Days ago my eyes rested on my 8 and 11-year-old sons wedged into a chair built for one, a book in each set of hands, and a fleece blanket over their collective lap. I smiled and thought to myself, “I cannot imagine those two without each other.” They share a room, are best friends, and…
Tag: Adoption
Daughter
God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:5 NLT I am a sister of King Jesus,Daughter of our great loving God.I wasn’t born into this perfect family.In fact, I…
The Slow Grace of Time
Last night I snuggled cozily into an overstuffed chair with my seven-year-old son on my lap while watching a show about Australian crocodiles. This ordinary moment reminded me how far we’d come – he and I – and how as Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, God really does make everything beautiful in its time. In 2013 my…
Love of the Mothers
When I imagined becoming a mom, it was pretty straight-forward. I wasn’t worried about deciding on my parenting style or what kind of food I would feed my hypothetical children. There were no thoughts in my head about how to handle toddler poo-tastrophies or teen anxieties when the SAT test loomed. I didn’t have a…
Loved Already
The 12-pound black-haired baby had ridden all night on a train through the vast Chinese countryside. She was giddy with exhaustion and passed serenely into my arms. I stared into her familiar eyes—eyes I had stared at for countless hours in grainy orphanage photographs. Who are you? I wondered. Of course, she was my daughter,…
How Resting in Christ Freed Me from Bitterness
Growing up in the church, I was always told God was good and that He loves us, and I didn’t question it for a second. It wasn’t until I was an adult enduring infertility when I began wrestling with those concepts. “God, are you good?” “Do you see me?” “Why does everyone get to move…
Fostering Change
Driving down the highway on auto-pilot, I spoke outloud to the little one gazing sleepily out the window as I breathed in the early morning air. “Today you get to be with your mom and dad all day, and pretty soon you don’t have to leave them anymore. They are going to take care of…
The Legacy of Adoption
Author: Kimberley Mulder My daughter was born and abandoned. This is a fact I cannot change. It deeply affects her sense of the world and herself. She, nor I, can separate ourselves from this legacy—as painful as it is. In fact, disowning or denying it equates to putting a rock in a crack to create…
Loving Obedience
“Wow. I could never do what you’re doing. I would get so attached, and never be able to let them go home.” I have heard this, or variations of this, thought throughout the years from kind well-meaning people. This statement, that strokes my pride but forgets the work God has done in me, is the…
The Thanksgiving Phone Call that Changed our Lives
Author: Keri Nikkel It was Thanksgiving Day. My husband Matt and I were at my in-laws, busying ourselves with laughter, food prep, and good conversation. Finally, the time came to eat. All the smells that had been tempting us for hours were about to be enjoyed. The food was set out buffet style in the…
Anchored Voices 