I’ve been devouring books by Deborah D. Gray. I bought her Attaching in Adoption awhile back, based on the phenomenal reviews I got online and from people I knew. Because I had so many other books that were recommended to me, in addition to all the pre-adoption preparation I was going though at the time, I set the book aside.

This week, I came across Ms. Gray’s latest book, Nurturing Adoptions, and I snapped it up. Hubby and I feel at such a loss as to how to handle the profound issues our daughter has, and this book seemed to have answers. It does... more

Usually when there is some sort of discussion raging on boards or in our articles, I tend to be fairly quiet. But I think on this one, I’ll speak up, because it helps explain my philosophy about adoption and life. Please note that my comments are not directed specifically at any of the bloggers here who have done some outstanding work justifying why they feel as they do. These are just some observations that bug me as a newcomer to adoption and adoption Political Correctness.

This discussion centers on titles. What to call a first... more

You’ve seen ‘em … and most likely forwarded them onto friends because the e-mail directs you to “pass this on to everyone in your address book” … Yep, we’re talking about Internet hoaxes today.

I’ve learned to run everything in my e-mail box through Snopes.com. In fact, when re-tooling my iGoogle homepage recently, I put the Snopes New Urban Legends plug-in right there for me to see each day.

So, there I was today, and Help... more

The time between the moment you decide to adopt and finally holding the child(ren) of your dreams spans eons. How can you survive the wait?

Pray: Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Pray for everyone involved with your adoption.

Memorialize the wait time: Blog, journal, scrapbook, but somehow create a way to document your journey.

Read: Currently on my bedside shelf you will find: Raising Adopted Children, Post-Adoption... more

On a recent episode of Adoption Stories, they profiled a family pursuing an international adoption. As international adoptions can take some time, the child was temporarily placed with a foster family. Though you were so happy to see this beautiful child adopted by a loving family, it was equally heartbreaking to see the devastation the foster mother felt as she said her goodbyes.

As a child, I was forbidden to watch... more

The other day, I was reading “The Family Expansion,” a blog by Sheri and Lyle Hatton, expectant parents from Canada who are adopting from Ethiopia.

Sheri received the following thought-provoking comment from one of her readers:

“As a society we are overrun with consumerism. What can we get, how fast can we get it, how cheaply can I get it, who is going to give me the best deal...we see it on TV, in magazines, in the newspaper, in stores it is taking over. The adoption... more

I have the best of intentions to blog five days a week. Then life happens. Last week, I had back-to-back work deadlines that demanded a quick turnaround. I also celebrated my birthday (it’s unconstitutional to blog on your birthday) and we spent the weekend towing a U-Haul around Washington state, moving household items among family members.

So it was with great delight that I discovered that I am now the happy colleague of a new co-blogger here at the Christian Adoption blog. I haven’t even officially “met” Marie yet, but I’ve been told that she and her husband are in the process of finalizing the adoption of a young sibling group and that they are also the parents of a “homegrown”... more

Last night I was the guest speaker at the monthly meeting of the Northwest Christian Writers Association (NCWA). My topic: “Boggled by Blogging: Weblog Basics for Novices and Non-Techies.”

Of course, I got to talk about adoption, as well, since that's the topic I blog about on my two blogs. After the meeting, I met two people with a connection to blogging: one woman is in the home study process to adopt from Vietnam and a man adopted his child 47 years ago.

I had a great time sharing blogging tips with the friendly, welcoming audience of 50-60 writers. In my past life, I was a high school journalism and English... more

This is the best news of the century! This week I read that eating ice cream can enhance fertility (and no, I didn’t read it in the National Enquirer).

The findings came from the Nurses Health Study at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Researchers found that women who ate ice cream two or more times a week had a 38 percent lower risk of infertility than women consuming ice cream less than once a week.

Women who ate two or more low-fat dairy products a day were nearly twice as likely to have trouble conceiving... more

Take the following quiz:

Name the five wealthiest people in the world. Name the last five Heisman Trophy winners. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest. Name the last five Academy Award winners for best actor and actress. Name five people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize.

How’d you do?

Now take the following quiz:

List five teachers who aided your journey through school. Name five friends who have helped you through... more