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Christmas Campaign– Adoption & Hope for Donnie
By Hannah Payton Heath Two years ago when my husband and I sat down to work out how we could start the process for international adoption my husband said, “We can’t do this for every child, one child, one adoption.” My husband knows me — oh so well. Silently, I nodded my head in agreement. I knew his reasons were well thought out, but tears choked back my words. Finally, when I could mumble through the ugly cry I said, “Okay. But it will be so hard. It will be so hard to walk away from all those children. It will be the worst day of my life.” Fast-forward to…
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Adoption and the Church as Family
By Dalas Mueller Today is Gotcha Day for our sweet daughter, Hope. That is, the one year anniversary of my husband busting her out of her orphanage and making her our daughter forever. I didn’t expect to be celebrating today sitting across the room from my sweet girl as she lies in a hospital bed in the ICU, fighting off an infection and awaiting her third brain surgery since coming home. But… I wouldn’t trade her for the world! And I could not be more thankful that she is in our arms for comfort and love as she faces her earthly trials. Other than God Himself, there is one entity…
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Adoption and Loss
by Amy Stafford People often say how blessed our daughter is to have been adopted. And of course, my response is always that we are the blessed ones to have her in our lives. People also often say she was meant for our family. She certainly appears to be. Her personality is so much like her older sister’s, it’s scary. She fills what was previously a gaping hole in our family. She is the delight of our lives and fits in perfectly. But it must be said, she was also meant for her birth family. She was born to another mother, and another father. To other grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. …
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Welcoming Adopted Kids into Our Churches
Psalm 127 tells us, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord.” Welcoming a new child into our church family is often an exciting and much anticipated event. While most families are blessed with biological children, other families are created through adoption, or a combination of biological and adopted children. Unfortunately, there is often confusion about how best to welcome adoptive families into our midst and support them through the adoption process. With a little thoughtfulness and preparation, however, your congregation can be a source of love, comfort and strength to an adoptive family. First of all, supporting the adoptive family begins before the child is ever placed in their…
