November 24, 2008 7:12 PM
Adoption - the spiritual and practical journey
Good News: Focus on the Family Helps to Find Homes for Colorado's Kids
Nearly 250 families initiate the adoption process.
by Jennifer Mesko
About 1,300 people flooded into New Life Church in Colorado Springs on Saturday. Their mission: To learn more about the 700 kids in Colorado's foster care system waiting for adoptive families.
Focus on the Family and the other sponsors of the Wait No More event had hoped 100 families would feel led to welcome a child home.
"We are thrilled that nearly 250 families started the process of adoption from foster care, and we will continue our efforts until we are the first state with no more waiting kids in foster care," said Kelly Rosati, Focus on the Family's senior director of Sanctity of Human Life.
Focus on the Family is encouraging the Body of Christ to embrace our biblical responsibility of caring for orphans - specifically those in the U. S. foster care system awaiting permanent homes. The following is from their site I Care About Orphans:
When you hear the word "orphan," what do you think of? China? Russia? Africa?The United States?
When we hear of orphans, we often think of children overseas in orphanages or living on the street somewhere. But what we fail to realize is that the United States also has many orphans.
For a variety of reasons, children are removed from their birth homes and placed with a family in foster care. The hope is for these children to be reunited with their birthparents.
Unfortunately, that can't always happen.
As a result, approximately 127,000 children throughout the United States are waiting for permanent adoptive families. Their guardian is the state in which they live. For many of these children and youth, the thought of being welcomed into a family seems like a dream. But with more than 300,000 churches throughout the US, those dreams can become reality for many children.
Christians have a clear command to care for orphans, and there are many ways to get involved - like praying, giving, mobilizing your church, or adopting. Whichever you decide, we'll provide guidance and support as you walk down this incredibly rewarding path. So embrace the call, avoid the trap of thinking "someone else will help," and let's make the US a place where every orphan waiting in foster care has a family.
Our hope is that you begin to see the face of Christ in each of these children.
I know so many people who have adopted children in the last few years. I think God is doing a miraculous work in turning our hearts to help others in a more meaningful and sacrificial way. I know many of you were so disappointed by the election results - the best advice I have is that we redirect our gaze from trying to effect change at the top - not that it was wrong for us to try, but that time is now past - and turn our eyes to a place where our attention can make a huge difference: caring for the "least of these."
One can do no great things, only small things with great love.~Mother Teresa~
If your heart is turning toward adoption - and especially toward adopting a child from the foster care system, I hope you will share your experience here. How did God begin to lead you? What special challenges did you face? Were your family and friends encouraging? Were adoption expenses a problem? If so, how did you handle them?
And finally, looking back - what advice can you give to those about to embark on this journey?
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:to look after orphans and widows in their distressand to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
~James 1:27~
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Comments
We very much want to adopt from the foster system.
I will also say that the foster system needs good foster parents. Some children can not be adopted because their parents still retain some parental rights. These children desperately need a stable home where they can be loved.
My mom's cousin had severe mental illness and as a result lost her children. Her oldest son ended up aging out of the foster system in a group home because of legalities that prevented him from being taken out of state to stay with family. He's a wonderful, resilient man who overcame his circumstances, but many are not so lucky.
I'd encourage your readers to become foster parents, even if they are not looking to adopt. Foster parents can make a world of difference in the life of a child.
Posted by: lauren | November 24, 2008 11:05 PM
It's us! We just switched from international (it would have been our 2nd adoption, 4th child) to foster care adoption. Click on my name in this comment to see the update. I have lots of thoughts on adoption, but it's best to just stop over and say, "hey!" And then click on the "adoption" tag on my site.
Posted by: Stretch Mark Mama | November 25, 2008 1:18 AM
If you would like a brutally honest account of what adopting from foster care can be like then read Big Momma Hollers http://www.thebodiebunch.blogspot.com/
She has a deep faith in God and firmly believes that this is her calling - she is the mother of 39 with 38 of those adopted. It is not easy to work with kids in the foster care system and her blog describes both the joys & brutal heartaches that comes with the journey. Links in her side bar are for other adoptive bloggers.
She stresses that even though it has been hard she would not trade her life for anything BUT it is a calling and faith is very important. I read her every day as she is so inspiring & encouraging.
Posted by: Stephanie in AR | November 25, 2008 9:31 AM
My husband was a foster care product.. (his foster parents he calls mom & dad although they didnt legally adopt him but they are more in our children life than his real mother)
My husband has always had a strong calling to help kids out like him and I come from a big family (oldest of 7) & love children. I think we are a bit young to take on a foster kid just yet but we look forward to in the future!
Posted by: Megan | November 25, 2008 9:41 PM
I have four children. My oldest is 16 and my biological son. My three youngest children are 5, 2 & 1 and were adopted through the foster care system. My daughter was our first foster baby and we fell head over heels, other babies came into our lives, then reunited with birth families. My daughter's birth brother was born and placed with us, and then their birth sister was born and she joined us as well. I have maintained a relationship with their birth grandma and some contact with birth parents as well. It has been an amazing journey and I now thank God for secondary infertility which led to the desire to foster and adopt. God knew the children he had planned for us, and I am so humbled to be their mother.
Posted by: Karen | November 25, 2008 11:35 PM
Adoption is definitely a spiritual journey. We have adopted 6 kids so far. 2 through foster care, 2 domestic, and 2 from Liberia. Each one had its own challenges and struggles but foster care was the hardest by far. Through it all, we learned about sacrificial love, leaning on Christ when there is nothing else to do and that adopting is the best thing we have ever chosen to do. I would encourage anyone who has ever even thought about adoption to look into it and take a step of faith. It WILL change your life!
Posted by: Faith | November 26, 2008 5:25 PM
