Shoe designed for people with special needs!

This is a great article on a new shoe designed by Nike for those who have difficulty putting on regular shoes. Could be really helpful to a lot of people!





http://www.kptv.com/story/29582869/nike-creates-shoe-specifically-designed-for-people-with-disabilities?autostart=true

New Page!

Hi everyone! Just wanted to give you a heads up about the newest page here. There can be a lot of hidden costs after you get home with your child as well as the need to find resources you weren't expecting. The newest page is called adaptive resources and will be a work in progress covering all that stuff you'll need after you're home with your bundle of joy! Check back often to see what's new!

Just one more

Beautifully written article about proceeding to bring home just one more child. Loved ones and friends who haven't been there mayn't realize the discernment families go through in making that decision and the whys behind it. We are in discernment right for not one, but two more. At the same time. I tempted God. Funny how that goes!


http://www.nohandsbutours.com/2015/02/19/adoption-hard-start-harder-stop/#comment-15324

Not soon enough

My heart breaks tonight. Even in the best of circumstances, adoption doesn't always happen soon enough. I read somewhere several months ago only 20 percent of the children who need families actually make it into a family. Terrible odds. With all that we have in this world, it is tempting to think thing surely must be better now. And for many of the world's children, perhaps conditions in orphanages and foster care is better than it used to be. Even that isn't enough. Why do American parents adopt internationally when children need homes here?

You may find the answer here:

http://crazylifeofthewilksfamily.blogspot.com/2014/02/today-orphan-died-in-china.html?spref=fb

Sleepless Mama calls out to the universe

Recently, I have dwelled on the children I was not able to bring home. Over this past weekend, I checked on the other young men I had been considering when I started the process to adopt my son over a year and a half ago; Four boys still wait. One ages out next month. I don't want that young man's future to be one of marginalization and that feeling will not let me sleep. I cannot believe no one will scoop him up and give him all that he needs in life! Can you make room for one more child in your life? He's healthy, does all right in school, is an athlete, plays well with the other children and has a big heart. Act now. Contact me for more details and contact an adoption agency. He doesn't have time to wait.

This article appeared on one of the boards I subscribe to. It was the first thing I read this morning. Do you think it was chance that it fell into my hands to read on a night when my heart burns so much to find a young man a family that I cannot sleep? It is a long article. My heart broke all over again.

http://aeon.co/magazine/world-views/whats-it-like-to-be-disabled-in-china/

Equal isn't always equal

We in the US can shout EOOE! and ADA! all we want. There will still be those who don't embrace this and those discomfited by it and still those who remain ignorant about people with differences. I encounter this with respect to my children--especially Miracle Man. Although, as time has gone by, and he has had more surgeries, that has lessened. Especially after the last surgery where he had rhinoplasty and lip repair.

In my work life, I have to over come ignorance and prejudice on behalf of the people I serve. Sometimes it is with respect to getting volunteer positions to ready someone for real-world work. Other times it is to enable a client to receive the medical care they need. I have encountered this several times over the last few weeks. The most recent was in getting medical help for a very challenged person. The medical professional providing service thought she knew everything about my client's needs because she had a son with similar needs. This person did not see my client as an individual and would not accommodate my client's needs--going against protocols and potentially against ADA requirements. She also dismissed the diagnoses of other medical professionals with a wave of the hand: she knew everything and no one else was qualified to perform the services she did. Other medical professionals had been able to make these accommodations and follow protocols. They were not unreasonable.

Here is an article from USA Today about one family's fight to get medical care for their daughter:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/05/disabled-transplant-amelia-rivera/2917989/

This week we celebrate Halloween, All Saints Day, and El Dia de los Muertos. There's another current running through this coming Sunday, Orphan Sunday. While we wouldn't be celebrating that 153 million children worldwide are orphans, there has been a movement among some church groups to dwell on support of orphans and orphan care together as a body on a single day. Here's the URL to their website http://orphansunday.org/

Since many liturgical churches celebrate All Saints Day this coming weekend, a friend of mine suggested we do Orphan Sunday on an alternate Sunday, St. Nicholas' feast day in Advent. Among other things, St. Nicholas is patron saint of children so it would be very fitting. What do you think?

Three articles on church support of international adoption families

Christianity Today article on how churches can support adoptive parents

These are really good--especially the last one. If you're not Christian, please don't let it deter you from reading the articles; they can be applied to your own center of faith too.

Children in Families First 2013

When I created this post there wasn't a badge I could use to set up a connecting link to the CHIFF website so I shared their infographic regarding orphans and adoption which turned out to be much larger than I wanted on the front page of my blog roll.

In a nutshell, CHIFF or Children in Families First looks to improve children's lives world-wide by focusing on reducing the number of children world-wide who live without families. It's aim will be to build child welfare systems that reunify children with their biological families or see them adopted into extend family, their community of origin, domestically, or internationally. You'll find news and information on legislation, impact of living without a family, stories about orphans and other vital information.  I'm including the badge here and in the sidebar so it doesn't get lost in the archives.

A father's love

The decisions the father in this story has to make on behalf of his daughter will touch you to the core. The story is both heart-wrenching and warming.  Many parents around the globe must make these tough decisions. No parent should have to.

http://www.chinasmack.com/2009/stories/impoverished-farmer-father-abandoned-girl-daughter.html

Her birth mother found her

It wasn't her dream, but the author got to experience what many adopted children long for: reconnection with their past and with the family who had to make the difficult decision to place them for adoption.

http://www.salon.com/2013/09/16/when_my_birth_mother_found_me/