December 30, 2009
December 30, 2009
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An Adoption Story: When Reunification Works

Today I was deeply moved by Amanda’s story over at Mrs. R’s House.   When she was talking with her dad (an adoption attourney) about finding her birthmother, he recommended that she wait until after she was married, rather than proceeding immediately upon turning 18.  According to her dad, many adoptions that take place in that critical year end badly because of what is going on in the birthparents lives at that time. (This won’t be true for all, of course, but because of his background he had more than anecdotal information to draw from.) The state in Amanda was raised (I believe Utah) provides […]
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December 9, 2009
December 9, 2009
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Another Country Heard From: China Adoption

This morning I noticed a link to my blog at “China Adoption,” and stopped by to check out the blog. Sadly, this is not the first time I’ve been attacked by a mandatory open records advocate, and I suspect it won’t be the last. However, I’m not alone in advocating for a standard of mutual consent with regard to birth records. The situation is simply not as cut-and-dried as the open records advocates suggest. And frankly, parents who adopt internationally come from a very different place than those of us who foster-adopt or who adopt domestically. Because of this it’s very easy — but also very unfair […]
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November 15, 2009
November 15, 2009
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Miracle Monday: Letter from a Birth Mom

Today at The R House I came across this letter from a birthmother to her child, explaining the way she came to decide on adoption. Mrs.R’s post “Another Reason I Love Open Adoption” is a compelling one. And I wanted to pass it along in case you’re interested in reading about open adoption. (I believe Mrs. R is a foster-adoptive mother.) Bottom line: The birth mom in this letter had a loving, supportive friend made it possible for her to weigh her options — all her options — completely and without judgment.  You can read the story here. Like many young moms, she started out vascillating between […]
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November 2, 2009
November 2, 2009
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November is National Adoption Month!

I have a dear friend who has hosted an exchange student each year for the past five years or so. She and her husband are energetic, generous people — we truly could not have done as good a job with our kids had they not been so supportive. This year the exchange program has not gone as well as in years past. They had to have a student moved to another home. When this happened, something prompted me to ask … “Have you ever considered taking a teenager from the foster care system? You know, one that wouldn’t go back at the end of the school […]
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November 1, 2009
November 1, 2009
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Miracle Monday: Irena Sendler – In Memoriam

As Father Chas reminded us today, All Saints Day (November 1) is to remember not just the “famous” saints — our brothers and sisters in faith whose life stories and writings are found in hundreds of books, whom the Church has officially declared to be in heaven — but the “little saints” remembered only by a handful of people … and some, not at all. Today my mother-in-law passed the name of one such person on to me. Her name was Irena Sendler, and she worked as a plumber/specialist in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II.  Here is what we know about Irena, who recently […]
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October 25, 2009
October 25, 2009
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Waiting for the Light

This week I’ve been thinking about blissful ignorance — the kind of willful blindness we sometimes embrace in our humanness because seeing the truth is just too painful, or unexpected, or unsettling, or, well, icky. Among believers, it can become a kind of spiritual schitzophrenia. The kind that sees with blazing clarity the splinter in the eye of those outside our immediate spiritual circle, but cannot bear to acknowledge our own shortcomings. Scriptures twisted and pulled like so much salt water taffy, or isolated into submission like a single stubborn branch on a topiary. There comes a time, however, when we have to ask ourselves: What […]
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October 22, 2009
October 22, 2009
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Bright Spot of the Day: Extraordinary Maaaaah-m!

My sister Chris sent me this YouTube spot today about a woman who adopted an abandoned horse, and was delivered from a life of isolation and alcoholism through the experience. It is eight minutes long . . . but I smiled through the whole thing. I hope you do, too. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMj2K2-K8wo&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]
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October 16, 2009
October 16, 2009
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Beatitudes for Special-Needs Families: “Mommy Life”

Today I came across this wonderful post from Barbara at “Mommy Life,” which reads in part . . . Blessed are you when you assure us, That the one thing that makes us individuals Is not in our peculiar muscles, Nor in our wounded nervous systems, Nor in our difficulties in learning, Nor any exterior difference. But is in our inner, personal, individual self Which no infirmity can diminish or erase. Head on over and read the whole thing — you’ll be glad you did!  Picture Credit: Barbara’s son Jesse. Thanks, Barbara, for sharing your world with us!
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