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The Perfect Combination

Monserrate

Trip planning.  Just reading that phrase may stir up a variety of emotions in you – excitement, anticipation, and maybe even anxiety for those of us whose vision of a trip is very different from the vision of our travel mates!  Perhaps you like to visit landmarks and museums, but your partner likes to relax at a country club.  Or maybe your son loves amusement parks, but your daughter would rather go bowling and watch a movie.  And while you are navigating all of those different likes and dislikes, perhaps you realize the common thread for your trip is that you all want to do something to make a difference.  But how?  How could all those different fun activities also be combined with doing something that will make a difference?  I’ll tell you how.  Reverse Hosting.

Salt Cathedral

You’ve likely heard of the concept of hosting before, where a child available for adoption comes to the US to stay with a host family and experience a new culture, while we work hard to advocate for that child.  Well, reverse hosting is similar.  But instead of the child coming to you, you go to the child!  You and your travel mates will travel to Bogota, Colombia in October 2019 for 10(ish) days.  You will be paired with a waiting child, and will spend your days getting to know that child, all the while getting to experience the sights and sounds of Bogota!  Your role is to get to know the child you are paired with so that you can assist in advocacy efforts to find a permanent family, and, of course, you are also expected to have fun!

Bogota Country Club

Reverse Hosting allows the host family to get to know the child in his or her own culture.  It allows the host family to participate in not only advocacy, but also gives them the chance to truly experience the child’s culture.  It’s the perfect combination for an international trip – exciting, thrilling, and life-changing.  Life-changing not only for a waiting child, but for your whole family as well. 

To learn more about Madison Adoption Associates‘ Reverse Hosting Program, please visit our website. Or, email Adriana@madisonadoption.org.

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463.

I know I throw numbers at you a lot to make my point.  But they are just so compelling, I can’t help it.  So, here’s my latest #.  463.  Any guesses what it is referring to?  Before you surmise what it could be, please just really see that number.  Say it.  Four hundred and sixty-three.  I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that it must have to do with children.

Before I tell you what the number refers to, let me back-track a bit.  Very regularly, we find ourselves advocating for a waiting child who is about to ‘age-out.’  We send out a plea to all we know in hopes of finding a family for said child.  Sometimes we find a family, often we don’t.  But, every.single.time, that single post evokes so many emotional responses from so many.  “Please let her find a family in time.”  “We hope his family is out there.”  “We would do it if there was time!”  And we get inquiry after inquiry.  Sadly, oftentimes, there is no time left.  Sometimes, there are 6 weeks to complete an international adoption, home study included, start to finish, and we dive in head first with the family to get it done.  Can it be done in such a short amount of time?  Yes.  Is it easy?  No, no, no, and no.  Did I mention, No?  Is it worth it?  Always.  And we will continue to advocate for these children.  We will continue to send out pleas, and pray for a family to step forward in time.  And we will continue to dive in head first with a family if it is the right fit, and if there is even the slightest chance it can get done in time.

But I digress.  Back to the number.  463.  Are you ready?  OK.  It is the number of waiting children on the China shared list aged 12 through 13 ½.  463 children so close to aging out.  463 kids who still have time for a family to complete the process (without having to rip all their hair out and pray for a miracle).  463 children who are close to becoming ‘urgent,’ but not quite yet.  So why not share these kiddos with the same level of urgency?  Why not share these advocacy posts thousands of times in hopes of finding families in time?  They are there.  They are waiting.  For you.  And if we share them now (instead of when they only have 6 weeks left), we have a much better chance of finding them a family.

Interested in learning more about these 463 waiting children?  Call me.  I will tell you about each and every one of them.  I promise you that.  Take Aiden for example.  He turned 13 this past January.  You can expect to see our desperate pleas for him come October and November.  But I challenge you.  Let’s not wait until then.  Let’s share this boy, and the 462 like him, NOW, so we don’t get to that crisis point.  Because once there, the chances are slim.  But now.  Now, these 463 precious children have a chance.  Let’s give them their chance.

Interested in learning more about the children available in all of our programs who may soon be at risk of aging out? Complete our Prospective Adoptive Parent form and an adoption specialist will be in touch.

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Keep on Keeping on

Mother’s Day. It means so much, to so many. We rejoice in this day with you, no matter how you ‘fit’ into it. Happy Mother’s Day, from your friends at Madison Adoption Associates.

