These paragraphs really hit the nail on the head. From my own personal experience and talking with other adoptive families, I know the church can really make a difference the first few weeks home with a new child.
Exerpt from the book, Orphanology byTony Merida and Rick Morton, pg. 123:
Once a family brings a child home, the church has a whole host of opportunities for ministry. One great way that we the church can help is to step in and take the burden off the family members so that they can focus on bonding with their new addition(s)…bonding and attachment to parents are so crucial for healthy adjustment, growth, development, and even spiritual growth that the initial days of a child coming home need to be an intense time for parents to focus on the child, or children, and their needs.
The church can mobilize to feed, shop for, do laundry for, clean house for, and in general ease the daily pressure for an adoptive family. It is a huge help. We understand the need for this in the early days for birth families, but the need for new adoptive families may be even more crucial. In birth families, biology is on their side. Babies' brains are at a stage at which they are ready to bond. If the child being adopting is not an infant, the task is more difficult to do and the need to focus on bonding is more crucial. The church can make a huge difference in giving a family that opportunity.
