Okay, so it's been a couple months (again) since I have posted. What happened? Well, August and September happened. I found out these months are very busy times at work. In addition, we had our own back to school adjustments to make with Will starting his new "big boy" school. Throw in Billy traveling for work off and on and the last couple months have flown by.
Over the last couple months I have begun to feel especially drawn to adoption through foster care. I met a couple through work who now have custody of their grandchildren. Listening to their story, with both day to day struggles and triumphs, has been both inspiring and scary at the same time. Are we cut out to knowingly walk into something like that? I simply don't know. And just when I start to feel drawn that direction, I start a book that has hints of international adoption sprinkled throughout it. Maybe that's a sign... Maybe that's why we've landed in a faith community that is so culturally diverse... Seriously, when the time is right, God is just going to have to hit me over the head with how he wants to grow our family because y'all, I'm clueless!
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
Back to Business
After taking time away from the blog to buy a house, remodel it, move, get settled, and start a new part-time job, I am back. We are very excited about our new home which will allow us to continue to grow our family. With some of the chaos of the "house stuff" behind us, I find my mind once again back on adoption. In my heart I desperately want to adopt as soon as possible; however in my head I know that since we want to have another biological child it makes logical sense to do so while I am younger. Maybe God will have other plans for us. We'll just have to wait and see...
Sometimes I question whether I should have started this blog, knowing that we likely won't be adopting for quite some time, but then I think about how many doors have been opened due to the fact that more people know about our desire to adopt at some point. I have been introduced to a number of families who are in the process of adoption right now. One is doing an international adoption of two boys with varying levels of disabilities, one is trying to adopt through the foster care system, and one recently completed the private adoption of a newborn.
Also, I think it will be interesting one day to look back and read how time and experiences may change my views on certain aspects of adoption (it has already happened once). I'm an avid watcher of I'm Having Their Baby, a reality TV show I blogged about in the past. This show in and of itself has helped change me from being afraid of any kind of open adoption to not wanting to do anything other than at least a semi-open adoption (if we do an international adoption or adopt from foster care this is not always an option). Adoption is not a selfish decision, it's a selfless one, and this show has shown this to be the case. Having carried my own biological children for 39-40+ weeks, I know the bond that inevitably forms. The courage it takes to place that child with another (generally much more stable) family is the ultimate of sacrifices. I now understand that some level of openness, hands down, is best for the birth mom and the adopted child, and I don't want my fears or insecurities to prevent communication should that be what the birth mom wants or needs.
Sometimes I question whether I should have started this blog, knowing that we likely won't be adopting for quite some time, but then I think about how many doors have been opened due to the fact that more people know about our desire to adopt at some point. I have been introduced to a number of families who are in the process of adoption right now. One is doing an international adoption of two boys with varying levels of disabilities, one is trying to adopt through the foster care system, and one recently completed the private adoption of a newborn.
Also, I think it will be interesting one day to look back and read how time and experiences may change my views on certain aspects of adoption (it has already happened once). I'm an avid watcher of I'm Having Their Baby, a reality TV show I blogged about in the past. This show in and of itself has helped change me from being afraid of any kind of open adoption to not wanting to do anything other than at least a semi-open adoption (if we do an international adoption or adopt from foster care this is not always an option). Adoption is not a selfish decision, it's a selfless one, and this show has shown this to be the case. Having carried my own biological children for 39-40+ weeks, I know the bond that inevitably forms. The courage it takes to place that child with another (generally much more stable) family is the ultimate of sacrifices. I now understand that some level of openness, hands down, is best for the birth mom and the adopted child, and I don't want my fears or insecurities to prevent communication should that be what the birth mom wants or needs.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
A Chance In The World
If you're looking for a great read, check out "A Chance In The World: An Orphan Boy, a Mysterious Past, and How He Found a Place Called Home", an autobiography by Steve Pemberton. Pretty sure I read it in about 3 days (I have a problem where I stay up insanely late reading once I've started a new book). His website conveys the power of his life journey in much better words than I could ever hope to find:
"Home is the place where our life stories begin. It is where we are understood, embraced, and accepted. It is a sanctuary of safety and security, a place to which we can always return.
