“…once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act.”
~Proverbs 24:12



Wednesday, March 10, 2010

What Size Shoes (Will) She Wear?

If one didn't think we were studying up already, we sure have started now!

It took us a while to realize we are meant to adopt; it took us longer to figure out from where we should adopt; and it took us even longer to decide on a placement agency to help us with the adoption process.

However, now that the ball is rolling and we're up to our knees in paperwork, we're reading up on some of the ins and outs of parenting adopted children and, well... parenting in general. We found this cute book on Amazon, which was free thanks to Swagbucks! "Adopting a Toddler: What Size Shoes Does She Wear?" by Denise Harris Hoppenhauer. (Our child will most likely be between 11 and 36 months when we bring him/her home.)

I have a list of several more books that look interesting: "The Russian Word for Snow," "I Love You Rituals," "What I Want My Adoptived Child to Know," "Playful Parenting," etc. The list is endless, really. Something a nerdy book-lover such as myself gets all excited about! Even if they don't turn out to be helpful, at least it's something to keep us busy as we wait until we can bring our child home!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Word is Spreading!

Well, outside of our immediate family we began telling people of our adoption just a few months ago. It seems, however, that word is spreading. How exciting!

I've been so wonderfully surprised to see so many people look almost as excited over our journey as we are! The "congratulations"—just as I would imagine we would receive if we announced I was pregnant—have been unexpected, but oh-so-heartwarming! It makes me think, what was I timid about in the first place?!

We finally have a day scheduled for our interview with our placement agency! We'll be driving up in the beginning of April with folders full of required, notarized documents which will be put into our dossier, translated into Russian, and submitted so that we can receive a referral (information about our potential child/children)!

Without getting into the details, Derek and I might have witnessed the first time our particular future child/children have been referenced. It's odd... I've never been referred to as a "mother" in any way, neither have I ever referred to any person as "my child," whether directly or indirectly. But today, this all is feeling even more real! Our child/children are out there... now... continents away... and lonely. While I've been praying for our babies for months, today it's hitting even closer to home that our children are out there, desperately needing our prayers to God on their behalf.

Please join us in praying for our children today. Pray that they feel our Lord's love and comfort, and that it prepares them to accept the love and comfort we will be committed to giving them once we can bring them home.

CHECKLIST:
• Received final copy of our home study
• Coordinate/schedule trip to placement agency

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Horrible, Just Horrible

I recently came upon an article from Russia about a child abuse case here in the US. Allegedly, a married couple who had adopted twins from Russia beat their son so badly, he tragically passed away.

The Moscow Times article linked to above states:
U.S. police have arrested the adoptive parents of a 7-year-old Russian boy for homicide after an autopsy found more than 80 external injuries on his malnourished body, Channel One state television reported Tuesday.

The case reignited Russian anger over U.S. adoptions, a delicate issue in U.S.-Russian relations in recent years, and could tangle efforts by U.S. President Barack Obama to "reset" ties that deteriorated under the previous administration.

Complicating matters, the boy died in August, and the Education and Science Ministry, which oversees adoptions, accused U.S. authorities of failing to notify their Russians counterparts within the time frame required by international law.

Sickening. Absolutely sickening.

The article goes on to say:
Foreign Ministry spokesman Igor Lyakin-Frolov said cases of Russian children dying in adoptive U.S. families "have become systematic recently," Interfax reported Wednesday.

From 1996 to March, at least 15 Russian children appear to have died at the hands of their adoptive foreign parents, including 14 in the United States and one in Canada, a spokesman for the Education and Science Ministry said by telephone Wednesday.

There are thousands of US families that would make wonderful parents to lonely Russian orphans—giving them a life infinitely better than one spent institutionalized. And the children would, in turn, make these families' lives infinitely better and more complete.

Unfortunately, however, there are parents like the ones in the article. And sadly, situations like these make it much more difficult for couples like us to be a “forever family” to these orphans.

Take an excerpt from this other Russian article for example, headlined “Another adopted Russian boy beaten to death in US”:
In response to (the boy’s) death a Russian senator has forwarded a proposal to introduce a temporary moratorium on American parents adopting Russian orphans, information agency RIA-Novosti reported.

Valentina Petrenko, the Head of the Parliament’s Committee on Social Policies, said that the situation should be discussed with the US Department of State, but for the time being, no Russian children should be adopted by American couples.

I pray for everyone in that family, particularly the twin sister left now without her brother and—undoubtedly—without parents yet again. I also pray for the loving and hopeful prospective adoptive parents (PAPs), that our journeys will not be hindered by such evil.

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