Saturday, August 18, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
Selecting a Quality, Adoption-Focused Book
New adoption-focused books are published frequently. Keeping up with all of the literature can be overwhelming, and recommended reading lists can quickly become outdated. Before selecting a book, take time to consider the following tips.
*Consider the Author
*What credentials or experience with adoption does the author have?
*Does the author caution readers about how personal experiences should not be generalized to a broad community?
*Does the author recommend materials for further reading from sources you respect?
*Seek a Comprehensive Perspective
*Avoid an author who offers simplistic answers to complex issues.
*Watch out for stereotypes or negative attitudes toward specific groups.
*Look for Accurate Information
*Remember, just because something has been published in a book, it isn't necessarily true. Are reliable sources cited in the work?
*Seek up-to-date materials. Older literature may reflect ideas and approaches that are no longer recommended.
*Read Reviews and Get Recommendations
*Websites, listservs, and community forums are filled with comments on published materials.
*Get recommendations from trusted sources
New adoption-focused books are published frequently. Keeping up with all of the literature can be overwhelming, and recommended reading lists can quickly become outdated. Before selecting a book, take time to consider the following tips.
*Consider the Author
*What credentials or experience with adoption does the author have?
*Does the author caution readers about how personal experiences should not be generalized to a broad community?
*Does the author recommend materials for further reading from sources you respect?
*Seek a Comprehensive Perspective
*Avoid an author who offers simplistic answers to complex issues.
*Watch out for stereotypes or negative attitudes toward specific groups.
*Look for Accurate Information
*Remember, just because something has been published in a book, it isn't necessarily true. Are reliable sources cited in the work?
*Seek up-to-date materials. Older literature may reflect ideas and approaches that are no longer recommended.
*Read Reviews and Get Recommendations
*Websites, listservs, and community forums are filled with comments on published materials.
*Get recommendations from trusted sources
Free Bethany Webinar for Adoptive Parents
Loving All of Our Child: Why an adoptee's story matters
Thursday, August 23 • 7 to 8:30 p.m. (EST)
Featuring Authors Susan TeBos and Carissa Woodwyk
Please join us to explore:
The fragile beginnings of an adoptee's life.
The impact relinquishment has on the human soul.
Your role in creating a path of trust, openness, and connectedness that will leave your child feeling wanted, loved, and honored.
With complementary strengths as speakers, TeBos and Woodwyk will leave you inspired and moved as you discover the truth and hope that exists in each adoptee's story.
Register at www.BethanyLifelines.org/lifestory
Loving All of Our Child: Why an adoptee's story matters
Thursday, August 23 • 7 to 8:30 p.m. (EST)
Featuring Authors Susan TeBos and Carissa Woodwyk
Please join us to explore:
The fragile beginnings of an adoptee's life.
The impact relinquishment has on the human soul.
Your role in creating a path of trust, openness, and connectedness that will leave your child feeling wanted, loved, and honored.
With complementary strengths as speakers, TeBos and Woodwyk will leave you inspired and moved as you discover the truth and hope that exists in each adoptee's story.
Register at www.BethanyLifelines.org/lifestory
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Adoption/Orphan Care Gathering
Where: The Treehouse Coffee Shop, 120 Merchant Ave., Audubon, NJ
When: Saturday, September 8, 2012; 7-8:30 pm
Cost: $5.00 per person
Includes dessert, fruit, veggies, coffee and tea
Have you ever considered special needs adoption? Ever wondered what “real life” is like post-adoption? Please join us to hear Amy and Adam Boroughs share their awesome story of God’s faithfulness in their lives.
Amy and Adam have been married for eighteen years and are the parents of ten children. Seven of their children joined their family through the miracle of adoption, representing four different countries, and all have special needs. Adam and Amy could have never imagined the adventure God had planned for their lives or the unique family He would give them!
Monday, August 6, 2012
Sunday, August 5, 2012
It’s time for our Annual Adoption Picnic!
Hope you can join us on
Saturday, August 11th, 2012
12:00 p.m.~5:00p.m.
Woodstream Swim Club
Brandywine Dr.
