Friday, May 25, 2012

Your Adoption Inspiration/Encourager: A Contest!

So, I'm sponsoring my very first contest! :)

Answer the following question in a comment; one comment per reader, please:

Who was your greatest inspiration/encourager when you were considering or waiting to adopt, and why?

Leave a comment between now and Friday, June 1 at noon, Central Time.   I'll choose the most inspirational story, post the name of the winning entrant, and you'll be mailed a few great prizes:   a White Sugar, Brown Sugar tote bag and a copy of Brown Babies, Pink Parents written by my friend Amy Ford. 
 

(If you see your story posted as the winner on June 1, please e-mail me your address:  whitebrownsugar AT hotmail DOT com). 

The more creative and inspirational your story, the more likely you are to win!

4 comments:

  1. My husband and I felt God had called us to adopt for several years. At the time we were in graduate school and lived on poverty level salaries. We decided to wait until we finished school and got jobs to begin the adoption process because of our lack of resources. Last winter my father was diagnosed with stage four skin cancer that had manifested as three large brain tumors. My dad died five months and one day after doctors found the cancer. What my husband and I did not know was that twenty years earlier my father had taken out an insurance policy for me and my two siblings. It was a large policy that in the event something ever happened to dad we would have college money etc... The first thing that came to my mind after finding out about the money was that God had planned our adoptions for decades and He knew this money was going to
    provide for not one but several adoptions. My husband and I told my dad before he passed away about our plan to adopt a son domestically. My father smiled and asked if we would use his name for our child. Ironically, my husband and I had already chosen our son's name and it was after my dad:) The loss of my father was the most devastaing thing that has ever happened in our lives but God has brought something so beautiful out of our loss which is hope. My husband and I are currently "waiting" to be matched with a birthmom. We are so excited for our precious brown baby boy who will be named Truett Munro Nichols. Munro was my dad's middle name. God does make beautiful things out of the ashes!

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  2. Hi my name is Robin..In 2004 I became a nurse care coordinator of a program in Florida called Medical Foster Care. The program work with the State Foster Care system to run specialized foster homes for medically fragile children that are in foster care. On December 10, 2004 I was admitting a young man into a foster home in Orlando when I met an 11 month old baby boy that already was in that foster home. He was the sadest little baby I have ever seen. That day I promised that little boy he would never have to be sad again. It was ironic because I had just finished the classes required to become a foster/adoptive parent. 7 months and 22 days & 12 foster homes later that "beautiful brown" baby boy became my son. His birth name was Robinson and my name is Robin so it was faith that we were to be together. See Robie (as we call him ) has daily struggles; he has CP and AIDS-but he never lets it stop him. After having his 3 surgery in his short 8 yrs Robie is starting to walk some without his crutches. A miracle. He is my hero every minute of his life. He is an inspiration to all who meet him. Our adoption was final on November 18, 2005( National Adoption Day). Since then I have adopted 3 more "beautiful brown" girls Jenna(4) is Robie's bio sister and the other 2 are bio sisters Tori(4) and Cayce(3). I have also fostered over 30 medically fragile children since 2006. I am a 53 yo stay @ home single mom. It is a honor to be call MOM.

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  3. Many years ago my mother did something crazy- she became a kinship provider for my cousin--- that started our lives on a rocky and crazy path. One which I will never regret for it has made me the proud momma that I am today.
    Over the years my mom fostered over 75 children (and she is still at it). through her work as a foster parent and my work as a foster care case manager I knew that I would one day be a foster parent and hopefully adopt. I just didn't know how amazing the journey would be.
    My mom silently stood by me every step of the way. I didn't ask anyone if I should become a foster parent.. I just did it... I didn't ask if I should take a placement... I just did it... and my mom stood by and accepted every gift that was brought to us. I didn't have to ask my mom if she would watch my daughters when I went to work... she just did it... I didn't have to ask my mom if she would help me when my baby girls came home (both at 2 days old less than one week apart)... she just did it. I didn't have to ask her if she thought I should bring my son home less than a year later.. I knew she would be there to help support us and she has never faltered. Being a single working mother has a lot of challenges but I have never had to worry because I know that "grandma" will be there to help.
    I am so lucky to have a a loving, caring and accepting mother who has supported me the entire journey. She is so in love with her grandchildren that we wouldn't change anything. Today I am a single mom to 3 special needs children 3 and younger and my life is as busy as can be but I wouldn't change one minute of it.

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  4. My story is a little bit of a winding road, but here goes! I spent most of last year volunteering at an orphanage in Tanzania, where I fell in love with the 30 incredible children and the amazing women who work with them. Since returning, I have started a nonprofit to continue working with the orphanage and its parent hospital (www.thesmallthings.org) - so far we've put in a well, a water filtration system, instituted a vitamin regimen, installed a chicken coop and planted a garden, redone the playground, rewired the orphanage after a terrible fire, and are in the process of installing solar lighting in the orphanage and maternity ward. Since I started, we've lost two beautiful babies and gained ten who are now thriving, and sent another eight to high quality Tanzanian boarding schools with the help of sponsors.

    I am currently beginning the adoption process with two amazing kids from the orphanage - Zawadi and Simoni. I fell in love with Zi from day one - she was tiny and sick, riddled with worms, and almost died from a nasty bout of pneumonia, but she is a little fighter and she pulled through. Since then she's blossomed into a gorgeous two and a half year old, who has overcome rickets and now walks, runs, jumps, and dances. Similarly, Simoni didn't start walking until two and a half because of his terrible rickets, thought to be from maternal malnutrition. He is so smart, and funny, and creative - he is constantly telling stories and making up songs. He just turned four.

    I am currently a graduate student studying International Development at the London School of Economics - and it kills me every day to be away from them and to be missing these crucial periods of their lives, but I am trying to give them the best possible life in the long run, and that means finishing my education. I have one year left to go, but I am profoundly grateful to spend this summer with them all - I leave in just 19 days, and I'm counting every second. It destroys me not to be able to tell them the adoption is coming, that I'll be taking them home as soon as I can - but the process in Tanzania is very complicated and difficult, so I have to hold off until things are more certain. Whatever happens, next June I am moving back to Tanzania at least semi-permanently and should have custody of them both. In service of that, I'm reading everything I can get my hands on to be the best possible mother to them in the long run. I also continue to work towards giving all of the amazing orphanage kids the futures they deserve through the nonprofit. It's been a long journey already, and it's not even close to over!

    Thanks for all the work that you do.

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