The Choice To Rejoice
Sunday, November 30, 2008
How was your Thanksgiving? Did you gather with family and friends to celebrate? Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. As a child I enjoyed gathering around the table with family, eating a sumptuous feast and most of all, thanking the Lord for all His many blessings.
Our family has tried to carry on some of these traditions while also adding a few of our own. Over breakfast of warm blueberry muffins, crisp bacon and orange juice we shared many things for which we were thankful. The one at the top of the list this year was for our safety. Only a few days before Thanksgiving we were involved in a car accident. Although no one was hurt we were left deeply shaken and without a drivable vehicle. But our gratitude for God's protection was on the top of the list.
But other families struggled with loss and pain this Thanksgiving. A few blocks from where we live a dear family's precious seventeen year old daughter was killed in a car accident a few weeks ago. My girls and I listened as her dad shared in the community Thanksgiving service this year. His words touched me deeply. "We choose to rejoice this year because there is more to life than what we can see. There is eternity and our daughter is part of our future. God still loves us though we hurt now and are in great pain."
We choose to rejoice even when bad things happen. Even when we grapple with unexplainable pain. Even when we experience heartbreak and loss. It goes against our natural grain, doesn't it? But the stronger our faith grows the impossible becomes possible.
So may your experience of Thanksgiving open the way to a glorious time of preparation for Christmas. Join me in choosing to rejoice.
Posted in Inspirational : No Comments
Are you willing to adopt?
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
This article was published in our local newspaper in celebration of National Adoption Day.
It was a cold afternoon in December 2002 when I boarded the airplane to meet a little two year old girl in an orphanage in Kostroma, Russia. My heart was a strange mixture of excitement and fear that day. I had read the reports again and again. She had been born weighing 1 ½ pounds and was very small. The reports mentioned her spending time in foster care and then back in the orphanage system. Why, even in the United States, that would be a child with potentially great risks.
But this was not any child. This little darling was my child.
So with that I made the leap, waded through all the lengthy adoption paperwork, traveled two times to Russia and finally adopted her. I will never forget that day five years ago when we landed at the Dulles international Airport amidst the cheers of other welcoming families. From the moment her tiny feet touched the ground she became an American citizen.
The years have gone by quickly. Too quickly. Today she is a bright, healthy eight year old with a zest for living and loving. She spreads sunshine and laughter wherever she goes as does her big sister, Noelle. Culpeper has wonderfully embraced these two girls as well as many other adopted children.
But there is more to be done. Last year there were over 8,000 children in foster care in Virginia waiting to find their permanent family. Would you be willing to consider opening your heart to a child who desperately needs a home?
November 15, 2008 is National Adoption Day. This is a day designed to raise awareness of the needs of so many children waiting for their forever family. It is also a day to celebrate the many families who have adopted or fostered a child. But the question still remains.
Would you be willing? Could it be that there are yet more families in our area that will be blessed by adopting a child.
The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis but rather the feeling of being unwanted. - Mother Teresa
Sharon Beth Brani
Posted in Adoption : No Comments
Adoption and Citizenship
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
I remember that day like it was yesterday. After hours and hours of riding with my precious seven month old daughter, I stepped out of the plane at Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC. When my feet touched the ground she was finally in the country where she would live and learn and love. It was months later that she officially became an American citizen. Her small hands held an American flag and she waved it joyfully around. Although the significance of that moment passed her by on that day it was only a few years later when she proudly sang "I'm Glad to Be an American" at her school talent show and I could tell that her citizenship did mean a lot to her.
When I adopted my youngest daughter she became an American citizen the moment my feet touched American soil. Ah, what a day that was. We will always be grateful for her beginnings in Russia and for her life here in America.
A few days ago we stood in line at the polls for over an hour so that I could vote. Both of my girls take great interest in their country. Both were very ‘into' this election particularly the issues concerning life. They appreciate their citizenship and are counting the years until they are able to vote too.
Adoption has been a tremendous blessing for our family. I continue to learn so much from my two girls. One thing which I continue to learn is to never take for granted your citizenship. It is filled with both great privileges and also huge responsibility.
As we build strong adoptive families lets continue to teach our children the importance of being a citizen. This can be done both informally by spontaneous discussions, reading newspapers together, listening to talk shows, etc. It can also be done intentionally through exposing them to debates, political discussions, books, speakers, magazine articles, etc. These are challenging days. It's time to develop within our families an understanding of their country and its ways. Our children have a right to know. Let's teach them well!
Posted in Adoption : No Comments