Wednesday, February 27, 2008
A Momentary Lapse, Perhaps?
For those who don't know, I work with a group of 6th grade girls at church most Wednesday nights. They're good girls, but honestly sometimes those children scare me! Anyway, a couple weeks ago they were asking about my apartment - how big it is, where it is, etc. When they found out it is 3 bedrooms, they wanted to know what I was using all the space for (nosy little things, huh?). So I told them 1 room is my bedroom, one is an office, and one will be used as a baby's room - hoping they wouldn't catch that last part (I mumbled it quickly). Well, of course they did. Like I said, 6th grade girls. They started asking if I'm pregnant, do I have a boyfriend, am I getting married, you know the drill (like I said - sometimes they scare me!). Once I told them that no, I'm not pregnant & I am very much single they calmed down. So I told them that I'm adopting a baby from Ethiopia - you wouldn't believe how excited they got! They all asked if they can babysit (even after I told them that it may be quite a while before I actually have the LB home). Of course my little cousin announced very firmly that if anyone will be babysitting for me it will be her! These girls are crazy - they all started in arguing about it. I finally had to remind them again that I don't know exactly when I will be getting the baby, but that I'm sure I will need more that one person to call for babysitting Lil' Bit. So I think that is ok now, but we'll see what happens next time I meet with them (no meeting tonight). Not sure what exactly I was thinking, telling them so early - maybe I just wasn't thinking at all!
Friday, February 15, 2008
The "Why" Post - LONG!
Ok, so I've had a few people now ask me a few questions, about the blog & about my adoption. So I decided to clarify a bit.
First of all, the easy one. The reason I decided to title my blog "To Build a Family". No, it isn't that I think I don't have a family already - I have a wonderful, close-knit family. Immediate and extended - we all (for the most part) genuinely enjoy eachother's company & it's great to know there are so many people who are in my corner no matter what. The family I am building is the one that most of us dream of having someday - parents & children. I admit, I'm doing it in a rather unconventional manner (to many people), since there isn't exactly a daddy in the picture yet, but it feels right. After all, I'm not really a "conventional" kind of person in a lot of aspects!
Now the tougher one. Well, it really was the easier decision for me, but it's the tougher one to answer. I've always known that I wanted to adopt - that was a no-brainer for me. See, I'm adopted myself (actually, so was my birth mother) & I have wanted to have at least part of my family come together that way as long as I can remember. I haven't always had the best taste in men, so had told myself that "someday" if I hadn't found Mr. Wonderful yet, I would pursue adoption as a single woman. Honestly I didn't really expect "someday" to be yet, but last year I very strongly felt God leading me to start the process. I have to admit, I wasn't sure why he told me to start it then - I was working part time & living in my parents' basement. Not exactly a suitable situation, as far as I was concerned. But God kept telling me "do the research & be ready". I knew that I had to start looking into things so that when He said "Now" I would be able to follow. Once I started listening to him & taking care of my end of things, everything else started to fall into place. He told me my baby would be waiting for me in Ethiopia, so I started to research the country & agencies. I got a good job that lets me support myself & will also allow me to provide for LB. A few months later I found a large apartment for a very good price - plenty of room for me to bring home my baby. The only roadblock at that point was the fact that things just weren't coming together with the agency I had chosen to work with. I wound up looking at my first-choice agency's website (they hadn't had an Ethiopian program when I had talked to them before so I had gone with my 2nd choice) and discovered that they had just started a pilot program in Ethiopia. That's when things REALLY clicked. So, now here I am. I've been accepted into the program & things are starting to move. Now it's just a matter of doing what I need to do & following God's timing to bring the Lil' Bit home.
This brings me to the 3rd question I am asked. I've been asked lately what people can pray for regarding LB, me, and the journey to make us a family. The biggest thing is for LB's health & safety - or for the health & safety of the birthmother if the Lil' Bit hasn't been born yet. The 2nd thing is that I will be able to get everything together on my end. I am walking in faith big time here folks - trusting that God will provide everything I need to take care of everything involved in this adoption (spiritually & materially). And, of course, strength & patience for me. As I said in earlier posts - I don't do waiting well!
So, I'm sorry about the LONG post - if you made it all the way to the end you have my sincere admiration! Hope this answers some of those questions, but if you have any others or would like more clarification, please feel free to ask!
First of all, the easy one. The reason I decided to title my blog "To Build a Family". No, it isn't that I think I don't have a family already - I have a wonderful, close-knit family. Immediate and extended - we all (for the most part) genuinely enjoy eachother's company & it's great to know there are so many people who are in my corner no matter what. The family I am building is the one that most of us dream of having someday - parents & children. I admit, I'm doing it in a rather unconventional manner (to many people), since there isn't exactly a daddy in the picture yet, but it feels right. After all, I'm not really a "conventional" kind of person in a lot of aspects!
