As adoptive and special needs parents, our style of parenting can be quite different from traditional parents. Because of our children’s traumatic pasts, there are reasons why we do the things we do, expect the things we expect, and structure the way we structure.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus, known as HIV, is a global disease. But it’s also very misunderstood. Along with that, it carries a big stigma. In today’s episode you’ll hear the story of one couple who intentionally chose to adopt a son who was HIV positive. It’s been a common theme in the short life of this podcast, that goes something like this… “God called us to do this. We listened, we followed, chose to trust, and here we are.” Sounds easy, maybe even a little cavalier. But that’s often the nature of choosing to do something radical, and then trusting that God is going
As parents it’s easy, in our fast-paced lives, to overlook a critical reality- our children are watching us, listening to us, and emulating us. Our words and our actions matter more than we think.
One of the most frequent questions we hear from people who are considering foster care is, “I’m just afraid that….” We understand because we’ve been in that trench. But for different reasons than you might expect.
We hear it all the time in the news- child grows up witnessing domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse, is abused themself, lands in foster care, and goes on to repeat the cycle. On today’s podcast we share the story of a woman who faced all of this but has broken the cycle and beat the odds! The house she was sleeping in was engulfed in flames. If it weren’t for the heroics of a neighbor boy, Nikka Palmer would have been dead. That night she actually wished she would have died. The painful reality of her life was too
In a world that is noisy, fast-paced, and often all-consuming, it’s easy for us to forget that our children need our love on a daily basis. But if we want to be sure they know we love them we must answer some big questions.
Along with providing content that enriches the lives of adoptive, foster and special needs parents, we want to be proactive about creating resources you can pass on to professionals, like a teacher or coach. So when our friend Michele asked us to make a video explaining trauma to teachers, we jumped at the chance!
It’s easy to take your child’s special need diagnosis personally. Often times, we work so hard to find solutions, or fix our children, that we miss the blessings in our new life journey. That was Bruce’s story. When his 8-year old son Bauer was diagnosed with autism, at a very early age, Bruce took it personally, even blamed himself. For years he tried to “fix” his son. He and his wife Bethany took Bauer to therapy 5 days a week, which was helpful, according to Bruce, but often in attempt to fix.
Whether you’re an adoptive, foster, or special needs family, there’s a tricky balance between inviting people into your story and keeping private information, private. The best place to begin? Establish a few key guidelines!
We’ve been known to tell people, often without hesitation, to jump when it comes to the choice to adopt. You may think this is dangerous. We think it’s obvious. And we have some big reasons why.
