I learned about this documentary from an article about the young man that produced this documentary and knew that others needed to see this...It is inspiring and so moving to say the least...You will see why you will also want to see this when it comes out fully...
If you want to read the article I saw re: this video and learn more about the young man that created it, here is the link: http://www.wnd.com/2013/03/22-year-old-wins-award-for-film-on-saving-babies/#comments_open
-Deanna
Showing posts with label inspiration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inspiration. Show all posts
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Sunday, March 10, 2013
That we may "Not...Shrink"...
James and I had a friend text us last night in the middle of the night about this talk and that it made him think of us...I think the friend probably thought James had his phone muted since it was around midnight when we got the text which means our friend was watching at 1 am Idaho time! lol
Anyways, back to my point...I watched this while I got ready for church this morning and boy oh boy was this GOOD! I am going to watch it again today so I can gain some better understanding of the talk. I don't know about you but Elder Bednar has such a way of explaining things that has helped me in the past so much.
As I watched, it made me think I needed to post it here on the blog...I know I am not alone in the struggle of infertility or to grow our family...I know many of you will see what I saw when you listen to what he shared...SO so Profound. I am grateful for amazing friends that share the love of the Gospel with us...no mater what the hour hay be...We are truly blessed.
-Deanna
Anyways, back to my point...I watched this while I got ready for church this morning and boy oh boy was this GOOD! I am going to watch it again today so I can gain some better understanding of the talk. I don't know about you but Elder Bednar has such a way of explaining things that has helped me in the past so much.
As I watched, it made me think I needed to post it here on the blog...I know I am not alone in the struggle of infertility or to grow our family...I know many of you will see what I saw when you listen to what he shared...SO so Profound. I am grateful for amazing friends that share the love of the Gospel with us...no mater what the hour hay be...We are truly blessed.
-BTW Elder Bednar begins speaking at 19 minutes in...
-Deanna
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Strength & Hope
"Wherefore ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." 2 Nephi 31:20
Since October of 2010, I have been meeting up with a group of first time adoptive moms, women hoping to become adoptive moms and women who are now adoptive moms to their second baby. It has been the best thing ever for me, given me an outlet, a place to discuss fears, worries, joys and hope. HOPE. Hope for those who are still waiting to find their baby. Hope for those who have had a child placed in their home and want to add to their family again in the future. Hope that somehow the pain and sadness we have felt in the past because of infertility will be lessened as time goes on.
Hope is important, because it gives us purpose. I have learned so much about hope and why it is never naive to have hope for something greater than yourself. Adoption is a miracle. Literally, you will see miracles, things that just wouldn't make any sense without there being divine direction.
The point of this is to tell you I know that there is a purpose to everything we experience and that when we have hope for our future, we can have peace during the journey.
I am so grateful for the women that I meet with and the hope that they encourage in my heart. I hope that each of you have a network of people in your life that encourage and uplift you during the tumultuous journey that is adoption. But if you don't have someone, know that I am here, no matter where you are. Feel free to email me at joshandelise at hotmail dot com.
And I'm moving to Tucson this summer, which is scary to me, to be farther away from my group but exciting for our family, since my husband will be starting his medical school rotations. So if you live in or near Tucson and would like to meet up with me, let me know! -Elise
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Finding Balance on the Adoption Roller Coaster
Disclaimer: I originally wrote this for my personal blog www.brighamoliviasally.blogspot.com, but decided to also use it for my weekly post on http://ldsadoptioncouples.blogspot.com/. So, if it looks familiar to you, that's why. (Either that, or you're just as obsessive about adoption as I am and get just as stuck.)
Last week we were contacted by two birth moms. I don't think I can aptly describe the feeling of talking on the phone with each of these girls. Heart pounding, hands shaking, wondering if what I'm saying makes any sense, wondering what she's thinking, how she feels, why she chose to contact us. And then wondering why she didn't call back. (Out of respect for these girls who are faced with so many tough decisions, I won't go into details here.)
