It was the third day in a row or maybe the fourth. I don
This Christmas: Why Christmas Stinks Sometimes
This Christmas: Joy in the Unknowns
My husband and I are so near the beginning of the adoption journey that we get a bit overwhelmed knowing so much is below the surface that we can
I Got You Babe!
Originally posted on her blog on September 7, 2010…
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I love days on which I am forced to reflect. Today is not a day I would typically think about anything other than the 15 piles of laundry this weekend
Colorblind? No thanks.
Is there one of those topics in your life, that if touched upon, causes such a hostile reaction within you that you almost instantly feel your blood pressure rising in the form of a red-hot wave working its way up your body? I must honestly answer here; yes, there is!
Anyone who knows me even a little is likely very aware that I deplore racism. Actually, there is nothing that I can readily come up with that would cause me to go
He Knows Who He Is
Some interactions with our kids are simply too priceless not to share. So it was with a recent conversation with one of my boys (whose permission I obtained to share this story with the understanding I would not identify him by name).
I walked into my bedroom, and one of my sons was lying on the bed finishing up a TV show just before bath time.
Letter to an Adoptee
I had the special privilege of working as an Adoption Social Worker for many years. I typically wrote a letter similar to this to each child after they went home with their adoptive parents. My purpose in doing so was two fold: (1) to share my experience of the time I spent with their birth parents and how they came to chose adoption and to let them know how much they were loved and (2) to share Jesus with them. I gave a copy to the adoptive parents to share one day in the future if they chose to, and I placed a copy in their adoptive file to be found should they ever seek information in the future.
The end of this letter is a little more personal because this is our own adoption story.
Dear Rya and Roman,
I knew your birth mom K for 5 years prior to your birth. She was a single mom raising a daughter and had previously placed another child for adoption. She was 24 years old with a high school GED and a job in a hospital cafeteria. She was 5’6 tall with long beautiful brown hair and brown eyes. You both have her cute nose! She was very pretty. Her personality was strong, determined, hard working, funny, and self-assured. I love her laugh! I know less about your birth father T, but you are both tall like him and Rya looks a lot like he does!
She had dreams of a husband still unfulfilled. She wanted what most women want, a good husband who could provide financially, a home and a family. When she was pregnant with the two of you, she really wanted to be able to parent you! The reality of raising 3 children alone hit her, and it broke her heart, but she decided that placing you for adoption would be the best gift she could give you. Because she had already gone through placing your older sister H, she was aware of just how hard it was going to be. There is a grief in placing a child for adoption that is like a death. It is always there and doesn’t go away. On top of that, society doesn’t help because they don’t always honor birth moms in the way that they should for making such a difficult and unselfish decision. I consider them heroes who will chose to carry the pain of loss for what they believe is the greater good. I’m not sure I have that quality. I am too selfish.
She loved you so much! Let me try to explain what that kind of love looks like. She loved you so deeply that she was able to look beyond herself and think about what would be the best for you in your life. All the while she could feel you moving inside of her and she was beginning to know each of you. She could tell which one of you were moving and who was in what position. She used to tell me all the time that “the little girl is going to be the strong one.” It turns out she was right! She also allowed me to be a big part of her pregnancy, because she wanted you both to recognize my voice when you were born. She wanted you to be raised in a Christian, 2-parent home with siblings and lots of love.
She chose an open adoption so that she would be able to know you and you her. You have 3 siblings whom you get to stay in contact with because of our open adoption. We chose open adoption as a family because, as Christians, we felt the gift she was giving us was amazing but realized that we have a lifetime of gifts to give to her in return. Your dad called it a ministry opportunity. We can be Jesus to her. We can be a witness through how we raise you, how we treat her and honor her as your birth mom. We believe that the example of our Christian marriage can be a witness to her. We can help lessen her grief by allowing her to share in your life. She and your birth father T are a part of our lives now forever because they are a part of you and we celebrate that!
It’s neat to know them because sometimes I will call you by one of their names when you make a facial expression like them or you act like one of them. It’s what can sometimes be missing for an adoptive child, the connection of knowing whom you look like and where you came from. You can act like K and often look like her but I see a lot of H in you as well. Roman looks a lot like H!
I want to share with you some of what the Bible says.
Isaiah 44:2 says: “I am your Creator, you were in my care even before you were born.” God made you, you are not an accident.
Psalm 139:13-16 says:
Who’s the Protector?
When I was 21 years old, I called my mom and dad from college with some reservation, nervousness, and hesitation. Finally, I announced I would be searching for my birthmother.