About That Frame...
Happy November! The month where many thanks are shared socially and around the table. And if you weren’t aware, November is National Adoption Month.
We love adoption here in the Holleran household, and it is certainly something worth celebrating. I’ve watched as many friends in our circle changed their profile pictures to include a frame that said, “I am touched by adoption.” Now if you were one of those people, please stick with me as I do not seek to criticize, but there was just something about those words I just couldn’t hold on to.
Three times in my life, I have personally been impacted by adoption: the first being when I was adopted as an infant, the second being when I was adopted into God’s family through salvation, and the third being when we adopted 5 kids into our own family.
Make no mistake, I’ve received a family, I’ve been given the gift of eternity, I’ve had a front row seat to watching God work as only He can all through adoption. I’ve been made a new creation, given a new name, and cherished as a daughter. But, I’ve also been exposed for just how selfish and comfort seeking I am through adoption. I’ve cried happy tears, rejoiced and celebrated, yet I’ve also cried gut wrenching sobs that left me sore the next day because of adoption. You just can’t peg adoption into a one word hole, when it lives in so many different shades of emotions.
Every time adoption has been a part of my life, it has come with a definitive line that cuts deep beneath my flesh and marks my very bones. I can’t ever ignore it or erase it, it’s part of me. There is life before adoption and after, and they never look the same. Take away adoption, and I would be a completely different person.
To say I am “touched” just doesn’t seem like enough. Welcomed? Celebrated? Redeemed? Slain? Changed? Blessed? Scarred? Each one fitting and yet, still just not quite frame worthy.
The one thing I’ve discovered in my newest journey as an adoptive parent, is there is so much more going on in the lives of these families.
If you know a family that’s been “touched”by adoption, I urge you to take November to give a little extra to them. Certainly pray for them, but send a note to let them know you are lifting them up. You never know when they might be at a place where they need your words of encouragement desperately Take them a meal, or send a pizza to their house. 3 months home, 3 years home, either way, a night out of the kitchen is a blessing. Take their kiddos for an hour or two, or offer to play with the kids at their house while they take a nap. Often adoptive families today have children with special needs, and they may not be able to get away completely from their child, but maybe you can give them time to just go to their room and take a break. Whatever the case may be, let’s all celebrate the beautiful mess of adoption.
Three times in my life, I have personally been impacted by adoption: the first being when I was adopted as an infant, the second being when I was adopted into God’s family through salvation, and the third being when we adopted 5 kids into our own family.
Make no mistake, I’ve received a family, I’ve been given the gift of eternity, I’ve had a front row seat to watching God work as only He can all through adoption. I’ve been made a new creation, given a new name, and cherished as a daughter. But, I’ve also been exposed for just how selfish and comfort seeking I am through adoption. I’ve cried happy tears, rejoiced and celebrated, yet I’ve also cried gut wrenching sobs that left me sore the next day because of adoption. You just can’t peg adoption into a one word hole, when it lives in so many different shades of emotions.
Every time adoption has been a part of my life, it has come with a definitive line that cuts deep beneath my flesh and marks my very bones. I can’t ever ignore it or erase it, it’s part of me. There is life before adoption and after, and they never look the same. Take away adoption, and I would be a completely different person.
To say I am “touched” just doesn’t seem like enough. Welcomed? Celebrated? Redeemed? Slain? Changed? Blessed? Scarred? Each one fitting and yet, still just not quite frame worthy.
The one thing I’ve discovered in my newest journey as an adoptive parent, is there is so much more going on in the lives of these families.
If you know a family that’s been “touched”by adoption, I urge you to take November to give a little extra to them. Certainly pray for them, but send a note to let them know you are lifting them up. You never know when they might be at a place where they need your words of encouragement desperately Take them a meal, or send a pizza to their house. 3 months home, 3 years home, either way, a night out of the kitchen is a blessing. Take their kiddos for an hour or two, or offer to play with the kids at their house while they take a nap. Often adoptive families today have children with special needs, and they may not be able to get away completely from their child, but maybe you can give them time to just go to their room and take a break. Whatever the case may be, let’s all celebrate the beautiful mess of adoption.
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