Forever Families
Today is Joe's birthday, and my beloved is in Miami. The kiddos and I are home. It's a little sad. Even though we aren't overly sentimental or celebratory on birthdays, we do like to mark them together and play the birthday question game. Well, I like the game. I suspect my loved ones merely tolerate it.
I spent some time reading about adoption through Florida's foster care system tonight. I should have spent that time catching up on the women's Bible study (I've done about half the homework of one of the eight lessons) or reading about homeschooling. I was actually working on the Bible study material, which was about our adoption through Christ, and it stirred up my adoption desires. I skimmed through the profiles of children looking for "forever families." Who can read those and not be moved? Realistically I don't think we're ready to adopt. I want to wait until Collette and Arthur are older than any child or children we may adopt. We're still debating about whether or not we want more biological children. I think I'm ambivalent - a child is a child. Maybe I'm a little more in favor of adoption, but I think we'd need to wait a 3 to 5 years - maybe more if we're willing to adopt siblings. Joe is probably more in favor of having one or two more children biologically. We are in agreement that we want to be finished with birthing babies before we adopt and that we want our adopted children to be younger than our biological children. I'm not sure where I stand on children with special medical needs either. I'm much more comfortable with the idea of adding family members with developmental delays and learning disabilities than I am medical needs, which is probably normal. I guess we have a lot of time to pray and think about how and when we want to add to our family (God willing). Thus far our big decisions have seemed obvious.
I know our reasons for wanting to adopt younger children are sound, but I really wish we were in a position to adopt older children. I think it takes a really special family to open themselves to teenagers. Maybe when we're older and have raised teenagers we'll feel more comfortable? As a police officer's daughter I get a little paranoid about safety. I know we're all damaged and capable of sin, but some of us have more to overcome in that sense. Is that an awful thing to think? Well, the very least I can do today for all fatherless children is pray for them, and that's a topic I can naturally and easily pray fervently about.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:3-6)
I spent some time reading about adoption through Florida's foster care system tonight. I should have spent that time catching up on the women's Bible study (I've done about half the homework of one of the eight lessons) or reading about homeschooling. I was actually working on the Bible study material, which was about our adoption through Christ, and it stirred up my adoption desires. I skimmed through the profiles of children looking for "forever families." Who can read those and not be moved? Realistically I don't think we're ready to adopt. I want to wait until Collette and Arthur are older than any child or children we may adopt. We're still debating about whether or not we want more biological children. I think I'm ambivalent - a child is a child. Maybe I'm a little more in favor of adoption, but I think we'd need to wait a 3 to 5 years - maybe more if we're willing to adopt siblings. Joe is probably more in favor of having one or two more children biologically. We are in agreement that we want to be finished with birthing babies before we adopt and that we want our adopted children to be younger than our biological children. I'm not sure where I stand on children with special medical needs either. I'm much more comfortable with the idea of adding family members with developmental delays and learning disabilities than I am medical needs, which is probably normal. I guess we have a lot of time to pray and think about how and when we want to add to our family (God willing). Thus far our big decisions have seemed obvious.
I know our reasons for wanting to adopt younger children are sound, but I really wish we were in a position to adopt older children. I think it takes a really special family to open themselves to teenagers. Maybe when we're older and have raised teenagers we'll feel more comfortable? As a police officer's daughter I get a little paranoid about safety. I know we're all damaged and capable of sin, but some of us have more to overcome in that sense. Is that an awful thing to think? Well, the very least I can do today for all fatherless children is pray for them, and that's a topic I can naturally and easily pray fervently about.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:3-6)