Movies

Adoption is getting so much more airtime than it got when I was growing up. I love that its growing to have a postive light around it and myths are being debunked even in the media. While I was thinking about adopted characters Z often dresses up as, movies and TV shows that present adoption in a positive light started coming to me, too, and I couldn't help but share some of them. I'm sure I'm missing quite a few, so if you know of any that I didn't put here, please let me know by leaving a comment.

Annie
Webster
Diff'rent Strokes
Punky Brewster
all the Super Heroes in the last list
Tarzan...sure Tarzan is adopted by gorillas, but the movie still shows us you don't have to look just like your family members to be a family
Meet the Robinsons...one of our favorites. This Disney movie is awesome.
Kung Fu Panda
Kung Fu Panda 2...this one is all about adoption and Po's search for "who he is"
Hook...remember this one? One of my very favorite movies. In Peter Pan and Wendy by J.M. Barrie the lost boys come home with Wendy, John, and Michael and become...adopted.
The Blindside
Despicable Me
Matilda

Know any others?

Losing Isaiah...thought I should take a moment to debunk this one. I think this one is terrible and discouraging. It will send you into a sob fest and not the good kind (i.e. The Blindside). This movie terribly portrays the majority of adoption. In fact, I have reason to believe this movie is more about foster care. I'm not sure because I haven't reviewed it in a decade and don't plan on it, but as far as adopting in America, once a child has LEGALLY become yours, the child is YOURS. I think Isaiah might have been a foster child who's mother decided to parent her child, a notion that is encouraged for kids in state care. Therefore Isaiah was taken from the only family he knew for four years. This does happen with foster care, but one knows this on becoming a foster parent. This is not a normal reality for adoption. Just wanted to do my part in speaking truth where I feel this movie has put a veil over it.


Check some of these out if you haven't already. Can you think of any others?

South Carolina's Children

Have you ever been to a Clemson football screen and seen this pop up on the big Paw Vision? Or perhaps driven down one of our state roads and seen it plastered on a billboard? Have you ever wondered about those kids...who they are, where they are, maybe even how to get involved?

I have seen the above logo for a couple years now and what once started as a compassionate pull on my heart has morphed into a passion that is changing my DNA. The logo represents children in SC's care. In pursuing this passion I have picked up some numbers involving these kids.

Numbers that have really messed with me.
I just have to share them with you.

In our state 5,000 children, give or take, are in foster care on a daily basis.

Well over 700 children are legally free for adoption...this means their parents' rights to them have been terminated and they are waiting for a forever family.

Over 1,600 have a plan of adoption over their life, meaning the chances of them returning to their biological family is very bleak.

The average stay of a child in foster care is two and a half years, but for some it's much longer.

In the USA there are 107, 000 children legally free and waiting to be adopted into a family.


I can't get these facts out of my head. Five thousand children means these are children we see on a daily basis. They aren't tucked away out of sight. They are all around us. They go to school with our children. They go to church with us. And the bottom line is they are just kids.

What can we do to help?

We can advocate. We can foster. We can adopt. We can mentor. We can pray hard.

Please join me in praying for these kiddos. They are worth it. I know this post is a little heavy, but it's worth it to me. If you have questions, I'll try to answer them. Leave me a comment. If you're wondering how you can help, know that there is a place for you, and it is a battle worth fighting.


To view the USA's waiting children click here

South Carolina Heart Gallery

They're just kids...

Well then.

It's pretty bad when you're singing a lullaby to your two year old and they say, "Stop mommy. That makes my ear hurt."

Wow. Am I that bad? So funny!!

Who's Who...

I couldn't resist.

Who's who in adoption...

Superman
Spiderman
Batman
Robin (of Batman &)
Kung Fu Panda
Mowgli
Tarzan
Iron Man
X-Men
Webster (remember him?)

Now, how about that. All of the above are adoptees. And that's just some of the boys. I know there are lots more. How about some girls?

Pippi Longstocking
Anne of Green Gables (my personal favorite)
Punky Brewster
Annie
Pollyanna

Isn't that neat!? Have any to add?
I was so excited to share with Zeke that some of his favorite characters were adopted just like him! And on a deeper note, isn't it interesting that so many super heroes have adoption written into their history. They go from an orphan to redemption and go forward fighting for justice and truth. Puts a whole new endearing spin on my Z's obsession with Super Heroes.

Interesting, eh?

November is....

National Adoption Month!!!

Yay for Adoption!! This month, along with my semi-regular posts, I am going to try to be intentional in posting special Adoption posts. Our family has been forever changed by adoption and I am thankful to my core that it is in our family DNA. We celebrate adoption this month, how it has brought our family together, healed my heart, and ministered to my family and our friends. It shows us the great lengths Father went to to bring us home to Himself
and it secures our place with Him, in His forever family.

I challenge you all, including myself, to think about all the kids in our county, nation, and world waiting for a forever family. Think about them, pray for them, maybe even ask how you might make a difference to them. They are worth it...just like you were!

Creation Groans from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

What to wear, What to wear?

For a kid like Zeke, Halloween brings a big dose of indecisivement. What is a boy to wear when playing dress-up is his favorite pastime? Well, the answer is, he chooses lots of things...

Here he chose Spider Man and gives us his best Spider Man face

Here, with his sassy 85 year old great grandmother, he chooses Iron Man, or as my grandfather said in all seriousness and confusion, "Who is cast-iron Man?"

Here, for his school wide dress up day, he chose Woody which worked out fabulously since his close friend chose Bullseye, unbeknowgst to us.

Here, Zeke chose Super Man to protect Strawberry Shortcake, atleast that's who she says she was. What a cute pair!

Super Man and his best buddy "Cole-Man". The dynamic duo!

Go Strawberry Shortcake down that slide made for big kids!

Hannah didn't QUITE make the cut, that's what happens when you take

pictures in the dark on a hayride.