Why do you want to adopt!

I hear this a lot, so I thought I would share our feelings on this subject.

Rob and I have already raised seven children, several are married now and we both feel that there is still much we can give as parents. After much prayer and talking it over with our grown children and close friends; we all agreed that this is a calling and passion for us. Actually we believe that our parenting skills are much more honed after raising our own and we have the added benefit of wisdom from going through the child rearing process a few times. Don’t we all wish that as parents we knew back then what we KNOW now! I do! All the great things we did and the mistakes, that as human parents we all have made, to be able to parent armed with this knowledge! Just think how the process of raising a child can be with the seasoning of insight. With age we see life values clearer, no longer trying to accomplish family rearing and the corporate ladder climb simultaneously. To not be swayed by popular culture, well meaning grandparents giving advice or by what the neighbors are doing.
In this season of our lives having more natural children is just not what we want to do. But to be blessed by a child that is older and has been waiting to be part of a forever family, now THAT is exciting! Giving him a home that is established and with family who see him in all his amazing potential and the blessing that he will bring to enrich our lives. We see this as a winning combination. Adoption is not about a child; it is a greater vision of lives intersecting, families being birthed and lives joining together. It is like a patchwork quilt made of many colorful squares of cloth that are placed side by side, each piece telling a different story. A blue square tells of days in the garden, the red square was from Grandmothers favorite dress, and the yellow flowered piece was once a little girl’s sun suit. One square alone does not make the quilt; it becomes a piece of art only when all the parts become whole. Than the maker of the quilt stitches each piece together, when she is done all the patterns, colors and stories come to life. That is adoption and this is why we chose to adopt. Life is about joining together, going through phases of change and growth. It is about becoming a colorful quilt that can warm others as well as our family.