Blog

Today is Black Friday.  I confess that I bought nothing.  At least not yet.  I still have 2 hours and 21 minutes….just in case I find a good on-line deal or two.  Roger went for Christmas lights, I stayed home.   I intended to shop a bit but life took hold and it just never happened.  We went to chop down our Christmas tree today as we have for 18 years running.   → ...

Our seven year old, adopted at 11 months, is in the living room whooping it up as I am blogging. She has a trumpet, a drum, a friend, and her sister to help with her noise making. Needless to say, this house is not a haven of rest on this pre-holiday Saturday afternoon.   Our sweetie has sensory processing issues, like many children adopted from hard places. Strong sensory input can cause her to overload. When she was younger, she would often...

Life … a beautiful thing.  I again had the privilege of meeting new life that entered the world recently.  The sweet gal who chose adoption for her child walked through the doors of the journey of saying good-bye to her precious child.  She was confident and had no reservations in placing her child in the arms of the adoptive family, but oh, the pain that comes with that choice.  → ...

Many articles I read on the effects of trauma on the child’s brain leave me saying, “Oh, that makes sense.  No wonder my kid…”   This is one such article.  When children experience trauma it suppresses the function of the left side of their brain which is in charge of logic, sequence, and organization. This piece gives ideas to help in the repairing process.  http://tlcinstitute.wordpress.com/2013/06/17/get-up-off-the-chair-repairing-the-relationship-to-the-body/ ...

Our three-year old daughter was an instrument in the Lord’s hands this past week. We are currently waiting to bring home our twin boys from DR Congo and while we are intentional (at least aiming to be) in living each day fully as a family of four until the boys come home, the wait is hard. Each update we get, each new photo, is an enormous encouragement. → ...

My 8 year old has been regressing.  Downward spiraling.   Her therapist and I were trying to figure out what changed.  Why she went from being able to have adequate control over her emotions, to…well NOT.  We came up with changing bedrooms–even though it was time and she was excited.  Added to that she’s having a hard time “clicking” with her teacher, and for the first time ever, friend problems.   Sigh. → ...

     So often, I think about the former life of my two adopted children.  I think about God’s sovereign hand on them from the moment they were conceived– and even before.  I think about the many times God was faithful to them during the moments and years that they were not in my protection: the moments and situations that God directed when they were only in His protection.  How many miracles and saving wonders has he done in their...

I recently met with a family who has had their daughter home for two years now.  Things are going really well, she is working through healing and learning and growing through having a family to live in.  It hasn’t been easy, and she has had to work through a lot of control and stubbornness, but she is settling into allowing someone to care for her and her ability to give and receive care is exponentially greater than it was just...

We were sitting in a circle talking about the joys/struggles of adoption with 10 other adoptive parents from our church when I heard the scream.  All of our children were about 100 yards down the hall in another classroom being watched in the church nursery. It was not a “call 911” scream, but a scream that you know can only be soothed by the child’s parent, not a babysitter getting paid $10/hour.  If you are a parent, you know the...