I appreciate what I am learning, the connections I am making with others and how God is opening up my heart to embrace this journey. As a teenager and early adult I was pretty independent and rarely sought out others for advice. As I have aged (although not old) I have seen the wisdom from learning from other people's situations, but old habits are hard to break. Asking people questions about their experiences has never been natural for me. I am learning to break this habit! I LOVE hearing about other people's stories of adoption. Today I had a physical and found out the doctor was adopted. She was ready to move onto the next patient, but I wanted to hear her entire life story. I, of course, read her "I'm busy and need to get going look" so I didn't question her, but I could have!! I wanted to know! I'm interested in hearing the stories.
A friend in Idaho has adopted 5 children and recently we were able to talk for about an hour. Unfortunately I had an Adoption Addendum to complete, otherwise it might have been longer. An e-mail she sent to me suggested we get together for tea or lunch to share stories the next time we are up that way. I wanted to hop on the plane right then to have that lunch! There was nothing that sounded better than being able to sit with a friend and have her spill out her MANY stories and the experiences she has had.
This summer, my coworker/friend Kate (who got me the books) e-mailed me that she had met another teacher in our school district (at another school) who had adopted his 3rd child that summer. She thought he might be a good contact to have. Initially I thought "I'm not sure I'll just look up the guy to chat with him about this, but ok - it's very sweet of her to think of me." Until I met him. At a meeting for new teachers where I was helping out I mentioned to a coworker about the adoption process and I hear this guy pipe up "we just adopted our 3rd child this summer." The poor woman I was talking with was suddenly left out. I latched onto this other teacher in conversation like a leach. I wanted to know everything. Thankfully, he likes talking about his children and was willing to share. I appreciated his perspective as a male. In class we hear a lot from females and this tends to be a little more emotional. When talking with him I thought it would be great for Josh to get together with him and hear his stories. A week later I saw him with his wife and 3 children at Target. It was fun to meet a couple who has been through the journey and now has their little nest of children to fill their hearts.
I have been looking for books that might work to share with my nieces and nephews about adoption. I've had a difficult time, but one of my classmates shared a website where I may have found some keepers. I have not checked the following books out, but I'm excited to read them. Do any of you have a book review? :) Perhaps if you have children these books would be a good read for them to understand how Josh & Elizabeth added Baby O to their family (or another family)?
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