Marlton, NJ 08053
856-983-9692
Cost is $5 per person, Max. $20 per family (2 and under free)
Please bring your own picnic lunch
Adult & Kiddie Pools
RSVP or Questions???
Kitty Bowen~856.786.4850 (h) or 609.781.4499 (cell)
e-mail: Secchanc@aol.com
Know other adoptive families who may want to join us? Please invite them.
*Please note that this year the picnic is in a new location! We were not able to return to Sunnybrook! Woodstream is located on the Corner of Greentree Rd. and Brandywine Dr. between Rt. 73 South and Rt. 70.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Adoption: Connecting While CorrectingWe are parents committed to the children in our homes. And, part of that commitment involves discipline—the part of parenting many claim is most challenging, particularly when you are dealing with children who have experienced trauma or loss. But, discipline doesn’t have to be painful. We can nurture our children while providing structure, connect as we seek to correct.Join us on Saturday, September 29th for Adoption: Connecting While Correcting, a training event for adoptive and foster families through the collaborating efforts of The Sparrow Fund and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s International Adoption Health Program.Keynote speaker Cheryl Nitz, ACSW LCSW, founder and director of the Attachment and Bonding Center of Pennsylvania, will guide us through the whys and hows of correction for our children from the “terrible twos” to the “terrible teens.”Come prepared to listen, learn, and practice skills to take home and implement that day.Click here for more details and to register. The event is limited to 100 attendees. Registrations past that number will be put on a waiting list. |
Beyond
the Basics
Wednesday, Sept.
19
Circumstances
prior to adoption often cause children to experience school in a different framework than other
kids.
Join us for a
discussion with Heather T. Forbes, LCSW as she presents tips and strategies on
how to help your child be more successful at school, therefore easing some of
the stress at home. Heather will cover:
- How to smooth school related transitions
- Helping teachers understand what is driving a child's negative behavior
- How to increase your child's motivation to succeed at school
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The Real Issue with Pat Robertson's Comments
I can’t help feeling that most all of the reactions I’ve seen, from dismay to indignation, are justified. But it also strikes me that the primary problem with what Robertson said lies deeper. The main issue isn’t just another foot-in-my-mouth statement that reveals ignorance or insensitivity. We all can certainly fall prey to saying dumb and hurtful things. Nor is it that Robertson seems hyper-attuned to potential challenges of adoption. Truth be told, that’s a theme adoption advocates would do well to do a better job emphasizing also.
What’s most at issue is our understanding of discipleship—and of Christianity itself.
Intended or not, Robertson’s statement implies an assumption affirmed daily by most every TV talking head, religious or not: if something might turn out to be disappointing to you, or painful, or less than you’d hoped…you have every reason to avoid it.
This may represent great pop
This always has been and always will be the road of the disciple.
Such choices do begin with a thoughtful, even deliberative, process of understanding risks and costs. And (if this even needs to be said), discipleship never requires a reckless pursuit of difficulty as an end in itself. But ultimately, any serious response to the call of Christ will involve real, hard-to-swallow costs—and with those costs, unparalleled rewards, some in this life and some in the next.
That’s true of adoption and foster care and global work with orphans…and, quite honestly, any expression of true discipleship.
Thankfully, faithful Christians in every age have embraced this cost. This is why, as Russell Moore’s penetrating response to Robertson’s comments explains:
Christians are the ones who have stood against the prophets of Baal and the empire of Rome and every other satanic system to say that a person’s worth doesn’t consist in his usefulness. Christians are the ones who picked up
One other moving response to Robertson came from Tim and Wendy McMahan. They express their own tender answer to the woman (whose boyfriend who didn’t want to marry her because of her adopted children), whose question first spurred Robertson’s statement:
My dear sister, thank you for taking up the plight of the orphan. You are beautifully living out God’s call on your life and your treasures are being stored in a place where they will never burn. We were promised that we would face trials when we took on this life of discipleship. Your hope for companionship may be the sacrifice that you are offering to God on behalf of your children. It is among the most fragrant of all sacrifices. I
The road of discipleship will look markedly different for every believer, but it will most certainly include all of these elements. Sorrow and joy. Costs and rewards. Trials and beauty. A call to anything less is not the call of Christ.
Jedd Medefind, Christian Alliance for Orphans