Mar 30, 2021 | Children's Adaptation, Parenting
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...
Feb 27, 2021 | Challenges In Adoption, Parenting
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...
Jan 29, 2021 | Challenges In Adoption, Parenting
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,...
Dec 30, 2020 | Challenges In Adoption, Children's Adaptation, Parenting
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,...
Nov 30, 2020 | Challenges In Adoption, Parenting
This time of year, leaves flutter everywhere. You rake and rake and rake. It is hard to believe that it wasn’t that long ago that you rejoiced to see the new growth on the trees ushering in spring. Now, sadly, the leaves have fallen. These leaves represent, in so many...
Sep 30, 2020 | Challenges In Adoption
It was the perfect weekend. Like the calm on a lake on a summer day, we had experienced renewed energy from our fun time together. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a storm brewed where our adopted children decided to defy us. We felt the frustration from having had our...
Jul 30, 2020 | Challenges In Adoption
“Pray for [our adopted daughter]. She and I have had some difficult conversations lately that were very disheartening. … So far away spiritually.” So read a text from one of our friends recently. The disconnect between the bond of adoption and the adopted adult’s...
Jun 29, 2020 | Children's Adaptation
Of the many games we played with our sons after they were adopted, their favorite was “hide and seek.” They had their preferred places in hide inside our house, including in the bathtub (behind the shower curtain) and in an empty box in our spare bedroom. When we...