One More Home

Today, I'm asking that we take a break from the Holleran's whirlwind ride to welcoming a daughter home. I'm suggesting that we all take a step back. In fact, let's keep walking until we get to the coastline. Maybe you're standing on the shore of North Carolina looking out at the Atlantic, or maybe our imaginary journey has brought you to a California beach looking out at the Pacific. Could be you're even reading from some foreign land and there's a different body of blue that fills your eyesight. Either way, when we look across that water, there's a resource for orphan care I think we skip right over. I love America. I think it's a huge blessing that when God decided where to plant my little life, He placed me in a land with so many things to be thankful for. Each and every day I realize I have so much more than I need. It's wonderful. However, this doesn't label me as the perfect solution to every child in crisis. That's hard to ...

In a word, no. They really don't. If you are like me and have this new desire and passion, you want everyone to share your enthusiasm. Come on, people, let's all go fill our homes with as many children as we can! So let me be honest when I say, that's not the way it goes. In fact, a response you'll more likely get is a slight tilt of their head as they stare at you and mull over the news you've just shared. Then come the questions. Oh, the questions. Whether you've decided to adopt, foster, go on a long term mission trip to Africa, move to the other side of the U.S., or quit your job to pursuit your love of cooking, there are going to be questions. And after being questioned by not one, or two, but many, many people, you may start to get a little snippy. It starts to feel personal. All I wanted is for you to be happy for me, but instead, I feel like I have to defend my position. I have been there, my friend. And after thinking about the motives behind ...

And we're off, friends! As of Monday, this home study thing is in full swing, and part one of the four part process (not including paperwork collecting, physical completing, blood work, projected earning for the year 2020 of all our stocks, full brain scans, mental evaluation of the dog, etc, etc. Okay, so maybe not some of those last few things...) is complete! Shew, I'm exhausted. Leading up to Monday's appointment, I had case of the nerves that only grew larger with every passing minute. I don't know about you, but I am a physical worrier. In that, I walk around with a constant feeling of nausea, loss of sleep, general tossing and turning, fretting, and a dose of imagining all that could go wrong. I know this is wrong. So wrong, that I will mix all these symptoms with repeated prayers for God to relieve my nervousness and forgive me for not trusting that He's got this, and yet a half an hour later, I am jumbled mess again. Worry. Pray. Rinse. Repeat. I did...

Sounds like I'm making an ad for the Newest Must-Have Product you need for your home in order to be happy, right? I admit, I'm one who thinks in order to do more, I must have more first. And, this adoption was no different. Back when we started talking about whether we thought adoption was something our family should do, I told Mike, "I think we need a bigger house first." I know, right? Of all the things I thought we would need to start this journey, more square footage and a higher mortgage balance is what I chose to go with. Thankfully, someone in our husband and wife duo tends to think more sensibly, so Mike's reply was, "You're right. It's crazy to think that a child with no family, in an orphanage, would want to live in our small house with a family to love them." Well, if you're going to put it that way..... It may seem like a silly thought to have, but it was my honest thinking at the time. I started evaluating whether we h...

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful dads out there! I am and will forever be a daddy's girl, so for all you men putting in the hours with your children, I salute you. You just don't realize how much all those gestures of love and affection are worth. Having had a wonderful dad, and having watched my own husband become a great father, I must say there is a difference between mom and dad. No, it isn't that mom cooks dinner and dad wear's the tool belt and mechanic's cap. But, there is something to be observed in that, often, moms are trying so hard to be as close to the Betty Crocker Cookbook/Parenting magazine as possible, while dads are just rolling with the flow. I'm not saying this is a rigid box that all moms and dads fit into, but I think there is some truth to my thought. In my experience: Great dads are completely okay with serving popsicles for breakfast. If that is what the child asks for on Saturday morning, then so be it. One popsicle br...

 " Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2 (NIV) I need to take a moment to share something that has been bothering me. I realize we live in a social media driven world. I will openly share that not only do I write this blog, but I also Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. (well not so much on the Tweeting... I have yet to learn the art of shortening my thoughts) I rely on these very things to help me get my words to a larger audience. While I didn't give the Google search engine much thought when I started this blog, you would be surprised just how many countries I've reached because someone just happened to look for a particular phrase and landed on my page. I'm a little amazed. So why my frustration? The "Like" button. I'm sure you know the one I'm talking about. That litt...

I can't begin to think the phrase " This is my story..." without finishing out the tune "This is my song Praising my Savior All the day long..." Maybe you know the one? I first read those lyrics on the pages of an old-fashioned hymnal, but you can still finding them winding through the air courtesy of more modern artists like this version here. And, well, the story I'm about to tell you, it has plenty of reasons to praise and give thanks. It's my story, my adoption story. In 1975, three people sat at very opposite ends of the spectrum. On one end, there was a married couple who had been trying for years to conceive a child. And on the other, was a very young girl with a baby on the way. This girl was barely 15 the day she went into labor. The child of a divorced home in the 70's, I tend to imagine that she probably had very little in the way of support. And yet, even though the decision in Roe v Wade had been handed down just a few year...