River of Thoughts

Last week, I shared with y’all the beautiful “why” of our adoptions. Now, I want to show you how five minutes of your time could help thousands of children live a similar love story. As you may have heard, the Justin-Bieber-popular federal adoption tax credit is scheduled to be drastically cut at the end of this year. Like to $0 for most adoptive families. Without this credit, many families will not be able to afford the high cost of adopting a child. Despite your narcoleptic reaction every time you hear the word “legislation,” this is important. Stay awake through the […]

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I love hedgehogs. Last week, my amazing friend Andi Cumbo made me this super-cute hedgehog. You can get one too, handmade just for you, from her Etsy shop, and support her dream for “God’s Whisper,” a retreat for artists in the Virginia mountains. This started me thinking about *why* I love hedgehogs so much, and what we can learn from them… A hedgehog is a solitary creature. I can relate. She is perfectly happy to cuddle up all alone in a warm little fleece bag. She won’t come out voluntarily unless you’re holding a mealworm in front of her nose. But […]

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Welcome to Fiction Friday.  Each Friday, I’ve shared with y’all a glimpse into the mind of Zach the Zombie and some of his friends.  If you remember, an old friend returned last week, and fell apart in Zach’s arms. You know the drill–this is only very minimally edited.  I still appreciate grace and forgiveness, please…no red pens!     “Zach?” She says it so quietly, I almost miss it. My mind was not here with us. “Yeah?” “Sorry.” I feel her body shift, and I pull her in tighter and rest my cheek on her head. She relaxes and mutters “I’m sorry” again. […]

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People ask why we adopted. (I sometimes want to look back at them and ask why they gave birth, but that’s a different post.) We’ve told the story of how; we’ve told the story of what and where. And you certainly have heard about how the girls have changed our lives. But I don’t think we’ve ever sufficiently answered why. It’s simple, really…we fell in love. For us, adoption wasn’t an answer to infertility, it wasn’t a way to meet a deep unfulfilled yearning to be parents, it wasn’t even through a passion to “save” an orphan. We just fell […]

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Welcome to Fiction Friday.  Each Friday, I’ve shared with y’all a glimpse into the mind of Zach the Zombie and some of his friends.  If you remember, an old friend returned a while back. You know the drill–this is only very minimally edited.  I still appreciate grace and forgiveness, please…no red pens!     She sits down and peers at me over the edge of the coffee cup. Like she’s been here the whole time. Wow. Not really sure how she thinks this is ok.  But she knows.  She knows I’ll forgive her. Eventually. “I’ve been to the City,” she repeats. I try […]

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