Tuesday Word Play Survey: Adoption

Recently we asked our families what word best described Adoption to them. Some couldn't say just one word, it's okay though, we totally understand.

Here are the amazing responses that we got.

Complete

Miracle

Beautiful

Blessed

Love

Life-Changing

Family

Amazing

FOREVER

Cherish

Heart

Joy

Incredible

Journey

Extrordinary

Blessing

Completeness

Faith

Redemption

 ME!

(This commenter had been adopted 25 years ago...what a great testimony that is!)

 

 

 

We posted them on our playroom door so that we are reminded everyday that what we do is life-changing, is a blessing to others, completes families and brings joy to soooo many hearts! Not to mention that we are blessed to walk this journey with you! :)

 



What word best desribes adoption to you?

 



My Story Monday: The Reilly Family

Nearly two years ago, we began the journey to our daughter, Avelyn Grace. Adoption was something we had talked about  many times in our married life. We'd seen the miracle of adoption in our own family and the lives of our friends. As is the case so many times in life though, it's the greatest of tragedies that can inspire us, help us sharpen our focus on what's truly important. In 2009, our seven year old son passed away from cancer. A devastating loss, one we will live with for the rest of our lives. Our son lived with such courage and grace. Always giving love, always laughing despite his incredible struggle. Always choosing hope. It was his and our other children's courage during and after that time that really inspired us to listen to the path and plan that we believe was placed in our hearts by God; to have courage ourselves. So in 2011, what was once wistful thoughts about adoption shared between us, grew.  A seed, a dream, a prayer took root.

Our journey through adoption was not easy. We faced many of the typical and not so typical bumps in the road. Our first glimpse of our daughter came via Rainbow Kids. Pursuing her adoption meant switching agencies, meant taking very little time to review her file before Avelyn's scheduled return to the shared list just days later. But remarkably, even before we were fully able to view her file, we just knew. This was our girl! The one we had read books and blogs for, completed endless paperwork for. But more than any of that, she was the one we had been praying for. Now a beautiful and perfect face to put to the love we already had in our hearts. A little person all her own whose place was already so firmly a part of our family.

 

Many believe that when a family adopts they have somehow done this noble thing. But ask anyone who has adopted and they will tell you it's their child who has brought so much to them. Brought their own gifts, their own story. Brought lessons and blessing in every challenge and triumph, unique to adoption or not. Their child's story is oftentimes, in part, one of loss and grief but it's also one of remarkable perseverance, filled with love, courage and  hope. It's a story that our daughter will tell and define for herself one day far more eloquently and filled with her own truth than I ever could.

 

Now after the many long months of waiting are over, a month after our first meeting in a hotel lobby in China, our precious Avelyn sits playing contentedly with her toys while her Mama writes these words.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet natured, quick with smiles, hugs and love, she has filled up our house with her little light. We are so grateful for her. To call her granddaughter, niece,sister, daughter..forever family. She is truly a little but very BIG dream come true~

 

 

For read more about the Reilly family's journey through adoption visit: http://thelifeofreillys.wordpress.com/

Friday DOUBLE Feature: Parker and Asian New Year

Parker
DOB: April 2012

He is described as "cute and lovely". He loves to play, babble and squeal when he is excited. He likes picture books. He is shy around strangers. He is developmentally on target.

When he was a couple months old he had surgery to correct Malrotation of Colon. He healed very well. He does have ASD, reduced mild, and Cardiomegaly, an enlarged heart.

 
Parker's birth mother would like to stay in contact after the adoption through photos and letters.
He is available for adoption in the following states only: Colorado, Wyoming, California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Washington.

A $3,000 grant is available for this child's adoption.
If you would like to review this little sweetheart's file, please submit a pre-application online and be sure to mention Parker's name in the comments section.

Thursday Thoughts: Erin's Blog

Thursday thoughts is brought to you today by the letter E... as in our very own China Program Coordinator, Erin. :)

She has a personal blog that she has been writing that voices her thoughts and feelings about life in general. We really loved what she had to say about Adoption and we wanted to share it with you.

Here is a little excerpt...


Working for an adoption agency has taught me a few things.

