Friends and Neighbors: Mars family

"As a father, I enjoy watching each of my children grow in their own unique ways, developing into the men and women God created them to be. What a privilege and joy to share that great adventure with my wife. Nothing is more joyous!" shared Pastor and father of seven, Kenneth Mars.

Mars, the pastor at St. John's Lutheran Church in Kimball, met his wife Vickie, in his hometown of Lubbock, Texas, and they married nineteen years ago on May 30, 1997. The couple had four children of their own, Nathaniel (15), Timothy (13), Lydia (8) and Abigail (7).

They decided to consider fostering and adopting other children, three in particular. The couple took nine months, and lots of prayer, to decide on this new life journey.

"We had then came to a point where we were okay with our decision, then we asked our four kids while we were at the dinner table," Mars said. "We told them that we were thinking about fostering and all four whole-heartedly agreed, as well."

Another nine months passed after the family's decision before the children were placed in their home.

"We knew of names, ages and locations at that time," Mars said. "We hadn't even met them yet. All three were located in Texas at the time. When we finally got to that point, we did have phone conversations with them and then made one trip down to Texas to meet and visit them before their placement."

The Mars family met the children at the Amarillo Zoo followed by breakfast the next day before they had to return home to begin preparing for a much larger family.

In the several weeks following the meeting with the children, the adoptive parents prepared by taking foster parenting classes, as well as getting their home ready for the new children.

"Every bedroom in the house got switched, to get everything in order, in the appropriate way," Mars said. "We also spoke to the church congregation and let them know. At first it was just the church leadership and they gave their blessing, and then we let the church congregation know when we knew in fact that the placement would take place."

The children, Patrick (12), Sirena (7) and Noah (3) arrived to the Mars home on September 12, 2014 and were adopted into the Mars family on July 20, 2015.

Since the placement of the children in September of 2014, the pastor states that all of the children have "meshed" really well together.

"They're a part of our family," revealed Mars, "We don't even like making a distinction between 'biological' and 'adopted' they are just part of our family."

All of the Mars children, with the exception of the youngest, Noah, are taking piano lessons and participation in other activities such as sports, 4-H, enjoying the Kimball Public Library is experienced with consideration taken for their ages.

The pastor and his wife both take on responsibilities when it comes to the home-schooling of their seven children. Mars explaining that he teaches Latin to the older three children, and when the time comes for his other children, this is his area of expertise. The parents team teach as often as they can as well.

"Vickie does everything else," he said. "She takes the 'lion's share' of the home schooling."

Mars offered some advice to anyone considering fostering children.

"To a family that is considering fostering, I would say that you need to go in with your eyes wide open. It is both challenging and rewarding. I've grown to know myself better. Both good and bad," he said. "It will have to be a labor of love. The State needs good foster families and it's not easy work."

As any father, Mars is proud of his kids and he shared his hope for them in the future.

"One thing I'm really proud of my sons for, is their enthusiastic support for the food bank. They often help unload the delivery truck and help when the bank is open. The Lord has blessed me with a great family and church home," he said. "My hopes for all of my children is that they would remain faithful in their Christian faith and live in faith and become good mothers and fathers. It's easy to be a father of great kids and it helps to have a fabulous wife and mother. I couldn't do anything without her."