The Promise Blog
March 22, 2018
4 Systems That Bring Life To Large Families
It’s a common question when you have a lot of children, “How do you do it?” I think what people are asking is, “How in the world do you manage all the ‘stuff’ of parenting ten kids?!” The emails, the texts, sports schedules, laundry, cooking,...
February 26, 2018
Prayer, Patience & Puzzle Pieces
Special Needs Adoption - Part II (Read Part I here.) My fearless, vision-minded husband had always spoken of adoption. It wasn’t idealistic, newlywed dreaming – he meant it. I’d had two challenging pregnancies, so with minimal convincing, I agreed. For reasons difficult to articulate, we felt...
February 15, 2018
Seven Things To Know
Seven Things To Know About Special Needs Adoption Part I (Read Part II here.) I believe that in some sense all adoptions are special needs. A child is always coming from trauma whether transitioning from an orphanage, a foster home, or an abusive or neglectful family. That...
January 31, 2018
Nurturing Biological Relationships
For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose. Philippians 2:13 Our family has not had a “typical” fostering experience. When I think of being foster parents I often think of a revolving door with children coming...
January 17, 2018
The Kindling of Community
Our youngest son had gone to the doctor a couple days before and our pediatrician had confirmed it–strep. He told us our 8-day-old foster daughter wasn’t in danger of getting it, but by the middle of the first full day of her being in our...
January 4, 2018
Meeting The Parents
Meeting the parents of my new foster child is a lot like knocking on the door of a stranger’s house. It’s hard to predict if the person who opens the door will welcome me inside or shake a fist at me menacingly and demand I...
December 21, 2017
The Power of Parenting Forward
“You are a liar!” I’m not proud of this, but I have outright not just said, but yelled these words at my child. And how did that work for me? It didn’t. I didn’t see or taste any fruit from it. Yes, it certainly felt...
December 7, 2017
Anticipating Love
Advent is the season before Christmas that is meant to help Christians prepare for the coming of Christ into the world. It is a time of waiting with great expectation. This year Advent has taken on a greater significance to me, as we await the...
November 29, 2017
BROKEN – AND BETTER
I managed to live a mercifully long number of years before experiencing the type of suffering that changes everything. Somehow I avoided the kind of heartbreak that forever divides life’s timeline into a before and after. But in this broken and sinful world, the pain...
