Category: Spiritual
-
Two years
Two years since we started exploring adoption again Preparing Jackie, Observing her disposition and openness. Again, Conrad was ready first. Decisive. I stood my ground in prayer: To keep my mind and heart open To be patient and strong To walk the bureaucratic steps To put my trust in God And to adapt to the…
-
Doi ani
Doi ani de cand am tatonat iar terenul adopției Pregătind-o pe Jackie, Cercetându-i dispoziția și deschiderea. Dar hotărârea a rămas a noastră. Din nou Conrad a fost gata întâi. Hotărât. Eu am rămas cu ruga: Să-mi țin mintea și inima deschisă Să am răbdare și putere Să parcurg pașii birocratici, Să-mi pun încredrea în Dumnezeu…
-
Retrospective – half a decade
5 years ago exactly, we took a leap of faith and we moved to Romania. A few suitcases full of our earthly belongings, but a heart full of courage and a mind full of dreams. I had to go away first, across the ocean, far from my comfort zone and familiar culture. To intertwine our lives…
-
A way through the wilderness
Two months ago I went to a meeting with a large number of families “in-waiting”. Single people and couples certified to adopt, waiting to be matched with an adoptable child. At the time, there were no kids in process of becoming adoptable. The week before I had caused some waves, documented on this blog, as…
-
Summit-ul ARFO 2019
O călătorie la București este întotdeauna copleșitioare. Am încercat să găsesc orice scuză bună pentru a nu merge la #ARFO2019, fără succes însa. Așa că m-am dus. Nu știam pe nimeni acolo. Am discutat la telefon cu organizatorii conferinței ARFO, și am simțit că trebuie să îi cunosc personal. Am fost atrasă de acest summit…
-
Despre traumă
Se vorbește mult despre trauma in mediul adopției. Si bine se face, pentru ca prea s-a tăcut pana acum. Trauma e diversa, si fiecare o percepe, o trăiește si o procesează altfel. Nu vorbesc dintr-un punct de vedere certificat profesional, ci intuitiv, ca om care a trăit intre oameni. Si ca părinte adoptiv care încearcă…
-
My first American pen-pal
…still inspires me to share my heart. Here is my response to her recent encouraging note. Thank you for the words of love and encouragement, mama Gloria! Indeed, meeting you in Galați at 14, was a most blessed connection that changed the course of my life. I was just thinking about how I myself changed…
-
Fantasy
You rarely if ever hear anybody call out fantasy as sin. But when it blinds you to reality, or it stops you from living life to the fullest, according to God’s plan and gifts… then it’s a sin. I was reading an article in a magazine about a young woman, very godly otherwise, who kept…
-
Courage is contagious. Faith is contagious.
Kids have a natural ability to embrace spirituality. At age 3 Jackie couldn’t sit still in church. That takes practice. But we didn’t force on her nothing that we wouldn’t do or didn’t do as kids. Knowing God and learning about Him are as essential as learning the colors and the numbers. It’s not something…
-
6th birthday and a file
The guests have gone. The house is quiet and clean. We celebrated Jackie’s sixth birthday with just a handful of friends. It was so good. Downsizing can be daunting. Because I have an issue with inadvertently excluding anyone. I go out of my way to put people at ease, though I’m not a people pleaser.…
-
Integrity & Trust
“If we don’t have trust, we have nothing.” Jackie declares with passion as we discuss the importance of telling the truth. Why do we value integrity? Why do we make it part of our DNA? Are some people less tempted to take shortcuts than others? Everything has a price. What are you willing to pay…
-
In His company
In adolescence I read this book about how people experience God. Instinctively, some people are very artistic and emotional, others are very cerebral, and facts and logic is what makes them tic. Everyone in the world is a combination of these two ways of relating to nature and to God. Personally, I read the Scriptures…