"...There was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong (2... more

I’m often asked about our open adoption. People are amazed that our kids are happily in contact with their birth family. I think the surprise comes from several sources:

Children are placed for adoption for a variety of reasons: The underlying assumption many (erroneously) make is that children are placed for adoption because something is “wrong” in the family of origin. People routinely believe that one or both of the birth parents are involved in something unsavory. In fact, the first question I usually hear is, “What’s wrong with the mother?” Or... more

It’s blazing hot here in the south. I can recall from my past pregnancies that being pregnant in the summer is not fun, especially if you are in the third trimester of your pregnancy. Being pregnant typically makes you feel hotter regardless of what season it is but during the summer when the heat isn’t just caused by your hormones, getting comfortable and staying cool can be challenging. Dr. Nardone, an OBGYN in Rhode Island advises expectant mothers to pay attention to the heat index.

“If the heat index (meaning how hot the temperature feels because... more

A birth mother friend of mine recently forwarded me an e-mail that she had received. In this e-mail, an adoptive mother, pregnancy counselor and adoption agency owner cussed at my friend, called her names and basically pulled out every ignorant trick in the book to get under my friend's skin. Thankfully my friend is an amazingly strong woman and the two of us had a good laugh at the other woman's expense. Sadly, this is not the first time I've seen people randomly reach out and attack birth parents on the internet.

I recently pulled down my personal adoption... more

You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up (Deuteronomy 6:7).

Our statewide ad council sponsors messages on TV all the time encouraging everyone to get their five servings of fruits and vegetables daily. However, our children need spiritual food also! Here are some ways to get more Bible into your children this summer:

Summer Reading Programs: Many Christian book stores sponsor summer... more

Last month, I blogged about enrolling my children in swim classes to honor a hope expressed by the children’s birth mother.

Today, the children finished their first two-week session of the summer. They are enrolled in four two-week sessions altogether. They received certificates and the two youngest passed all of their requirements for the next level. As mentioned, my oldest has never really been comfortable in water, so whereas he didn’t pass to the next level... more

I’ve mentioned that our homeschooling schedule becomes slightly more relaxed during the summer months. We tend to lots of reading for the various summer reading programs. For one such program, my oldest son read The Jacket, by Andrew Clements. The book centers on a Caucasian boy who accuses an African-American boy of stealing a jacket. When it’s revealed this accusation is in error, it causes the boy to rethink his beliefs about race and color, and examine his own prejudices.

I asked my son about this book. He was able to summarize the plot for me, and... more

I have a friend and reader who is also a birthmother who is going through something at the moment and I thought I’d bring this situation to the masses to possibly get some feedback from all of you reading.

Let me present you with the situation first…

M, is a birthmother who placed her son in an open adoption directly following his birth. He is now four years old. She has a pretty good friendship/relationship with his adoptive mother. She (M, the birthmother) is now pregnant with a baby girl that she will be parenting. As she nears her due date, she has... more

A wise friend, Rachel, and I were chatting about our daughters. Both 14-year-old teenagers, both adopted as young children, not infants, both exposed to alcohol before birth. A combination of the Fetal Alcohol exposure, poor early parenting, and possibly genetics has left our daughters challenged. They are challenged academically, developmentally, and socially. That seems to be very common with children like ours. Rachel pointed out that most teenagers are thinking about the direction they will take in life. Most teenagers spend more time with friends and try to... more

Looking back at the past 11 months with my children, I see such growth and progress. I remember when “Success!” was getting them to sleep at night!

Success now looks very different than it did then. The kids have moved onto bigger challenges. Success now comes in the form of conquering fears time and again.

The last... more