The Friendships of Adoption

I feel like I am on a roll.  I guess getting so close to adoption travel makes one ponder lots of things and when I ponder I want to write my thoughts for others to consider!

After my recent post on the Frustrations of adoption I considered some of the many positives of adopting and for us I would have to say that one of the huge positives are the "Friendships of Adoption".

As I look at the changes that adoption has brought to our family I consider the friends we would have never found in our lives were it not for adoption.  Friends that we have made from adoption travel groups, friends from adoption web sites and user groups, friends made through ND, those from Chinese Cultural School, friends we have made from adoption classes or from just sitting down to talk with someone about adoption.

God has brought so many wonderful people into our lives that we would have never experienced had it not been for us initially opening our hearts to adoption.

Some of these people we only see from time to time.  Some we communicate with electronically.  Some we are blessed to see on a regular basis.   Each of these wonderful people bring something to our lives.

Just yesterday we were blessed to meet a little girl we had prayed for over the past several years.  She was adopted by a family in our area and we spent some time with them.  First it was great to see this little girls beautiful smile in person and it was great to get to know her family a bit.  Just another example where we are getting to know someone that would likely have never crossed paths with us.

Another family that has become very near and dear to us and it all started with us talking to them about adopting and it has led to a great friendship and many fun evenings playing cards or dominoes together.

We wonder what families we will meet in our upcoming travel group to China.  How many of these families will just be passing acquaintances?  Which ones will become lifelong friends?  How will they impact our lives and how will we impact theirs.

We look forward to a reunion with families that we met in 2004 on our first adoption trip.  This group of 14 families traveled to adopt our children together and many of these families still gather every June to catch up and to allow our daughters that started their lives together in a orphanage to keep in touch.

Other friends that have impacted us include a single mom that is pressing to get paperwork done so she can bring another little girl into her family.  And there is our friend Vicki that is in China right now and will be welcoming a second daughter into her family in just a few hours.   Oh how these two ladies have touched our family in great ways and we are thankful for both of them and their precious daughters.   There are so many others that I could go on and on but will not right now.

So if you were scared off by the frustrations of adoption, be encouraged as the friendships  of adoption can be a bountiful blessing that can touch your life for years to come.

We are thankful for the friendships that have come into our lives as a result of adopting and look forward to the additional relationships that will come from our connections to the adoption community.