[adoptionblessings]

2006 is upon us and 2005 will be history! Some feel resolutions are silly, others find them to be a very helpful way to focus on their goal and mission or dream for the New Year.(Sometimes when we write them down and share them with others we strive to accomplish them and it motivates us into action!) We are all at different places in our adoption journey- some of us experiencing great joy and blessings, others are working through loss, grief or pain through unfilled dreams, prayers or relationships that are challenging , and still others are in God's "waiting room" in terms of waiting - such as news of a precious child that will be placed in one's family, finding the birth family member we have searched for or getting new information, or waiting for communication in relationships such as open adoption, adoption reunions or an adopted adult child/ or birth parent who has cut off communication with birth or adoptive family. And yet another perspective is one's mission to be used in the area of adoption volunteer work or outreach, a career in adoption, or ministry encouraging those touched by adoption.
Please share your Resolution, Goal, Dream or Mission for the New Year in your adoption journey! No need to be lengthy, can be your brief quote or statement. Thanks for participating!
My Resolution is to find the best avenues for using my skills in the area of adoption ministry with adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive parents. In the past and currently I have been editor of Adoption Blessings Journal- a 20 page free outreach publication- need to find new sources or support/donations to keep this publication in print- I love editing this but find the challenge of cost to print and postage costs rising again in January! I also facilitate adoption triad support groups and may start a 2nd day group 1/2 hour from my home in Hinsdale IL near Chicago with another adult adoptee. Praying for God's leading for me to encourage more persons in their adoption journeys!
Jody Moreen, adoptee, Editor
Adoption Blessings Journals www.adoptionblessingsnewsletter.com

[shefalie]

Hi Jody,
thankyou for asking and therefore giving opportunity for me to formulate what Im heading into this year.....
I breathed a prayer.....Please God let this be the year of the bfather for me......so I guess one of the goals is to hopefully find some more info out and have some contact through an intermediary with someone from my fathers side.....I so want to feel more whole inthis area. To also go through this year with less bitterness/no bitterness in me toward my mother and more compassion and understanding to grow instead.
Also....I have been thinking of compiling some of my own poem/prose to form an adoption journey through poetry........so thats a task and ahalf...
and not actaully adoption related.....but I plan to give away more smiles this year than I did last year.

shefalie

[adoptionblessings]

Thanks Shef for sharing your goals in your adoption journey to connect with your birth father. I pray God may grant your desire and that you may find out more about the missing pieces of your past. What a wonderful idea to journel in prose and poetry your adoption journey! A great way to process and remember the emotions and experiences you are having along the way. Some people also produce art pieces or write songs or compose a diary- other creative ways to remember your journey and share it with others! Thanks Shef for posting and I hope this is a wonderful year for you in your adoption journey!

[shoshanna]

My wish for this year is to bring our son home from Guatemala. I pray that his adjustment (and ours!) will be smooth and that we will blend together as a family without too many difficulties. I also am resolving to become more involved in spreading the word about the importance of special needs adoptions. Maybe I can help encourage other families to consider adoption.

[adoptionblessings]

Shoshanna, May God bring home your son soon so you may unite as a family! I pray that God speeds this process along and goes before you to make the crooked places straight. I would like to mention a wonderful organization for parents of special needs children and finding Christian homes for children of special needs. It it called
www.nathhan.com also called CHASK, Christian Homes And Special Kids- and it was started by Sherrie Bushnell, an adoptive mom of special needs children. Wonderful resources and suggestions for those with special needs children and those who feel God leading them to adopt a special needs infant/child.
Check them out. I included a wonderful article about this ministry in a previous issue of Adoption Blessings Journal. Thanks for sharing your New Years resolution for your adoption journey- Hope others will share their resolutions, dreams and goals for their adoption journeys this coming year!
Jody Moreen, Editor, Adoption Blessings Journal
www.adoptionblessingsnewsletter.com

[Poleczech]

Our adoption goal for 2006 is to find a birthmother who will place our forever baby in our arms. My husband and I suffered 15 years of infertility, and last year, after finally making peace with the fact that we will never be biological parents (I had to have a hysterectomy due to borderline ovarian cancer) we decided that we still truly desired to be parents and so we started our adoption journey. We are homestudy approved and "in the book" with an open adoption agency and are now "waiting on the call" from our birthmother. We pray that the birthmother who choses us will want to remain in our lives and that of our child-to-be through open adoption.
Wishing the best to all ....

