the right to hold you
In 2015, our family welcomed our third child to the chaos through the emotional and complex reality of adoption. Our son was almost three when he became part of our family, and I blogged about the experience for a little over a year. This section of my website contains the archives of that blog, which I called “the right to hold you.” If I wrote about adoption today, my words probably wouldn’t mirror what I wrote in 2014/15, but I’ve left them as originally authored for authenticity. Our little guy has been with us for over 6 years, and if I write about him today, it’s likely to be in the context of parenting a child with disabilities.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
The caged bird sings of freedom. Oh man, that line stops my heart a little. I share the sentiment of much of the world as we mourn the passing of a magnificent light, and am grateful she fought so hard to be heard. Grateful I had the opportunity to hear her.
Lee Greenwood, World War II and international adoption
I am so thankful for the many blessings (luxuries, really) that I have been afforded because I was born in the United States. But I don’t think I deserve them more than anyone else. And I just can’t buy into the idea that a child is more or less deserving of a family based on the borders into which he/she was born.
Our Boo...the man, the myth, the legend
To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” C.S. Lewis
Psalm One Million and One
I think that’s why I love the Psalms so much. You get real, raw emotion – both glorious highs and desperate lows -- that mirror the human condition, which is anything but one note. You read about the psalmists' joys and victories, but you also feel the agony of his disillusionment and defeat. And that's okay.
Welcome! Our journey is just beginning...
I think sometimes there can be a misconception (or maybe it was just for me) that adoption is for those “super” people. You know, super-religious, or super-rich, or super-nice, or super-philanthropical, or super-moms and super-families. And trust me when I say our family doesn’t fit that box.