of motherhood is a rich perspective that drives Sera’s fruitful labor. At the core of this perspective is her unwavering trust in the Lord’s deep care for all of His children. What makes fostering especially hard, according to Sera, is the temporary nature and the uncertainty of the work.
She explained that when you’re caring for a kid, they are just a few calls and a court visit away from you never seeing them again. The beauty of it is that it doesn’t end in this sadness; instead this hard reality pushes Sera to the Father and His unfailing love. She has learned, and is still learning, to trust in the Lord’s care for both her adopted and biological children. “Before they are ours,” she said, “they are His.” This truth helps Sera and Jason persevere in the hard work of parenting their five kids while resting in the knowledge that God’s caring hand is on their whole family. Indeed she said that her favorite part of being a former foster and now adoptive mom is seeing the goodness of God at work in her family over time.
We are so thankful to have Sera on our C127 team, and we are still celebrating the successful adoption of her two youngest into the family. We love you, Sera!