• There are soooooo many children looking for families.
• There are soooooo many great families looking for children
• I wish I could help every single one of these children find forever families.

Remember that old song you used to sing growing up in church?
"Jesus loves the little children...ALL the little children of the world...Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight...Jesus loves the little children of the world!"

How hard is that for some people to remember... Jesus loves all the children!! It doesn't matter if they were born into poverty, born with a missing limb, born with a brain defect, born into a richman's house. Jesus loves them!!

Matthew 19:14 says "Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

We are told throughout the Bible that we are meant to have children. "Fill your quiver with them"; "Children are a heritage from the Lord"; "Train up a child in the way he should go".

"When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world." John 16:21

"Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven". Matthew 18:3

"See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven." Matthew 18:10

"Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers." Proverbs 17:6

And I believe that this scripture talks about adoption.
"He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord!" Psalms 113:9

There are also instances of adoption through out the whole Bible.

Did you know that Mordecai adopted Esther after her parents died? It says in Esther 2:7b that "Mordecai took her as his own daughter". Esther went on to be Queen and save her people from destruction.

Moses was adopted by the Pharaoh's daughter according to Exodus 2:10. "When the child grew older, she [Moses' birthmother] took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses,saying, “I drew him out of the water.” Moses grew up to be a great leader and save his people from slavery and take them on the path to the promise land.

Do you have it in your heart, like Mordecai and the Pharaoh's daughter, to raise up another world changer? One that may not have been born of your flesh but born of your heart?
Do you have enough love for just one more child? Maybe one that has never known the love of a parent?

Adoption may just be for you.

Just remember: EVERY GOOD AND EVERY PERFECT GIFT IS FROM ABOVE, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17
For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. 1 Samuel 1:27

To read more blogs by Erin visit:
http://mzerindiane.blogspot.com/

Wednesday Wisdom: Resources

I know that EVERYONE has time to read.

Ha. Just kidding.

For you new parents out there, who are just struggling to stay awake, take time to shower, or even remember to eat, this is for you.

For you experienced parents, who have wrangled in a throng of children, this is for you.

Today we are just going to give you some resources (articles, books, dvd's) that might help in your transition or just a little bit of entertainment, whatever it might be.

Articles:

Talk about Adoption with your 6 to 8 year old available from AdoptiveFamilies.com
Why didn't they keep me? By Carrie Krueger available from AdoptiveFamilies.com


Books for Parents:

Parenting Your Internationally Adopted Child: From Your First Hours Together Through the Teen Years by Patty Cogen

 

30 adoptive Portraits in 30 days - 2012
For the second straight year, in honor of November being National Adoption Month, Portrait of an Adoption is running a special series called 30 Adoption Portraits in 30 Days. Designed to give a voice to the many different perspectives of adoption, this series will feature guest posts by adoptees, birth parents, adoptive parents, waiting adoptive parents, and foster parents-turned-adoptive parents. Painful and beautiful, these stories will bring you a deeper understanding of what adoption looks like, allowing you to appreciate the many brushstrokes that comprise a family portrait


Books for Children:




 Goyangi Means Cat by Christine McDonnell
Newly arrived children will take comfort in this soothing story about easing into a home where nothing is familiar - not the language or the surroundings, not to mention your new family.

Searching for...the you we adore by Valerie Westfall

In this charming picture book, two parents relate how their love traveled around the globe to search for the child of their hearts. The story focuses on the unconditional love they felt, not on the adoption process, so it may be read by families formed through domestic or international adoption.

Wherever you are: My love will find you by Nancy Tillman

Show more

Show less

"...I wanted you more than you'll ever know,

...so I sent love to follow you wherever you go..."

Love is the greatest gift we have to give our children. It's the one thing they can carry with them each and every day. If love could take shape it might look something like these heartfelt words and images from the inimitable Nancy Tillman. Here is a book to share with your loved ones, no matter how near or far, young or old, they are.

Videos:

Juleanne Ainsworth suggests: Cinderella Moon
" My girls love the DVD Cinderella Moon the ancient story about a Chinese Cinderella."

