two things I hope you will read
I haven’t had time to write much this week. I’d love to talk a little more about the “What To Expect When You’re Expecting A Child From An Orphanage” series Mark and I are doing at Together for Adoption this weekend. (That’s not the real title, but it’s the gist of it). I’d also love to write a follow-up post about some practical steps for an ethical Halloween. I’d love to rant a bit about this mess. But alas, I also need to get some sleep. We drove from . . .
talking about adoption transition at Together for Adoption
Mark and I are prepping to lead a series of discussions at the Together for Adoption Conference this weekend in Arizona. We will be leading four sessions there. The first two will be about transitioning children from living in a group setting to living in a family session. These will probably be most appealing to prospective or waiting adoptive parents, orphanage or group home directors, or parents with kids newly home – but I encourage all adoptive parents to attend because we . . .
thinking outside of the “orphan-care” box
When people talk about responding to orphan care, there are usually two avenues that come to mind. The first is adoption – and often, this implies a couple from a wealthier country adopting a child out of an orphanage in the third world. The second is the idea of building an orphanage to care for children. I think that these can be good solutions for children . . . certainly international adoption and orphanages have been a way to care for millions of children who have been . . .
advocating as a busy mom
Today I will be leading a panel at the Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit about how to be an advocate as a busy mom. I have to say, I’m already feeling inspired by the things that busy moms have done. Yesterday morning I went to a session on the socio-political aspects of adoption, and I heard the story of McLane Layton, a mom who adopted three children from Easter Europe only to discover that her children did not get citizenship after being adopted. She started lobbying . . .
why does adoption cost so much? (and why we didn’t just send that money to Haiti)
I hear a lot of questions about why adoption is so expensive, and honestly, I don’t always have a good answer. This month, we added up all of our adoption expenses and I was a little shocked at how much we spent on our adoption from Haiti. Because I had to type up an itemized list for our taxes last week, and because I’m a believer in transparency in adoption, I thought I would just share what we spent, so people can have an idea of where the money goes. Our adoption expenses are a bit . . .
the psychological impacts of abandonment
I’ve been wanting to post my notes from the workshop I did at The Idea Camp, but I’ve struggled with how to present it, because it really was more of a conversation. What I’m sharing below is really just an outline – there was so much more meat in the discussion that took place in that room full of people who cared passionately and deeply about these issues. But here is a general overview of what what discussed in relation to the psychological ramifications for orphaned children: . . .
thoughts about the idea camp for orphan care
“To show compassion for an individual without showing concern for the structures of society that make him an object of compassion is to be sentimental rather than loving.” William Sloane Coffin Jr. I’ve been wanting to put down my thoughts about the idea camp I attended two weeks ago, but it has been hard to organize a coherent post about this multi-layered experience because there is just so much to unpack. So . . . I rambled in a video instead. I am still planning to post the . . .
when a good parent-teacher conference doesn’t feel good. (and when it does)
About six months ago, I had my first parent-teacher conference for Kembe. We started him in preschool after he had been home from Haiti for about four months. We would have waited longer, but he learned English very quickly and he was soon begging to go to preschool like his brother and sister. I had some reservations about it, but we gave it a shot and he really, really liked it. In retrospect, I think the preschool environment was much more familiar to him than a home . . .
why adopt from there when there are children here?
The Orange County Register ran a story on our family this week. They had contacted us a while back, wanting to do an update since Kembe's homecoming. They ended up writing from the angle of us being together for our first holiday . . . a nice surprise, and echoing so many of my own thoughts. I love the photos that Mindy Shauer captured. She wanted to get snapshots of our everyday life, and I think she really did. Especially the one of the three kids jamming on the . . .
our adoption story
God Story: The Howerton Family from ROCKHARBOR on Vimeo. . . .
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