Down in the dank basement, amid my moldy, hoarded food and wormeaten books, I dreamed that my real home, the place where my story had begun, was out there somewhere, and one day I was going to find it.
Taken from his mother at age three, Steve Klakowicz lives a terrifying existence. Caught in the clutches of a cruel foster family and subjected to constant abuse, Steve finds his only refuge in a box of books given to him by a kind stranger. In these books, he discovers new worlds he can only imagine and begins to hope that one day he might have a different life—that one day he will find his true home.
A fair-complexioned boy with blue eyes, a curly Afro, and a Polish last name, he is determined to unravel the mystery of his origins and find his birth family. Armed with just a single clue, Steve embarks on an extraordinary quest for his identity, only to learn that nothing is as it appears.
A Chance in the World is the unbelievably true story of a wounded and broken boy destined to become a man of resilience, determination, and vision. Through it all, Steve’s story teaches us that no matter how broken our past, no matter how great our misfortunes, we have it in us to create a new beginning and to build a place where love awaits." -www.chanceintheworld.com
Though parts of his life journey are hard to read about and unimaginable to most of us, his rise from the ashes is beyond inspiring. He is now the Chief Diversity Officer and Divisional Vice-President for Walgreens--amazing!
"Home is the place where our life stories begin. It is where we are understood, embraced, and accepted. It is a sanctuary of safety and security, a place to which we can always return.
Down in the dank basement, amid my moldy, hoarded food and wormeaten books, I dreamed that my real home, the place where my story had begun, was out there somewhere, and one day I was going to find it.
Taken from his mother at age three, Steve Klakowicz lives a terrifying existence. Caught in the clutches of a cruel foster family and subjected to constant abuse, Steve finds his only refuge in a box of books given to him by a kind stranger. In these books, he discovers new worlds he can only imagine and begins to hope that one day he might have a different life—that one day he will find his true home.
A fair-complexioned boy with blue eyes, a curly Afro, and a Polish last name, he is determined to unravel the mystery of his origins and find his birth family. Armed with just a single clue, Steve embarks on an extraordinary quest for his identity, only to learn that nothing is as it appears.
A Chance in the World is the unbelievably true story of a wounded and broken boy destined to become a man of resilience, determination, and vision. Through it all, Steve’s story teaches us that no matter how broken our past, no matter how great our misfortunes, we have it in us to create a new beginning and to build a place where love awaits." -www.chanceintheworld.com
Though parts of his life journey are hard to read about and unimaginable to most of us, his rise from the ashes is beyond inspiring. He is now the Chief Diversity Officer and Divisional Vice-President for Walgreens--amazing!
Thursday, February 28, 2013
The Odd Life of Timothy Green
If you're looking for an entertaining yet heartwarming movie for this weekend, look no further than The Odd Life of Timothy Green. The movie follows a couple who learns that they are unable to conceive a child. While they grieve the biological child that would never be, a magical thunderstorm delivers to them a 10 year old boy, Timothy, who is the epitome of what they had hoped for. Timothy teaches the Greens and the rest of their small town many lessons during his short time in existence. Timothy not only helps the Greens through the grieving process, but he prepares their home and their hearts for the adopted child in their future.
While I have been fortunate to have been able to conceive, I can imagine how important in those circumstances it is to grieve the biological child that never was. A good friend of mine has two adopted sons, and she will be the first to tell you that her sons didn't replace or try to make up for the biological children she was not destined to have. She first grieved that loss, that inability, and then when her heart was whole again she and her husband welcomed their two amazing sons into their home. What an important movie to delve into this particular area of the adoption world.
While I have been fortunate to have been able to conceive, I can imagine how important in those circumstances it is to grieve the biological child that never was. A good friend of mine has two adopted sons, and she will be the first to tell you that her sons didn't replace or try to make up for the biological children she was not destined to have. She first grieved that loss, that inability, and then when her heart was whole again she and her husband welcomed their two amazing sons into their home. What an important movie to delve into this particular area of the adoption world.
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