I'm about to have a real honest moment here. I know you guys are used to it, but I really do try hard to curb it. This blog (I've linked below) was written about my heart by a woman who knows. And I am weeping as I sit here. If you are our friend, if you have and want to continue to support us, you will read this.
For us.
For Liza.
For our four other kids.
For everyone you've ever known who has or is or will adopt.
As a favor.
An act of love.
*Because I can count on one hand the people who have truly helped us through the first two months home.* I wish I could say i was exaggerating. I know in good part it is a lack of knowledge and understanding. Adoption is not going away. You need to know how to navigate other's adoptions. My family is not the only one you will help by reading this.
Right this moment Tom is with Liza at church dealing with the fall out of us making her go to hold babies in a nursery as a means of socialization. And it's not pretty. Contrary to popular opinion, my life long home-schooled kids are not in need of socialization. This orphan of 16 years who lived in a dorm with 300 other children and counts only ONE as a friend, IS. She is terrified of everyone. Tom & I can't do this job alone. We need friends and family who are willing to walk this hard, lonely road, hand in hand with us, when it is not pretty, and really, painfully uncomfortable.
~Reagan
excerpt: "#6. Please do not disappear. If I thought the waiting stage was hard, it does not even hold the barest candle to what comes after the airport. Not. The. Barest. Candle. Never have I felt so isolated and petrified. Never have I been so overwhelmed and exhausted. We need you after the airport way more than we ever needed you before. I know you’re scared of us, what with our dirty hair and wild eyes and mystery children we’re keeping behind closed doors so they don’t freak out more than they already have, but please find ways to stick around. Call. Email. Check in. Post on our Facebook walls. Send us funny cards. Keep this behavior up for longer than six days."
http://jenhatmaker.com/blog/2011/11/02/how-to-be-the-village
http://jenhatmaker.com/blog/2011/09/06/after-the-airport
What a fantastic family picture! I'm so thankful for Jen Hatmaker and the Truth she yells from the rooftops-- love her! Will be praying that you experience community in new and big ways now that you're home from the Ukraine. Much love.
ReplyDeleteI found your blog through Adeye's "Adopting Older Children" Resources blog. At that time, I think I read all of it. In looking over the list of blogs I "follow," I noticed I hadn't seen an update from you for a while, so I dropped back in for a "visit." and reread the last few posts.
ReplyDeleteHow are things going? (I hope the long silence is because everything is going fantastic!) Are they getting better (I hope)? I wish I lived close enough to be part of your lives, and encourage you, but I don't -- though we do have family in Chapel Hill, and a nephew in the Raleigh area.
I'd love to adopt an older child (or more) someday, if the doors open for me to do so -- and I especially enjoy reading "older child" adoption blogs like yours! Please don't stop now. As your mother(?) said in a comment after the post about your trip to Nashville, God can use your story to encourage others to take the step you've taken.
Hang in there -- God is still God, no matter how tough things might get. He still has everything under control.
Kathy K.
Cleveland, TN (near Chattanooga)