She also suggest: Somewhere Between

"This is a movie more for parents or older adoptive children. It is about adopted Chinese girls now in their teens it gives a great perspective their views on adoption later on."

 

 

 

 

 

October Baby

This movie is more for the older adoptive children or for parents. It is about a older teen girl who finds out that she is adopted. It is a movie about love, forgiveness, healing and acceptance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now we know that there are so many more resources out there about adoption and the bonding of the new child.  Please share your thoughts and resources with us so that we can pass on this much needed information!

 

 

 

My Story Monday: The Chapman Family

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret, it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

My mind and my body were too exhausted and my heart was too full.

It’s always been my plight when writing about my children – our family – how do I put into words the depth and the magnitude of my feelings? My hesitation is not in sharing our experience, but in being able to share the moments as they were felt. As they were lived.

Adoption.

Ruby’s. Georgia’s. Mine.

Which came first?

With Ruby, I shared out of Joy and Wonder.

Our journey to her began as a long-standing desire of the heart. While I acknowledged the seeds of that desire were likely planted by God, I had no idea how my faith would be grown, tested and, ultimately, sealed before her face was ever revealed to us. It was during the course of our journey to Ruby that my relationship with God became personal. He became ever-present…as real, as immediate, as loving and as demanding as Chris and the kids were. And He became more.

After a particularly heart-wrenching series of events in the autumn of 2009, I gave up the fight. I wrote at the time that at the depth of my despair it dawned on me that God was working out my “trust muscle.” Though it hadn’t always felt that way, I realized that never once had I ever walked alone. Every hurt in my lifetime, each loss, He had redeemed. It wasn’t luck. It wasn’t survival skills. It was God. He didn’t “become more” over the years 2007-2009. He had always been. My eyes hadn’t yet seen. My heart hadn’t yet fully acknowledged Him. And though I had relied on Him when times were bad, I hadn’t praised Him when times got better. Not consciously. Not actively. Certainly, never out loud.

Not long after this surrender, we received Ruby’s referral. I will never get over the enormity of it. Others may claim coincidence, good fortune, kismet, the luck of the draw as the way their children came to them. I can only speak for myself. A 3-year-old little bit of a black haired, brown-eyed girl from the other side of the world entered our lives through Love alone. His love. Only God.

And in the instant that Tai Ya Lan was handed to me on that rainy Monday morning of June 28, 2010, I finally understood…the incredible longing, the overwhelming desire I had felt for this child of mine to come home to me, was but a fraction of what God feels for each one of us. She was mine… Always… Forever… No matter what… Just as I was His.

Her adoption. Mine. Which came first?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .  


Sweet Georgia.

“Pray also for me that whenever I speak, words may be given me that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly as I should.”
~Ephesians 6:19-20

With Georgia, I share out of Joy and Wonder and Mystery I must acknowledge.

This gift. This 20 month old firecracker with the smile that melts our hearts and a giggle that grows into a belly laugh, with kisses wetter than any fish’s, who wiggles to music and, like her sister, sings at the top of her lungs, who squeals when she sees her siblings and who calls us “Mommy” and “Daddy,” who beams and claps and says, “Home!” when we pull into the drive, who falls asleep on me each night, gently patting my back as I pat hers then snuggles head to head with Daddy…There are no words to adequately convey the love we have for her or the gratitude we have toward Him.

She is the sweet completion of her family. Our family. It was not our doing, but His.

Please keep Georgia in your prayers. She has several medical procedures and surgery coming up over the next weeks.

To read more about the Chapman family adoption Journey you can check out their blog: http://www.myadoptionwebsite.com/ourpeach/index.html

Friday Feature: Jonathan

JONATHAN

DOB: July 2011

He likes swaying to music and playing with toys that glitter or make sounds. He walks a few steps while holding onto foster mom's hands. His gross motor skills are within normal range; however, his fine motor skills, cognition, speech, social response and independence show developmental delays of 5 to 6 months. He has cryptorchism and micropenis that has not shown any changes from treatment with hormone injections.

 

 

A $3,000 grant is available for this child's adoption. If you would like to review this little sweetheart's file, please submit a pre-application online at www.aacadoption.com and be sure to mention Jonathan's name in the comments section.