Dear Mom of toddlers,

Hang in there.  You can’t pee alone, eat alone, heck, do anything alone.  But you do it.  Day in and day out.  You put yourself aside, and do it.  You push swings endlessly, know the names of all the Thomas engines, make sure they each have their favorite cup (even if it means constantly washing it, though you probably have 43728 other cups).  You give hugs, time outs, kisses to boo boos, ultimatums, but mostly, love.  Keep on keeping on.  The days are long but the years are short.  Happy Mother’s Day.

Dear Waiting Mom,

You’ve done all the paperwork.  You’ve done all the research.  You’ve done all the training, and invasive interviews.  You have everything in place for when your little finally comes home.  Now you must wait.  You must hurry up and get everything done, and wait.  Though your child isn’t home yet, you are a Mom.  You are an advocate for your child.  You are a Mama Bear. You fight for your child with each form, each document, each requirement.  Keep on keeping on.  She’ll be home soon.  Happy Mother’s Day.

Dear Adoptive Mom,

You are a heart healer.  You hold the burden of your child’s pain in hopes that they don’t have to.  You love them unconditionally, even when they don’t even like you.  You are their rock.  You are their constant.  You are their forever.  Keep on keeping on.  Happy Mother’s Day.

Dear Birth Mom,

You kept them safe.  You kept them warm.  You nourished them.  You chose life.  You made the hardest decision a Mother has to make, and you set them free.  Know your pain is not forgotten.  Keep on keeping on.  Happy Mother’s Day.

Dear Foster Mom,

You love them fiercely, day in and day out, knowing you won’t have them forever.  You take it one day at a time, and give them the world each and every day.  When others say, ‘I couldn’t do that, knowing I’d have to say goodbye,’ that’s exactly why you do it, because you know how important love is for them, even though you know it will shred your heart.  You are their Mama, for one day, or for 500, because it is best for them.  Keep on keeping on.  Happy Mother’s Day.  

Dear New Mom,

You’ve been dreaming and praying for this for years.  And now it’s here.  You are a Mom.  And it is H.A.R.D.  Harder than you ever though possible.  But you do it.  You wake up each morning (or maybe you haven’t even slept yet), and commit yourself to this child.  Because with each hard moment, there are a million sweet moments that melt your heart.  Embrace the good, and get through the not so good.  Keep on keeping on.  Happy Mother’s Day.

Dear Single Mom,

You do it alone. You are both parents. While some of us ‘share’ the parenting responsibilities, you do it all. The weight of that can often feel overwhelming. But you keep at it. Every day. You are their everything. Keep on keeping on. Happy Mother’s Day.

Dear Mom of teenagers,

You embarrass them.  Maybe they embarrass you.  They want nothing to do with you.  According to them, they have the whole world figured out, and you know nothing.  Even still, you pack their lunch, you go to every game, you make sure their laundry ‘miraculously’ gets in their drawers.  Keep on keeping on.  Happy Mother’s Day.

Dear Grandma,

Without you, we wouldn’t be Moms!  Without you, we wouldn’t know what to do.  You kissed us, so we know how to kiss them.  You taught us, so we know how to teach them.  You guided us, so we know how to guide them.  Thank you.  Keep on keeping on.  Enjoy the joys of grandmotherhood.  Happy Mother’s Day.

To all the Moms today, no matter how you ‘fit’ into this day, we celebrate you. Enjoy the day, and bask in the celebration of YOU. Keep on keeping on. Happy Mother’s Day.

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The Light

We’ve all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That’s who we really are. ~ J. K. ROWLING

This quote couldn’t be more perfect to describe Lizzie.  And just who is Lizzie?  Lizzie is a girl.  An orphan.  Surrounded by mostly darkness, both literally and figuratively.  But who chooses the light whenever she can.  It guides her, and she is often found seeking it out.  Lizzie, who could so easily choose the darkness and let it consume her, she does not.  She chooses the light.  She can sense the goodness in the light, and it draws her in.  Just as we can sense the goodness in her.  She is captivated by the light, and somehow in that act alone, those around her are captivated by her.

But Lizzie needs a miracle.  Lizzie ‘ages out’ in 57 days.  F.I.F.T.Y. S.E.V.E.N.  Let that number sink in.  It seems totally impossible.  But we witness miracles every day, so we pray that now it is Lizzie’s turn for her miracle.  So while Lizzie continues to seek out the light, we will continue to seek out her forever family.

Lizzie is available for adoption from China through Madison Adoption Associates. There is a $5,000 Bright Futures grant available to the family who commits to her.

Please complete our Prospective Adoptive Parent form for more information about Lizzie, and the adoption process.

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