Most things are slightly more complicated. Some things are significantly more. Frankly, life would be so much easier if we just didn’t do hard things. But, here we are. Going to the grocery store, choosing the restaurant we’ll eat at, where we will vacation, getting dressed for school or deciding what to eat for an afternoon snack - mundane tasks that require a deep amount of respect for the power they hold over us - to either go well or to leave you wishing things could just be easier. A simple outing you hoped would be quick and painless results in an episode of trauma that derails the entire day and leaves you feeling emotionally spent and utterly exhausted…
There’s no “just” or “only” in what you are doing. You haven’t “just” fostered a few or “only” adopted one. Rather, you have significantly altered the trajectory of a life forever. Generations to come will never be the same - not just in the life of the child you are loving but in your life as well, your kids', their kids' and their kids', and even in the lives of those at your church or in the grocery store…
We settled into our seats in the food court at the mall when out of the corner of my eye I noticed it happening again. Her eyes bounced back and forth from my 2 year old daughter to me then back to my daughter then back to me, each time causing her brow to wrinkle in greater curiosity and her mind to visibly race with more questions. I'd seen it happen a hundred times and knew exactly what was thinking - Is that her dad? Is she his daughter? He's white. She's, well, not really. He's very bald. Her afro is cute and crazy out of control.
Adoption is less about getting a child for your family and more about giving your family for a child. Caring for children without families does not begin with what they have to offer us but with what we must be willing to offer them, no matter what, at all costs.
Several months ago a newborn baby girl entered our lives and changed us forever. She was born the victim of heinous abuse, the defenseless recipient of an agregious crime. On what would have normally been just another Wednesday night, we now sat at the kitchen table signing papers with child protective services...
