..."almost" a mother...

"A mother's grief is uniquely painful, and yet she [his wife] kept lamenting and trusting--never giving in to despair. I've watched her lament with more grieving mothers than I can count. I've seen mercy emerge within dark clouds as pain became a platform, not a pit."  Mark Vroegop, Dark Clouds Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament

* DRAFT * Accountability: Alienated child/adult/person: Anthropology (Biblical): Attached: Authority: Birth mother/parent/sibling: Biological mother/parent/sibling: Bonded: "Older" child adoption:

* draft * Raising adopted children is just like raising biological children. Raising adopted children is nothing like raising biological children. Adopted children never bond/attach to their adoptive parents or siblings. Adopted children easily, quickly, and lastingly bond/attach to their adoptive parents and siblings. Adoptive parents are/were too lenient or permissive. Adoptive parents are/were too strict or authoritative. Adoptees always want to find their birth mother and/or family. Adoptees never want to find their birth mother and/or family.

"Defending, loving, nurturing, and providing for a homeless child is very close to the heart of God...because the people around you--other members of your family and even your adopted child--will not always recognize the God-honoring beauty of what you are doing. On the hard days when nothing you do seems right and you spend most of your time dealing with conflict and rebellion, you must remind yourself, What I am doing right now, although hard, is close to God's heart . And, What I am doing is exactly what God has called his children to do ." Paul David Tripp (adoptive father) Helping Your Adopted Chil d