An organization in my state that does licensing and placements for foster care posted the following statistics recently on social media: In our state 14 out of every 100 children are in foster care The average stay of these children in foster homes is 700 days There are ~15,000 children in foster care and only 4700 licensed foster homes Like other foster parents, we have had a season with multiple placements in our home at the same time. We had two case workers, two different schedules, the kids went to school in two different towns, and we had two different plans to sort through. Even … [Read more...] about Why Not You?
Orphan Care / Adoption
Hope For the Post-Abortive Woman
Have you ever had to keep a secret? I'm not talking about the surprise trip to Disney Land for your family, but instead the secret that feels like a long slow death. How about keeping that secret for decade upon decades? Wondering over and over again what it will be like if and when it gets out. What more you will lose at the cost of the secret. The thing about secrets is that they are so incredibly powerful even in their silence. It can be so loud it's deafening, but it makes no audible noise as it slowly chokes the life and beauty out of a person's soul. Secrets birth shame, … [Read more...] about Hope For the Post-Abortive Woman
Unconvinced by Bart Barber’s Case for Prioritizing Strict Immigration Enforcement
Yesterday here at Voices, Bart Barber wrote A Non-Nativist Case for Strict Enforcement of Immigration Law. There are several reasons I approached Bart’s article with a lot of anticipation. One of which is the huge amount of respect I have for Bart. Another is that he’s helped me think through immigration-related issues before (here, here, here, and here, for example) in ways that have been really, really helpful. But yesterday’s post left me scratching my head. It’s not that I think Bart is wrong in advocating for the principle of strict enforcement of immigration laws. I’m for border … [Read more...] about Unconvinced by Bart Barber’s Case for Prioritizing Strict Immigration Enforcement
A Non-Nativist Case for Strict Enforcement of Immigration Law
It is the major purpose of law to provide justice for people who are experiencing injustice. A law is a good law if it intends a just outcome. A law is an effective law if it actually accomplishes more justice than it causes injustice. Immigration law is no exception to this general rule. We have immigration law in order to provide justice to people and to minimize the level of injustice suffered by people. To determine whether our immigration laws are good or bad, effective or ineffective, we merely must examine how well they are accomplishing just outcomes for the people affected by … [Read more...] about A Non-Nativist Case for Strict Enforcement of Immigration Law
The World Needs More Foster Dads
With our journey into foster care, I’ve stepped into the social media pond of foster parenting to find resources and make connections with others on the journey. One thing I’ve noticed is that there are a whole lot more foster moms on social media than foster dads. We could assume that these moms are simply more media-engaged than their counterparts. Yet, it’s been my experience that many of these are single foster moms or ladies who lament that their husbands aren’t more engaged. In my face to face experiences, I’ve found the latter to be far from universally true, but you still hear the … [Read more...] about The World Needs More Foster Dads
Book Review: God’s Amazing Grace: Reconciling Four Centuries of African American Marriages & Families by Pastor Terry Turner
A response to a question Blacks have been asked for years, is finally answered in this great book of epic insights by Terry Turner entitled, God’s Amazing Grace: Reconciling Four Centuries of African American Marriages and Families. “Why don’t you just get over it,” is a question many non-Blacks often ask of African Americans, in regards to any civil rights matter. For most Blacks, the answer is not a simple reply because it is so complex. In this book, Turner does an excellent job of breaking down the issues in the Black community that have stifled growth and positive outcomes in their … [Read more...] about Book Review: God’s Amazing Grace: Reconciling Four Centuries of African American Marriages & Families by Pastor Terry Turner
The World Needs More Foster Parents
Fostering—I’m writing on this topic being by no means an expert but being involved. When my wife and I married, we entered our union with a shared conviction: No matter what God gave us for biological children, we wanted our home to be a place to welcome children in need via fostering and adoption. We even moved from our rental to our first owned home recently, a purchase we made specifically to become a foster home. Though there are many avenues, we decided to work through our state and local offices. We attended the informative sessions, took the classes, did our home studies, and … [Read more...] about The World Needs More Foster Parents
Be a light in the NICU
Unexpected tragedy strikes -- that's just life sometimes. As I write these words, it is fresh from the experience of holding my 1-week-old baby girl in the NICU. And I must say, it was a pretty odd place to be. The emotional roller coaster of thankfulness for a new baby but also fear and uncertainty as she is hooked up to multiple wires and tubes has a way of making even the most confident adult feel rattled. In your community right now, there are multiple families at a neonatal intensive care unit. The smallest things can make the biggest difference to a family. Here are a few fresh … [Read more...] about Be a light in the NICU
ADOPTION ON TRIAL: THE TOP THREE QUESTIONS I GET ON INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION
Since announcing our adoption roughly two years ago, my wife and I have encountered a range of questions concerning the details of the process. This article cites the three most often asked questions and provides insights into each of them. 1. WHY ADOPT WHEN YOU CAN HAVE KIDS OF YOUR OWN? When my wife and I first announced our adoption, we didn't have any kids. Today we have a biological daughter. Naturally, before the pregnancy, many assumed that we discovered that we were unable to have biological children. We began to hear comments like, "You just wait! I know of a lot of couples that … [Read more...] about ADOPTION ON TRIAL: THE TOP THREE QUESTIONS I GET ON INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION
Orphan Care: Trendy Cause or Sustained Movement of God’s People?
American Christianity in many ways mimics the culture at large by always going after the latest thing, following the latest celebrity, reading the latest book, and, yes, latching on to the cause of the moment. In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in adoption and global orphan care. I’ll leave it to the statisticians to track the trend lines, but it seems clear that more and more Christians are talking about orphan care, increased numbers of Christians are becoming foster and adoptive parents, and the world is taking notice. Time will tell whether this renewed focus on orphan … [Read more...] about Orphan Care: Trendy Cause or Sustained Movement of God’s People?