Posts tagged adoption
Wait and Hope... Like a Nesting Mother

God promised Abraham and Sarah a child of their own. But Sarah was barren, unable to make her body deliver the promise. Years passed while Abraham and Sarah waited for a miracle. Suddenly, Sarah’s wait changed. No longer did she have to deal with doubts and worries. She went from, “One day, I hope to have a child,” to the response of every nesting mom, “I’ve got to get ready, now! I’m about to have a baby!”

Many a mother can relate to Sarah. Whether it’s infertility, secondary infertility, or the complex wait of adoption, countless women have gone through Sarah’s transformation from Waiting Mother to Expectant Mother. Just like Sarah, an unexpected message at an unexpected time changed my laughter from laughter of despair to laughter of joy.

God doesn’t owe us the details of his timing when he is about to fulfill a promise. But sometimes, by grace, we receive those details anyway. Laughing with joy is an appropriate response.

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The Hug That Took Eight Years {+ Adoption GIVEAWAY}

Our son did not attached to us easily. Every tiny bit of attachment we have developed has been hard won. Little victories that we can’t even take credit for because half the time we were stumbling over our own emotional hurdles, not just his.

When we decided to adopt, we understood we would be bringing home children who had experienced some trauma. Call it naivety or ignorance or maybe even overconfidence: We thought our love and stability would be enough to heal our children’s broken hearts. If only that’s all there was to heal.

Nope. Instead, we discovered the depth of injury that was done to their brains from the trauma of starving and losing the security of their first family. Healing Complex Developmental Trauma takes more than love and stability. It requires a team of experts and devoted, humbled parents. And I do mean humbled.

Adoption made us completely, unarguably aware of our need for help beyond ourselves.

Thankfully, our God is a Rescuer and Redeemer. He delights in bringing beauty from ashes and life from death.

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Book Review: The Connected Parent & Hands Full

The Connected Parent provides real-life applications for concepts taught in The Connect Child. If you read The Connected Child or attended an Empower to Connect Conference to learn Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) like we did, you already know the tools Dr. Purivs taught are powerful. But, if you are like us, you may have struggled to apply them in your home, with your unique child(ren). Enter, The Connect Parent and Lisa Qualls.

This was a quick read for me, being a refresher on some points and quickly applicable on other points. What I loved most about this book is the hope that is found between the pages. These are tools that work! The wins that Lisa shared (and some losses) encouraged me to keep going, to not give up on these tools, and to keep hope alive.

if you have…

  • a troop of children and drive the big van

  • a colicky baby

  • a teething two year old

  • a teenager with fifteen extra-curricular activities that force you to affix the “mom-taxi” bumper sticker to your minivan…

…keep reading!

No matter what your hands are full with, Momma, you need encouragement. Encouragement is exactly what my friend Brooke Frick provides in this book, Hands Full: Thirty Days of Encouragement for Busy Moms.

If you think you don’t have time for self-care, or you haven’t read a book in a year, this is the book for you. If you only have time to read three pages before you fall asleep, choose this book for those three pages. You are not alone in your full life, friend. Be encouraged because God is the one who filled your hands and he will enable you to carry all that you must in your motherhood journey.

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Carrying Each Other: How Chronic Illness Affects Caregivers

Caregivers are so much more than visitors!

Caregivers have their own unique stories. They have emotions that are unique and fears that are unique and needs that are unique. Let’s not forget the Caregivers when we talk about living with chronic illness. They are quite literally the hands and feet of Jesus and we cannot make it through crisis without them.

Today, I have for you TWO video interviews for Caregivers. If you have a loved one living with chronic illness or a friend in crisis, we love you, and these interviews are for you.

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What if We Viewed Refugees as "Guests?" {Guest Post}

Part of my day job is assisting our Mission Pastor with local outreach events. The next outreach on the calendar is Thanksgiving Dinner with our partners at the Arab-American Church in Sacramento. My family participated in that meal a few years ago and I wrote a story about it. Today, Leslie Verner published my story as part of her series on refugees. Leslie recently wrote a book on hospitality: Invited: The Power of Hospitality in an Age of Loneliness. As someone who lived overseas for years, Leslie’s perspective on welcoming the stranger is unique and valuable. I’m honored she published me story today.

My first experience with refugees was when I was very young, although I didn’t learn the word, “refugee,” until many years later. I was taught to call them, “Guests.” 

 My second experience with refugees came three decades later.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

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Hope From an Old Note

Last week, I came across an old note in the margin of my Bible. I was reading Psalm 9 and tucked next to verse 18 in my messy scrawl was this note: 7/5/12 - one week post referral

It was a reminder from 2012 me to future me. I love writing notes in my Bible because, as time passes, they become a written testimony of what God has done in my life. The day I wrote that note, God was speaking to my heart that He had not forgotten our children. Today, I needed that reminder again.

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