Adoption Poem...

LEGACY OF AN ADOPTED CHILD

Once there were two women who never knew each other
One you do not remember, the other you call Mother

Two different lives shaped to make you one
One became your guiding star, the other became your sun

The first one gave you life, and the second taught you to live it
The first gave you a need for love, the second was there to give it

One gave you a nationality, the other gave you a name
One gave you a talent, the other gave you aim

One gave you emotions, the other calmed your fears
One saw your first sweet smile, the other dried you tears

One made an adoption plan, that was all that she could do
The other prayed for a child, and God led her straight to you.

Now, which of these two women, Are you the product of?
Both, my darling, Both, Just two different types of love.
---- Unknown

Welcome to Holland...

by Emily Perl Kingsley Print Version I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this... When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting. After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome To Holland". "Holland?!?" you say, "What do you mean "Holland"??? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy" But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place. So you must go and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around…and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills...Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy...and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned". And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away...because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss. But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things...about Holland.

Welcome Baby Elle!!

Another sweet family has a precious new addition! Elle Elizabeth was born on July 19th at 7:50 pm. She was 7 lbs 1 oz and 19 inches long. She is absolutely beautiful! Here are a couple of pics of Miss Elle!

Despicable Me...Is it Despicable?

Okay, so Emory and I were planning on taking the kids tubing this afternoon, until a scattered t-storm totally ruined our plans! Bummer!! SO, our back-up plan was to go and see a movie. Not much was playing that we hadn't already seen, so our only option was "Despicable Me". After mentioning to my mom that we were headed that direction, she mentioned to me that I may want to read the reviews, because the story was all about orphans and adoption. She informed me, that from the reviews she had read that this movie depicts adoption in a very negative light.

So, needless to say, I heeded her advice and we went to an inflatables place instead! When we arrived back home, I did some research of my own, and found very mixed reviews. So, I thought I would ask you guys: Has anyone seen the movie? What are your thoughts? I would love some feedback. The following are some of the reviews I read about the way the movie depicted adoption:

This adoptive mother liked the movie, but would not want her adopted daughter to see it:

Warning: Because the plot deals with orphans and adoption, sometimes in an irresponsible manner, I didn't take Rosie. I think she is too young to understand that it was done with a sense of humor and true adoption is nothing like it is portrayed in the movie. If your children have any issues about adoption, make sure you talk about it before you go see the movie.

Another adoptive mom states:

The story line includes a single man adopting three orphaned girls so he can use them to fulfill his evil plans. The orphanage caretaker is a surly, demanding woman that punishes the children by putting them in "the shame box" During the climatic point of the movie, the evil character-turned good guy sends the girls back to the orphanage (against his wishes, but it's still a disruption). The orphanage caretaker makes the girls sit in the shame box because they're returned! The end is happy and endearing, heart warming, tear jerking, etc. Really, despite the premise, it's super cute. However, it could definitely be a trigger for traumatized children so be careful! I would NOT recommend it for families that have newly adopted children, have severe attachment issues or that have little girls that were abused by a male figure.

So, as you can see, there seem to be some questionable scenes, so definitely do your research before you take your adopted children, or foster children to see this movie. We have decided, based on the reviews, the dynamic of our family and the age of our children that we are going to pass on this summer blockbuster! I would still love to hear your opinions though, especially if you are an adoptive parent and have seen the movie.

Flipsyde - Happy Birthday

This is a great video depicting the regret that often comes with the decision to abort a child. Make sure you turn off the music at the bottom of our blog, you won't want to miss the words. It's a powerful video about the permanent choice to abort a child.

It's been awhile...

I cannot believe that it has been so long since my last post! I apologize! However, with summer everything gets crazy!! We have had so many of our sweet clients match with different agencies over the past few months! It is so exciting to see pictures of these new families and their precious new additions! I realized today, that it has been forever since I have posted pictures of our clients new additions, so if you don't mind, I will use the rest of this post to show off some of these precious babies!!

Here are a few of 2010's little ones:

As I receive permission from other adoptive families, I will continue to post pics of their little ones, or even a few family pics! Which are my favorite!

Also, please pray for our clients that are already matched with agencies that are just waiting on their babies to be born, pray that their BM's are steadfast in their adoption plans, pray that the Lord would protect each of our families financially and emotionally!

Pray for our clients that are waiting to be matched! Pray that the Lord would present opportunities with agencies and attorneys that match their criteria, their budget, their medical/social preferences, etc. Adoption can be such a long, emotionally trying journey, please pray that each of our adoptive families would be strong as they wait on their precious new additions!!

Thanks for keeping up with us, despite my blogging inactivity! I promise I will be back on the ball!! Thanks for your prayers as well, each of our families appreciates your prayers so much!