[adoptionblessings]

Hopeful Adoptive Mom, what a long journey you have been on with the rollercoaster of emotions in infertility. I want to encourage you in your adoption journey- I am an adoptee and am filled with gratitude for my adoptive parents adopting me and for my birth parents making the heart wrenching choice to place me anothers arms. I pray you will be a parent soon and be rewarded with the joy of a child. I know you have much to share and encourage others who have walked the journey of infertility. I have written many papers on adoption for my Human Services certificate I did about 8 years ago.( the Human Services dept. allowed me to focus my studies and internship on Crisis pregnancy and adoption ) I decided to write a paper on infertility and my adoptive mom gladly volunteered to be interviewed. I learned so much from her sharing and it even made me more appreciative of my parents and their longing for a child. I feel the time we interviewed was really special as I could hear and witness the emotional journey my mom traveled on. Such a lonely time she had as one by one all her close girlfriends were getting pregnant and having baby showers. And sadly my dad and my mom's parents and friends did not know how to come along beside her and be emotionally present. My mom went on to have over 18 foster children and then adopted my sister (who is 4 years older than I ) and I .She is now 83 and caregiving my sister who has a terminal illness. My sister and I are so blessed to have been placed in their family. Blessings to you as you stand on tiptoes awaiting the phone call that will start your parenthood journey! Keep us posted!
Jody M, Editor
Adoption Blessings Journal
www.adoptionblesssingsnewsletter.com

[Poleczech]

I am almost crying reading your post .... thank you so much for your encouraging words. It means a lot, especially hearing of your happiness as an adoptee. I have been on another forum board, and the tone is so different over there on that web forum ..... I have been chastised for wanting to open my heart to a baby. I know the decision to place you in another's arms was a difficult one for your birthmother, but you certainly sound like a well-adjusted person who has respect and love for your first mother and especially your mother who raised you. I am sorry to hear about your sister's illness. What a loving mother to take care of her, even at her age of 83 -- she truly is a loving mother. May God bless you all.

[adoptionblessings]

Thanks Hopeful mom, I pray that in the very near future- that you too will be a mom and that a special child will find love and comfort in your arms. I believe God's timing is best for He knows the big picture and all the details of our complex lives better than we do. Trust Him for He is faithful. It is my hope that He will fill the desire of your heart and bless you abundantly. Thanks so much for sharing! And yes, there are many places on the net where adoption is bashed and frowned upon. All those touched by adoption face a form of loss and grieving that comes with adoption. Some takes years to heal and others a lifetime- and some find themselves stuck in depression and despair and cannot seem to move on to surrendering the loss and allowing God to restore & redeem the broken pieces of their initial dreams.Healing is a process and I do not believe that one ever fully heals - there are often scars that signify the pain of loss. But the intensity and acute pain can be softened in time if one grieves- it is an inner cleansing process. Without letting go and surrendering one's buried hurt- many end up bitter and angry and sadly spend almost all of their energy giving adoption a bad name. I do not deny there are many struggles and pains and challenges in the adoption journey- I have witnessed them in my adoption support group work for over 10 years. But those who embrace the grieving process with a supportive and positive community and give themselves time- are rarely bitter over the past. Many use their energy to support others touched by adoption. They turn their ashes to beauty by comforting and empathising with others in crisis pregnancy or others touched by adoption. Their journey has equipped them to minister to others with comfort, care, wisdom and compassion.
Blessings Hopeful Mom, Jody

[shefalie]

Hopeful Mom,

I just wanted to add alongside Jodys great response to your heart...that I am praying and hoping as well that you will receive the baby who needs you to be their parents....
I was long term fostered....and I know that there are many babies/infants like me, that without having the opportunity to be placed in a family, I would have spent my entire childhood in an orphanage......and not had the direction or some stability that each child needs......I have come to understand that adoption is part of Gods plan for some of us.....and he has an answer to your hearts desires....and I am with you...may 2006 see your hope no longer deferred.

shefalie