I will post photos and share about our 1st Family Day. However, it has been one of those weeks. INTENSE, not even an adequate word to describe what living this week has been. I'm not here to provide those details, I'm here to challenge ways of thinking.
How many ways are YOU in a family?
What defines a family in your mind? Biological or Adoption? Community or place of worship? Friends when blood is far far away, place of
work? Is the ideal family blood and “the
other kinds” alternatives?
Families are made up of many components. Placing identification on the “types” can segregate
people, it may suggest that there is a right/wrong, better or different, it
does not include them.
Children (people) enter families through adoption, through support
of friends, connection to a faith community, from a woman’s womb. ALL people enter the world the SAME way. All exit a womb. What knits a child or person into any kind of
family is NOT the method of delivery but LOVE!
LOVE is a CHOICE.
Natural Child: Any child who is not artificial.
Real Parent: Any parent who is not imaginary.
Your Own Child: Any child who is not someone else's child.
Adopted Child: A natural child, with a real parent, who is all my
own.
Rita Laws, PhD
Most of the time I equate statements and questions to a lack of
understanding and use it as an opportunity to inform (educate) about what
adoption is, Other times I think not so much, this requires more... “do
you know what you just said?” Today is one of those times.
We have been through the:
"Don’t you want your own?” You mean biological. Love is a
CHOICE and it is born in your heart. We intentionally CHOSE adoption. They are
very much our own.
“BUT, don’t you want a baby?” Please think about what is prompting
your question, is this about your desire for a baby or mine? Like I said, we
CHOSE adoption. We chose Waiting Angels, older sibling group. I appreciate that
you may want or have wanted a baby.
Here is a tip about asking a question.
What do you really want to know?
Are you wanting to start a conversation or know how someone feels
about their new country?
Would you ask a child in a family that came from the womb of the
woman who happens to be the mother? If
the answer is NO, well then, don’t ask.
Do you want to know about adoption? Ask, use the word. It’s not a dirty or shameful word.
Stuck on what to ask? Ask
the parent. I will talk all day about
adoption. What it is like, what it means to follow God’s calling, I will tell
you things that will ROCK your WORLD!
WHY? Because it is what BREAKS
God’s heart and it SHOULD break your heart too!
I will talk honestly, unashamedly!
In fact the first thing people who chose adoption agree to is to strip
naked and uncover all your secrets, hurts, difficult circumstances, and promise
to remain naked once your child/ren is home so that more reports can be written
about how you parent.
I HAVE NOTHING to HIDE! In
fact there is something freeing about having nothing to hide. It takes away pride, keeps you humble and
dependent on God for strength for today.
I will come to your place of work, your community, your place of
worship, your neighborhood, your home, your favorite hangout and answer any
questions you have about adoption.
Adoption is based on loss, so knowing and feeling confident about
interacting with people who are adopted is necessary.
Who is up for the challenge to consider your points of views? How you were/have been informed? Where your ideas came from? And how your comfortable ways of thinking and behaving may have devastating results on others.
Up for the challenge? I am here to encourage you, support you, educate you, and ROCKYOURWORLD!
