Adoption

I remember working with an 8-year-old boy named Brandon in counseling. Brandon had spent about two years in foster care before he was adopted by his foster family. For his adoptive parents, the adoption was a joyous occasion. They loved Brandon dearly and were so excited to have him join their family permanently. They posted …

When we think of a precious child, we should first start with a definition of the word. Precious translates from a Hebrew word that can mean dear, expensive, costly, heavy, or grievous. We were all created in the image of God, which on its own makes us precious. The reality is that sometimes children with …

When I think of how to support adoptive and foster kids, I remember working with a 9-year-old boy named Nathan in counseling. Nathan was in foster care. He had bounced around a few different foster care homes over the years but had been in a mostly stable and supportive situation for the past year. His …

Adoption is often misunderstood thus there are myths surrounding it. While these myths can be understandable, they are, in fact, untrue.

I am a firm believer that one of the most challenging things in life is to feel alone in your pain. This has certainly been true in my own life. There were times I desperately wanted to hear someone say, “Same here.” I needed that level of emotional support. About 15 years ago, I got …

The process of how to adopt a baby can be overwhelming. There are decisions to make prayerfully, organizations to vet, and many perspectives to consider. It’s approaching a new chapter much like starting a marriage– with hearts wide open, support, and education to make a strong foundation for your family’s future. I am a birth …

If you’re hoping to adopt a child, becoming a foster parent is often a great way to bring into your home a child who may, under the right circumstances, become a part of your family. Each year, around 50,000 children are adopted from foster care, and there are over 100,000 children in foster care waiting …

I stared at an email from our social worker stating that my husband, Gerritt, and I would not be approved as foster parents in the province of Nova Scotia. Our case would instead be deferred until we sought professional counseling. That was in 2013. Later we learned that we required further scrutiny, but it wasn’t …

Setting up for an evening training, I looked forward to sharing the impact of foster care and adoption on the biological children in the family. As the participants entered the classroom, I was stunned at who they were. Yet, the group looked like a room full of empty nesters. Overall, I was expecting young couples …

Inside a Foster Home: The Real Story Several years ago, I was given this blessing, “May you be covered by the dust of Jesus.” The quizzical look on my face prompted the pastor to explain his blessing to me.It was a contemporary version of an ancient Hebrew phrase, “In the Dust of the Rabbi.” The …

Elisha sat across from me in a booth at a local restaurant, as we talked about the impact of foster care on her biological children. “Why is my six-year-old daughter, Alise behaving just like my new foster daughter, Sara, who is four? She is throwing tantrums and now is quite oppositional and defiant, just like …

Can an abortion fail? Yes, it can. Learn more from a true life story.

Disability rights movement is a civil rights movement advocating for those with disabilities to have equal rights.

Navigating an adoptive mother’s heart is an emotional journey. Regardless of whether the foster-to-adopt child has contact with their birth family, the mother’s heart will be emotional. When a woman gives her heart to a child in foster care, generally, she keeps a protective layer that prevents her from fully bonding with the child because …

Three-year-old Jake walked into the garage where his foster dad worked on a wood project. The loud sounds of sounds and hammering filled the garage. Almost immediately, Jake became agitated, putting his little hands over his ears. Jake noticed an old pair of earmuffs on the workbench, walked over to them, reached up, and put …

While attending a pro-life conference earlier this year, I listened to a lecture on adopting children from a different race. The two presenters were talking about a term they called “transracial adoption.” To my surprise, much of the presentation consisted of the two white women explaining, to a predominantly white audience, why it was concerning …

This article explains the difference between bonding and attachment, how attachment relates to forming healthy relationships, and what parents can do to foster secure attachment for healthy growth and development.

How do you know who you are? For many, the definitions of identity we build inside ourselves are created from our experiences. Charity Gayle wrote a song, “There is a New Name Written Down in Glory,” saying, “I am who I am because the I Am tells me who I am.” The question for many …

One way that we create order out of our unknowns is by sorting things into categories. Humans seek to find the connections between seemingly unrelated items. While this may work for kitchen organization, it can fall very short when looking at children, behaviors, and relationships. We tend to build buckets where we put things we …

I sit down at the computer, an empty screen in front of me. It’s time to write about the love of adoptive siblings, I tell myself, that deadline is soon approaching. I shuffle through old e-mails and find the prompt. “We’d love for you to write a bit about the call of siblings to love well in …