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.
Choosing Sacrificial Love
My guest for this week is Ali Kojak. You will love her! 6 years ago, Ali and her husband Chris made a decision to internationally adopt a child with Down Syndrome. Admittedly, she did not understand the challenges that this journey would hold. But perhaps this was God's grace so she would walk step-by-step into this adoption and bring Ellis home. And God's grace has been sufficient! Ali and I chat about sacrificial love, taking care of her own heart and mind, and the beautiful story God wove for her family. Thanks for being here! Join us!
Feelings, nothing more than feelings. . .
There is so much unknown in this trip, and I honestly struggle a lot with not having control. I’m not sure how Boo will feel about us, how deep his grief will be over losing his home, his language, his caretakers. I’m not sure how or if he will eat and sleep once he's with me. Or if the clothes I bring will fit. Or anything really.
Adoption Anxiety
But I have spent MANY hours lying in bed, unable to sleep, thinking about all of the things I still need to do to even make a dent in our paperwork process. I become so overwhelmed with the enormity of it all that I am almost paralyzed by my nerves, and then for a couple of days I do almost NOTHING related to the adoption at all.