Abram (later Abraham) was told by God that he would be the "father of many nations", yet it was many, many years before that promise came to fruition. During that time, Sarai, his wife, became frustrated and took matters into her own hands by giving Abram to her maid, Hagar, to conceive a child with. That wasn’t God’s plan, however. His plan was that Sarai (later Sarah) would give birth to a child. She found this notion ridiculous, as did her husband, and they laughed. (Gen. 17:17; Gen. 18:12). However, as most of us know, Sarah and Abraham became parents at 90 and 100 respectively.

Though most of us would say we would not have resorted to the methods Sarah used, nor would we have... more

Just as you build a relationship with a natural child in utero, by talking to your child and other things, you can build a relationship with your child(ren) before they reach your home through adoption. Depending on the type of adoption and where you are adopting from, doing a few or all of the following may help to build a relationship and ease transition issues:

• Make a scrapbook: You can scrapbook your daily life; pictures of your home; the child(ren)’s room; where you worship; and friends/family that you interact with on a regular basis - anything that can help give them an idea of what life will be like with you. • Write: We’ve... more

Generally speaking, with the "traditional" arrival of a child, you know you have 9-1/2 months, give or take. Thus, you have an approximate due date that you can fix you attention upon and plan toward.

With adoption, there are no due dates – you don’t know if there will even be a date.

Thus it is at Casa Stro today. We went shopping for the last few items needed to complete the children’s rooms. We wanted to finish up the rooms so we could photograph them for the scrapbook suggested by our social worker to acclimate the kids to life with us.

We’re working steadily toward something nebulous and somewhat surreal; all the while keeping in the back of... more

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”. Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life” (NASB).

Both of these verses are my continual companions these days. As I write this, we are in our third month of waiting for signing of the consent that will allow our adoption of two precious siblings to proceed.

Since the beginning of November, we have called our new son and daughter each week. Until the paperwork is signed, the kids only know us as “friends” of their foster parents. We have formed such a tremendous bond with them and love them so very much already. ... more