Blog
Remember
Posted by Janet Mendenhall on May 27, 2010 at 7:47 am
Remembering is important.
Monday, we will celebrate Memorial Day. We will salute fallen soldiers, recount battles won and lost, fly flags and decorate graves. We will extol the special things that made each lost life memorable. We will remember.
God certainly knows the importance of remembering, urging His people throughout history to recount His countless acts of faithfulness to an unfaithful people through speeches, feasts and festivals. Jesus asked us to remember his sacrifice whenever we feast together in community.
God knows when we forget, we lose focus. Erasing earlier footprints impedes our progress. Ignoring our past hinders our future. But looking back sharpens our vision for what is ahead.
And so it is good to remember.
After nearly 50 years, Christian Homes & Family Services has more than a pocket full of memories. We remember those who ached for the fatherless and heard God’s call to care for them and dreamed of such a ministry. We remember early leaders and employees of the ministry who paved the way for its current direction. We remember young women choosing life and searching for hope and peace. We remember foster parents with open hearts and loving homes. We remember the desires of childless couples being granted. We remember prayer warriors and donors who have sustained us.
We remember and we are thankful. We look back to find the strength and hope and joy to look forward to create more memories.
Remembering is important.
“Adoption-isms”
Posted by Taylor Engel on May 24, 2010 at 7:15 am
One of the perks of working at Christian Homes & Family Services is getting to know precious adoptive families and their children. And one of the things that these precious adoptive families do is tell their children their story from day one. Each story looks different and is told in a unique way but nonetheless, each child knows and cherishes his story. As you can imagine, a bi-product of attempting to explain adoption to a very young child is what we’ll refer to as an “adoption-ism” for our purposes today.
a-dop-tion-ism – noun
A cute thing a child says regarding adoption.
Without further ado, here are some of the cutest things we’ve heard kids say regarding adoption:
When he was around 3 years old, our friends were getting their stuff together to adopt. Every time (and I mean every time) he would see them, he would ask in his finest Texas twang, “when you gonna go ‘dedopt’ that boy?” He was ready for a new friend and then was very disappointed when he first met his new friend and realized he was a baby, not a 3 year old playmate!
I also asked him one time if he knew where we adopted him. He thought for a minute and said “Southern Living” (I’m a Southern Living At Home consultant)!
The sweetest thing I remember was after I told “his story” at one of the Christian Homes Adoption Orientations a couple of years ago, he looked up at me and said “that’s a great story, Mom!”
“I love you and Dad so much, I don’t even feel adopted.”
“Mary and Joseph were sorta like Jesus’ foster parents, right Mom?” After suffering through an explanation of Mary as Jesus’ biological mother, and how she and Joseph were his parents while he was here on earth before he went back to heaven, she finished the conversation with…“That’s what I said, Mary and Joseph were sorta like Jesus’ foster parents!”
When discussing adoption with our daughter, we might say she may not look like either of us, but that’s O.K. because we know she was made in the image of God. One day as we drove by a group of people she said, “Look at those people smiling. I think they know they were made in the image of God!”
From Margaret, Director of Adoption Services:
Well, I think one of the funniest for me was when I was finishing a home study with a couple who were already parenting a child. Their son kept trying to open my briefcase and finally his mom asked him why. He said, “I think our baby is in there!” I can still hear his little voice making that announcement.
I have also had one child to think I was the birth mother of his soon to be baby sibling and said “You don’t look pregnant” (thank goodness for that!).
Do you have your own “adoption-isms” from sweet children in your life? Please share them with us!
Have I told you about my grandkids…?
Posted by Cindy Miller on May 17, 2010 at 12:26 pm
I knew Christian Homes placed some of the cutest kids in the world, I got one…but you ought to see the grandkids we adoptive parents get because of those kids placed with us through Christian Homes.
Now remember, I said they were cute…I didn’t say they were perfect…but by the time you have grandchildren you’re of the mindset that your children deserve some payback of some kind…and imperfect grandkids is one sure-fire payback.
Oh, how I love my grandkids! And that thought led me to the thoughts that follow.
When do I love thee, let me count some whens…
I love you when you have a bubble beard after pouring a whole bottle of shampoo in your bath water (actually, everyone in town could have had a bubble beard that day).
I love you when you tell me you have a “burger” in your nose.
I love you when you tell me you can’t go swimming until you’re bigger than your shadow.
I love you when you tell me some crazy thing I just did was “diputs” because we don’t say that word backwards in our house.
I love you when you wrinkle your nose, lower your head slightly, point, and whisper, “That little girl likes me…well, I think all little girls like me!”
I love you when you pray to God and tell Him thanks for letting you know about all the planets.
I love you when the waitress asks how old you are and you say you’re 4 and “Meemo’s 61!”
I love you when your brother tells you he’s going to run away, so you tell me with tears rolling down your cheeks and your lip sticking way out that I’m going to have to get you a new brother.
I love you when you’ve shown how smart you are by finding 9-1-1 on the phone dial when I wasn’t right there to hang it up. That was scary, huh?
I love you when you take your toy hammer and crush a handful of M&Ms to smitherines.
I love you when you run into the yard with your eyes upward and your hands straight up to the sky yelling, “I love you, God!”
Yes, God knew what He was doing when He created grandkids!