Now the tougher one. Well, it really was the easier decision for me, but it's the tougher one to answer. I've always known that I wanted to adopt - that was a no-brainer for me. See, I'm adopted myself (actually, so was my birth mother) & I have wanted to have at least part of my family come together that way as long as I can remember. I haven't always had the best taste in men, so had told myself that "someday" if I hadn't found Mr. Wonderful yet, I would pursue adoption as a single woman. Honestly I didn't really expect "someday" to be yet, but last year I very strongly felt God leading me to start the process. I have to admit, I wasn't sure why he told me to start it then - I was working part time & living in my parents' basement. Not exactly a suitable situation, as far as I was concerned. But God kept telling me "do the research & be ready". I knew that I had to start looking into things so that when He said "Now" I would be able to follow. Once I started listening to him & taking care of my end of things, everything else started to fall into place. He told me my baby would be waiting for me in Ethiopia, so I started to research the country & agencies. I got a good job that lets me support myself & will also allow me to provide for LB. A few months later I found a large apartment for a very good price - plenty of room for me to bring home my baby. The only roadblock at that point was the fact that things just weren't coming together with the agency I had chosen to work with. I wound up looking at my first-choice agency's website (they hadn't had an Ethiopian program when I had talked to them before so I had gone with my 2nd choice) and discovered that they had just started a pilot program in Ethiopia. That's when things REALLY clicked. So, now here I am. I've been accepted into the program & things are starting to move. Now it's just a matter of doing what I need to do & following God's timing to bring the Lil' Bit home.
This brings me to the 3rd question I am asked. I've been asked lately what people can pray for regarding LB, me, and the journey to make us a family. The biggest thing is for LB's health & safety - or for the health & safety of the birthmother if the Lil' Bit hasn't been born yet. The 2nd thing is that I will be able to get everything together on my end. I am walking in faith big time here folks - trusting that God will provide everything I need to take care of everything involved in this adoption (spiritually & materially). And, of course, strength & patience for me. As I said in earlier posts - I don't do waiting well!
So, I'm sorry about the LONG post - if you made it all the way to the end you have my sincere admiration! Hope this answers some of those questions, but if you have any others or would like more clarification, please feel free to ask!
This is SO TRUE!
I'm not even physically a parent yet (I say physically cause in my heart I feel like I already am the Lil' Bit's mama) and I still identify with pretty much all of this! Saw this today on my blog friend Holly's website & had to "borrow" it!
YOU KNOW YOU'RE AN ADOPTIVE PARENT IF ...
1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.
2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love & family.
3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.
4. The fact that, if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child there would be no orphans in the world, is convicting to you.
5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who've experienced the blessing of adoption.
6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's "real" parents.
7. You've been "pregnant" with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth.(2 years!)
8. You'd no idea how you'd afford to adopt, but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing He'd provide. (& He does!)
9. You've taken an airplane half-way around the world with a child you just met.
10. You believe God's heart's for adoption.
11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart & family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.
12. You know what the word "Dossier" means & you can actually pronounce it correctly!
13. You've welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.
14. You shudder when people say your child's so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you're the blessed one to have him or her in your life.
YOU KNOW YOU'RE AN ADOPTIVE PARENT IF ...
1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.
2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love & family.
3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.
4. The fact that, if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child there would be no orphans in the world, is convicting to you.
5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who've experienced the blessing of adoption.
6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's "real" parents.
7. You've been "pregnant" with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth.(2 years!)
8. You'd no idea how you'd afford to adopt, but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing He'd provide. (& He does!)
9. You've taken an airplane half-way around the world with a child you just met.
10. You believe God's heart's for adoption.
11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart & family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.
12. You know what the word "Dossier" means & you can actually pronounce it correctly!
13. You've welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.
14. You shudder when people say your child's so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you're the blessed one to have him or her in your life.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Hello Out There - Just Checking In
Hi! Remember me? OK, I know it's been a while, but I haven't had much to post. I'm waiting. I'm waiting to start my home study (SW has been on vacation). I'm waiting to get the last couple loose ends tied up for that. I'm waiting to switch offices at work. And, like I said earlier - I absolutely HATE waiting! So, to that effect, I've been trying to come up with something I can do to kill time. Therefore, I am going to paint my living room. And my kitchen. Who knows - maybe eventually even the hallway, the office, the bathroom, and my bedroom. I won't paint LB's room yet, since I don't know the color scheme.
I am also very slowly stocking up on supplies for the Lil' Bit. Nothing age or gender specific, really, but I have recently become the proud owner of a BabyHawk carrier - I will post a picture as soon as I can get one that isn't a hideous cell-phone shot. I also have a couple gender-neutral outfits that should be bigger than LB will be (ideally). If not, I have 2 brothers having babies this year.
The other thing I am doing is knitting. Right now I am still working on my niece-to-be's blanket, but I will be doing one for Lil' Bit & for my other brother & sister-in-law's baby as well. So I guess I'm staying busy - but I am still anxious to get to the next point. Is patience really a virtue? I'm not entirely sure right about now!
I am also very slowly stocking up on supplies for the Lil' Bit. Nothing age or gender specific, really, but I have recently become the proud owner of a BabyHawk carrier - I will post a picture as soon as I can get one that isn't a hideous cell-phone shot. I also have a couple gender-neutral outfits that should be bigger than LB will be (ideally). If not, I have 2 brothers having babies this year.
The other thing I am doing is knitting. Right now I am still working on my niece-to-be's blanket, but I will be doing one for Lil' Bit & for my other brother & sister-in-law's baby as well. So I guess I'm staying busy - but I am still anxious to get to the next point. Is patience really a virtue? I'm not entirely sure right about now!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.jpg)
