Sharing our hearts

Last night we had a tour of Sunrise adoption agency and had a lovely dinner with 5 of their employees. They asked a lot of questions for Bryan, Christina and I to answer and it was really nice to share our hearts about Beautiful Gate. After dinner, we headed over to a community center where we would be doing a presentation and then sitting on a panel to answer questions about Lesotho and Beautiful Gate. There was one couple who was matched and another whose profile has already been sent to Lesotho. Another couple who were filling out paperwork, but had not yet chosen a country and many others who were elsewhere in the adoption process. It was great to share a few stories of kids who have come and gone out of BG and to share about what BG's mission and purpose is.

Afterward I had the chance to talk a little more with a few of the couples and it was so nice to hear of the excitement and anticipation, but it was also heartbreaking to hear of their incredibly long and hard waits. One of our friends who was on the panel and has adopted from Beautiful Gate twice, gave one of the best analogies of adoption I have ever heard. She said that adoptive families are like extreme families. Many people can ride motorbikes and even do a few tricks, but then there are those who go to the extreme such as extreme motorbiking. The emotions of an adoptive family are extreme, from hopelessness, frustration, and longing to intense love, protection, and attachment. These families go through such a range of emotions and it is extreme and it lasts for life. Some of the trauma a child experiences before they are joined to their new family will be with that child for life and when these families adopt them, it will be their responsibility to walk through that trauma with their child. Some of the hurdles of growing up in an institution will also cause some frustrations for both the child and their parents, but these can be overcome. It will be hard, but I imagine when they walk through it together, it will bring them closer. Adoptive families are my heroes and it was such a blessing to be able to share our hearts full of love for their future children, if they are matched with a child from Beautiful Gate.