Adoption is beautiful.  It’s poignant.  It’s rewarding.  And sometimes, it’s hard.  Sometimes, it’s a struggle.  Lisa Qualls–mom to eleven kids–writes beautifully about adoption.  It’s worth the time to read her article (find it here).  Be encouraged to continue in this sometimes difficult, but always wonderful labor.

Julie

 
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We will be having our annual
Family Picnic
on Saturday, August 14 at 5:00 pm
at Veteran’s Park in Orange City.
 

One of my favorite sessions at the Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit in Minneapolis was a rather impromptu lunch seminar on International & Domestic Adoption the U.S.  Three agency heads lead the discussion which wound up to be standing-room-only.  Tom DiFilipo from JCICS attended as well as Chuck Johnson of the National Council for Adoption [...]

 During our adoption process, I often prayed through scripture for attributes I needed to survive the wait. A few examples of this are:
 
-         a garment of praise (inspired by Isaiah 61:3)
-         wisdom & patience (inspired by Proverbs 19:11)
-         faithfulness to my Master (inspired by Genesis 24)
 
God was and is gracious enough to answer me in my [...]

 Like Julie, I am moved and saddened by the case of the adoptive mom sending her son back to his homeland because of attachment difficulties.  I have tried numerous times to be fair — to put myself in her shoes, to "try on" the emotions she may have encountered as she contemplated her next move(s). [...]

A quiet and discreet announcement arrived in my email Inbox about a month ago. A long-time friend shared that she and her husband were starting the Haitian adoption process. My friend is a veteran at international adoption; she knew the wait would be long and would require great endurance and unparalleled faith, but God’s call was evident… [...]

I was thrilled to read that THIS month’s Katelyn’s Fund support meeting is on lifebooks.  This is something I have dabbled with now since we brought our first daughter home almost 5 years ago now.  I have never made a "true" lifebook though, but still want to!  For Chloe I made two albums when we [...]

 Christmas is a wonderful holiday with reason to celebrate!  This holiday was my second Christmas an adoptive mom.  My learning curve is steep and I know I have much more to learn about celebrating sensitively.  A few things I’ve learned:
1)  "Our" culture is obsessed with "whiteness."  White Christmas lights; angels, dolls and princesses with white faces [...]