Use Your Voice to Save the Adoption Tax Credit

I'd like to encourage you to watch this short video about the Adoption Tax Credit and then to ask you to act on behalf of not only the families who wish to adopt but also on behalf of the over 140 million orphans who need a home.

I know that from a personal perspective if it had not been for the adoption tax credit it would have been very unlikely that we would have been able to adopt.  Please use this video and the information provide at http://adoptiontaxcredit.org/ to contact your Representatives/Senators and to ask them to support this very important tax credit.

Thank you.

Do We Need Another Story about Starving Children and Poverty?

I must admit that as important as I believe it is for all of us to be involved in the fight against poverty there are times where I just don't want to see another story, magazine, blog post, facebook status, or tweet dealing with this issue.  I admit that constantly hearing about it is a drag.  I mean I get it.  Poverty is a huge problem.  To that end I sponsor a child with Compassion International (compassion.com) and serve as a Compassion Advocate.  I've adopted 3 children from Ethiopia.  I serve as an associate for America World Adoption (awaa.org) and regularly speak on adoption and orphan care.  I regularly address the issue in sermons. I work to constantly remind people that this issue is not going away and yet it is important for us to continue to work to end it.  Nevertheless, there are times when I simply want to say that enough is enough and I'd like to hear some good news for a change.  Really, I just want to get lost for a while in mind-numbing nothingness.  I want to pretend for a minute that all is right with the world and whatever is not right is simply not my responsibility.

Then my 9 year old son who lived the first 7 years of his life in Ethiopia reminded me why we have to continue to tell the stories and to continue to inform ourselves on the issue of poverty and the many evils that accompany it.  The other night at dinner he mentioned that he "needed" an ipod.  When asked why he "needed" an ipod he said because "everyone has one."  Fortunately, I had just received in the mail Compassion International's kids' magazine Explore in the mail.  In this month's issue there was a page that had pictures of 4 different "houses" from around the world.  3 of these houses were what we Americans may consider to be shacks made of mud, cardboard, and scraps of metal and plywood.  Then there was one traditional American home.  I used this too illustrate to Feromsa, who has apparently forgotten his life in Ethiopia, that not everyone had such an American home and that they certainly did not have an ipod.  Many of them did not even have food.

Now then, if someone who lived in the struggles of poverty can after just a couple of years in America forget those struggles, then how much more are we who have been blessed to always live here likely to forget unless we are constantly reminded?

Orphans, Adoption, and Money

So my family is not the richest family in the world. By American standards we are down right poor. However, we are wealthy enough that even with 4 children in our home, we could give a good life to another child. At this very moment we know of a 13 year old boy who needs a good home. In the country that he lives he has another year in the orphanage and then he is on his own. He is quickly running out of time.

Again, we could afford to give him a home but we can not afford the adoption. This is not a problem just for us, it is a problem for many who would like to provide a good home to a child but simply can not afford the adoption itself. The problem is further complicated when you consider that much of the cost of adoptions is (at least it is meant too) for the cost of caring for children in orphanages and foster care. This money is therefore needed. However, the cost of adoption prevents people from adopting the children. Of course, if the children were adopted then there would not be a need to fund the orphanages. And so the vicious cycle continues. Orphanages need funding but the funding of them prevents people from adopting.

Please understand that I'm not delusional and believe that all the money for adoption goes to the orphanages but that is the going justification for the extreme cost. Nevertheless, without going into greater detail of where every dime spent on an adoption goes, it does seem clear that if the cost could be drastically reduced than more people would be willing to adopt. And if more children were adopted than there would be less need for funding of orphanages.

Ideally, it would be great to close them all. We unfortunately do not live in an ideal world. So, until we do and until every child has a home, what can we do to truly make adoption available to every family that has the means to support a child but doesn't have the means to adopt them? Naturally, there are grants available from wonderful organizations. As great as these are (and we are extremely grateful for the grant we received from Caroline's Promise) they are generally a drop in a very big bucket. Can we do more? Can we find a better, more efficient way for adoptions? Can we impress upon governments (including our own) to cut the cost of adoptions? Can we do something for that 13 year old who is running out of time? I do not have the answers to these questions but I pray that we can find them. I pray we find them soon.

Adoption, fatherhood, attachment, and miles apart.

My wife and I are currently in the process of adopting 2 boys from Ethiopia. When adopting you are required to read several books on the issues that can be faced we adopting. A major issue is bonding and attachment with the children. The bonding process, particularly with older children can take some time and will take a lot of effort. These children, although they may know mentally that you are there new parents, may not immediately bond with you as mom and dad.

Another issue is one that my wife and I are facing now. We just recently received information on the boys. We basically know their names, their ages, and we have seen one picture of them. Still, it will be months before we are able to bring them home. In our hearts these boys are our boys and yet they are miles from home and there is no way we can communicate with them. It is heartbreaking.

I bring all this up, because as we have gone through this adoption process I have grown to understand more and more of what scripture means when it speaks of us being adopted into God's family (see Ephesians 1:5). As I reflect on our own experiences with adoption and reflect on the theological nature of adoption from God's perspective I see Him more as that Father who longs to bond with His children but our fears and our mistrust often gets in the way of our bonding with Him.

As we wait to bring our children home I am beginning to understand how, even as we are His adopted children, from His perspective there are times where He must feel that we are miles away. I believe being a father has helped me to understand God better in the love that I have for my children. Now, I see the heartbreak of knowing your children and yet having them so far away. It has made me wonder how often the Father's heart breaks over His children not being home and not being in communication with Him?

In short, I believe this adoption process has opened my eyes to just how much the Father wants to bring His children home, to bond with them, to keep them safe, and to let them know that they are loved. I'd say, if you want a real lesson in what God has done by adopting you, then perhaps you should consider adopting.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27