The response was tremendous. I joked with my mom that for about two weeks, it was like having a part-time job. I was getting about 25 facebook messages a day from friends of mine, friends of friends, complete strangers..... it was incredible and a little overwhelming.
Many people knew about our two adoptions, the most recent one being back in early March, so I was getting asked a spectrum of questions. As I responded to all the people interested in the Florida babies, I was really able to see firsthand the huge interest in adoption, fostering, and orphan care, and just how tangled up in the process many families are right now.
There are so many resources out there, but finding the good stuff, the actually helpful stuff is kind of tricky.
My mom encouraged me to kick the blog back up, and I've thought about it for several months now. I've skimmed the internet to see what's out there, and a bunch of what I came across was really outdated, focused on only one aspect of adoption, or used such flowery and emotional language that I was rolling my eyes.
Every adoption story is so unique and interesting- how certain children come into the homes of certain families and being able to see God's timing in it all is just a cool thing to share. I'd like to have guest bloggers on here to tell about their experiences. That's the main goal of this- that it is a platform to share our stories.
So in attempting this new blog-style, here are the aspects I hope to center around and focus on:
-International Adoption
-Domestic Adoption
-Fostering
-Book Reviews
-Practical ways you can support families in the process of adoption/fostering
-Multi-racial/Multi-cultural Families
-DHR (I have nothing nice to say about DHR, so anything on that subject will definitely have to come from a guest blogger)
-Infertility- did you know that 1 in 8 couples deal with infertility?? Where the heck was this stat when everyone was pregnant but me?
-Prayer
I'm not interested in this becoming anything bigger than it is- this is not Momastery and I am no Jen Hatmaker. I'm not going to check the stats or comments, nor will I have a consistent post schedule.
But four years ago, I would have really liked to stumble across something like this. I was completely confused and lost in the adoption process, not to mention broken-hearted every month when we still weren't pregnant. I didn't know many people who had adopted, and the whole process of educating myself on everything was so time consuming and overwhelming.
Maybe this will help someone, great! And if after a month and no one is reading the blog, then I'll just call it a day and shut it down.
I'm including a video our church made that tells our adoption story. Click HERE to go to the Vimeo page. Enjoy the freeze-framed expression on my face there at the beginning. Also, I'm three months pregnant in that video and was verrrrrry sick the two hours before the videographer came over. The show had to go on though!
If there is a particular topic or question you have that you'd like to see addressed, feel free to leave it in the comment section to this post. Or if you think this whole idea is dumb, tell me that too so that I don't waste too much time on a dumb idea.
I'll end with this good-looking crew!
Taken June 6, 2015
Yes, that's a Beaufort Bonnet. Those deserve a post all their own.
7 comments:
So I'm so thankful u r doing this. I have so much to say but I am not good at getting my thoughts out of my head as easily and beautifully as u do. I have been very interested in n fostering and or adopting but have so many questions. I am so excited to read and watch u and Caleb thru this journey.
I love it TL! You as so inspiring in the love you you give your children. Thank you for sharing this with us. Adoption is in our vocabulary yet we have not started the process.
I think this is a wonderful idea! We were lucky enough to have a couple of church friends that had gone through the adoption process before us, but we still had to wade through a lot of information to find the really helpful stuff. Looking forward to reading :-)
So thankful you are doing this! You and Caleb are such an inspiration to others. The love of God shows through your lives and you will be highly blessed for your time and efforts to help others. Love you guys!
I'm so glad you're doing this! I've always felt a tug in my heart for adoption and fostering, and I'm so interested in learning more about it. What a beautiful pic of you're family!
I also look forward to your information! Multi-cultural insight would be so helpful;)
Emily
Someone shared your blog on Facebook so I clicked on over. I too am an adoptive, once infertile mama. I've also had 3 bio kids and one pregnancy loss. I like to think I've experienced just about every aspect of trying to grow a family! Anyway, love this post and totally agree! We went through infertility and adoption when there were no blogs and hardly any social media! It felt very lonely. I too have used my blog in the past to try and help others who have or are going through similar things!
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