Change
Posted by Steve Holt on May 10, 2010 at 7:25 am
I hate change. And, no, that’s not a political statement. I hate change in my pocket. You know, the pennies, dimes and nickels that accumulate each day and rattle when you walk. The change I sometimes leave in my pants pockets along with the half stick of gum and the Tylenol I never took, and then they get washed and the Tylenol and gum dissolve, but the change ends up in the bottom of the washer. That change.
Do you feel the same about change? Christian Homes is here to help. We’ll take your filthy change (you do not know where it’s been), and we’ll turn it into shiny hope for couples wanting to adopt. We’ll convert your useless pocket cloggers into a powerful tool for case workers who travel the state doing home studies and ministering to pregnant, unmarried teens. We’ll use your menacing metal to give new beginnings to birth mothers who have the courage to place their babies in Christian families. We’ll use your crummy old change to provide the promise of eternity for babies and children of all ages.
Here’s how: You email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and I’ll send you a simple cardboard “Change for Children” container festooned with photos of beautiful children and families. Each evening, just deposit the day’s accumulation of change until the can fills up (usually 6-8 weeks). Then call me, and if you’re within 30 miles of Abilene I’ll come pick the can up and write you a receipt for your gift. If you live beyond 30 miles, just send us a check for $40 (about the amount of change a can holds) and deposit the change into your account. If that’s too much trouble, just go back to the home page and click on DONATE and follow the instructions. Helping you get rid of your troublesome change is a service we gladly provide free-of-charge. It’s not much, be we are so happy to help.
We want your change.
Blessed by Sheila
Posted by Taylor Engel on May 07, 2010 at 7:25 am
Tuesday marked the date of our second annual Tyler Call Her Blessed Luncheon and it was a wonderful time! Harvey Hall filled quickly with women and men in springtime colors gathering to hear Sheila Walsh’s story and to enjoy community with one another. Co-Chairs Rocky and Carrie Gill had everyone laughing about Facebook and in the next moment, led a meaningful time of prayer for the fatherless children in this world. Dr. Sasha Vukelja, a local oncologist and author, shared a bit of her testimony through a video interview. Her book, Seeds, was for sale after the luncheon and Dr. V graciously donated all of the proceeds to Christian Homes & Family Services.
And then we sat back and listened to Sheila Walsh speak of her life and what God has taught her throughout many difficult circumstances. Sheila shared her story of trying to find approval and success by burying herself in the “Christian lifestyle.” Sheila’s testimony, spoken with such honesty and vulnerability, inspired and brought hope to all of us who have fought similar battles. Her song “Let Go” sends a powerful message of giving up control and letting the Lord take our hand. Our time with Sheila was blessed. She lifted and encouraged our hearts and shared her beautiful story and voice with us. To read more about Sheila, please click here.
Call Her Blessed 2010 would not be possible without generous donors, active board members, volunteers, sponsors and Sheila’s beautiful ability to communicate her heart with 500 strangers. Christian Homes & Family Services is beyond grateful for the funds donated and we are already looking forward to Call Her Blessed 2011 and all that is to come!
Mothering Sunday
Posted by Janet Mendenhall on May 03, 2010 at 11:51 am
The act of honoring motherhood is as old as time itself. Official celebrations are almost as ancient.
The ever-partying Greeks and Romans celebrated in springtime, with festivals honoring Rhea and Cybele, the mother of their gods.
The early Christians, perhaps not as festively, celebrated in springtime, a day to honor Mary, the mother of God.
The Europeans first officially honored the “Mother Church” on the fourth Sunday of Lent, but it was later broadened to include actual mortal mothers, and became known as Mothering Sunday. Servants and laborers were given the day to return to their homes and visit their mothers — and granted a reprieve from the fasting of Lent to enjoy a family feast. (Can you imagine at last going home to mom’s cooking and having to fast?)
Mothering Sunday was abandoned by the early American settlers, perhaps, historians say, because there simply wasn’t time. It could also have been a reflection of the Puritans’ general distaste for festivities.
The day was resurrected in the heart of Julia Ward Howe, broken by the devastation of the Civil War. Her proposition was a national celebration of peace and motherhood, appealing to the power of each mother’s love to bind together and overcome the futility of their sons’ deaths. She wrote in 1870, “We women of one country will be too tender to those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure them.”
Her dream wasn’t immediately successful, but as time marched on, it resurfaced and was reshaped. Eventually, in 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed Mother’s Day into national observance on the second Sunday of each May.
I like the Europeans’ name, Mothering Sunday. It honors the essence of mothering that exists not only in mothers, but in many women whom the actual title “mother” has eluded: unconditional love, real comfort, wise instruction and peace.
I like Howe’s connection of peace and mothering. Peace is found in the mother’s presence — her lap, under her arm, or at her side. God’s writers often use this imagery to remind us of His love for His people. I like this picture in Isaiah 66, “I will extend peace to her like a river…you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you…”
I like Christian Homes’ connection of peace and mothering: Birth mothers being mothered into peace by their mothers and caseworkers and adoptive mothers; adoptive mothers being mothered into peace by their mothers and caseworkers and birth mothers.
And all of us experiencing the perfect peace of the One Isaiah says nurtures and comforts and loves us — just like our mothers have.
Happy Mothering Sunday. May the peace of God be with you.
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