We were in awe when we first set our eyes on our new grandson. He was perfect in every way. I paused to think about how our parents may have reacted when they first met our adopted sons. Unlike us, God has no grandchildren. For those of us who were reared in Christian...
Adoption as a Volcano
Pictures came across my computer screen of an Icelandic volcano erupting with streams of lava. Similar photographs were seen during an eruption of a volcano on Hawaii. These videos give a sense of both raw power and fear at the same time, with fire, molten rock, and...
The Bird Bath
There it sits, outside my front window. On summer days, our bird bath refreshes a squirrel, butterflies, and up to fourteen sparrows at a time. An occasional robin tries to crowd out the other birds who want to drink or splash around. Watching the birds interact...
The Adoption Marathon
We breathed a sigh of relief when the adoption court proceeding was over. We were finally adoptive parents! We had the impression that once our sons were part of our family, the hard part was over. Actually, we discovered that this was only the beginning. It was to be...
Nowhere to Go
It was something we heard frequently from our adopted sons during the first year of their adoption. Whenever we corrected or disciplined them, they would respond to us with a sense of autonomy, “Well, we will just go back to the orphanage!” Never mind that the...
He Knows Our Pain
There was fear in my wife’s voice as I talked with her on the phone. “Our son just fell on the ice in the pond, and it looks as though he has broken his arm!” she exclaimed. The neighborhood boys had a...
Losses in Adoption
I recently stayed with a lovely family who had lost a young child. She had died as a result of burns to her body from yanking a pot of boiling water off the stove, splashing it onto herself. The family was rightfully grieving her death and wondering what, if anything,...
Snow on the Ground
I look outside and I see snow covering everything. It covers the yard, the sidewalks, the driveway, and the street. It is our reminder that winter has come. Snow had been described as both pure and beautiful, but I sometimes wish there wasn’t so much of it. Thing is,...