The Child We Couldn't Adopt
In looking through these gorgeous faces, a 5-year-old boy stood out to my husband and I. In his picture, he’s smiling and leaning in, and there’s a spark to his eyes. In reviewing the brief overview on him, it said he had a condition where the ribs grow inward and often constrict the heart and lungs. Seeing that, it made sense to us that his bio also mentioned that he tired easily with exercise.
We had no idea what we were about to find out.
4 Things to NEVER Say to Someone Who is Adopting
As an adoptive parent, you know that you'll have to deal with unwanted comments for the rest of your life, especially if the child looks different from you. However, I don't think most of us knew the things we were going to deal with in the process of adoption.
In the hopes of saving some other "in-process-to-adopt" parent some grief, here are four things never to say to someone trying to adopt, and what you should say instead:
You are Not Your Disease: How to De-Personalize Illness and Ignite Healing
“MY allergies are killing me this year.”
“MY back pain is awful.”
“MY chronic bronchitis is getting so much worse.”
“MY cancer is in remission. I hope it stays that way.”
Every time I hear the word “MY” attached to a pain, disease, or illness, I want to smack that word right out of the sentence. Why? Because the more you personalize an illness, the more power you give it to stick around.
Here’s why (and what to do about it):
A BLIND Pole Vaulter? Incredible Inspiration for Living Fearlessly
I'm always amazed by the indomitable nature of the human spirit, but today's story is perhaps more shocking than most.
Perusing the web looking for inspirational stories, I ended up coming across a headline: Blind Pole Vaulter Flies Fearlessly. Curious as to how anyone could possibly DO such a thing, I clicked to read about how Charlotte Brown, 16 years old and legally blind, is competing at a high level in the sport. More importantly, what I also discovered is a treasure trove for how to live fearlessly AND parent kids who believe in their potential, not their obstacles.