(On a side note: We've had so many problems with our phones that I worry we've missed calls or discouraged callers. We seem to have the home phone problem fixed. My stupid cell phone is another issue. It drops calls, and often won't hold a signal long enough for me to be able to answer or talk for long. Still working on this.)
I could easily go crazy! I know I will get better at knowing what to say/ask and hopefully will get better at reading people over the phone. But, I don't think it will get any easier. It's such a different experience than we had last time.
"We have a baby for you. Can you come get it?" Um, yes, thank you. Knowing what I know now, I kind of feel like we cheated. We got so lucky with Olivia and Alyssa. Well, it probably wasn't luck. It was meant to be. Olivia was meant to be ours and Alyssa was meant to be part of our family. I love how things have worked out. I love Alyssa. And I love our sweet Olivia.
And I love the idea of adopting again and having another wonderful relationship with our birth mom. But I'm scared that it won't be the same. I know it won't be the same, and I guess I don't want it to be exactly the same, but I still worry. I worry about what the process will do to me. Will I have any nerves or sanity left by the time we are blessed with another baby? I'm trying to focus on getting from here to there and not getting stuck in the moment.
For me, "stuck in the moment" is checking our profile stats obsessively to see how many people have looked at our profile, how many have looked at our contact page. (I know exactly where the mouse needs to be on each page of the log in process before I get to it.) It's not wanting to go anywhere I can't use my cell phone (which, these days, happens to include my home and neighborhood), or where I would have to turn it off. It's unhealthy and downright dangerous. Would I pass up an opportunity to attend the temple because a potential birth mom might call during that time block? Fortunately, I haven't gotten that bad. Yet. So, I am trying to find other things to do that are both productive and engrossing so I'm not always thinking about adoption. Yesterday that included cleaning the house and cleaning up vomit. (Oh wait, that last was just gross.) I'm looking for service opportunities, I'm trying to spend more quality time with my family and with friends. I'm looking for new adventures. I'm coloring my hair today because it sounds like fun and because I've never done it.
"Stuck in the moment," for me, also includes focusing so much on adoption that I appear, and quite frankly, am, a little unbalanced in my interactions with others. Someone may ask me, "How are things going?" And I answer with an adoption roller coaster update. And what they probably really meant was something like: "How is Brigham enjoying the new school year? How many students does he have? Has he moved into the new building yet?" or "Is Olivia still taking swimming and dance lessons? Is she loving preschool as much this year as she did last year?" or "Have you done your visiting teaching yet? What are you guys planning to be for Halloween? Is your dog still walking on only three legs?" Or any number of other things that are going on in my life. It isn't all about adoption. I'm not saying that others aren't interested in our journey. Everyone is supportive, but it's probably rather tiresome for me to come across as having a one-track mind.
I'm working on it, but this process is absorbing. I feel like it could suck the life right out of me if I don't find a way to balance the adoption portion of my life with the rest of it.
Last week we were contacted by two birth moms. I don't think I can aptly describe the feeling of talking on the phone with each of these girls. Heart pounding, hands shaking, wondering if what I'm saying makes any sense, wondering what she's thinking, how she feels, why she chose to contact us. And then wondering why she didn't call back. (Out of respect for these girls who are faced with so many tough decisions, I won't go into details here.)
(On a side note: We've had so many problems with our phones that I worry we've missed calls or discouraged callers. We seem to have the home phone problem fixed. My stupid cell phone is another issue. It drops calls, and often won't hold a signal long enough for me to be able to answer or talk for long. Still working on this.)
I could easily go crazy! I know I will get better at knowing what to say/ask and hopefully will get better at reading people over the phone. But, I don't think it will get any easier. It's such a different experience than we had last time.
"We have a baby for you. Can you come get it?" Um, yes, thank you. Knowing what I know now, I kind of feel like we cheated. We got so lucky with Olivia and Alyssa. Well, it probably wasn't luck. It was meant to be. Olivia was meant to be ours and Alyssa was meant to be part of our family. I love how things have worked out. I love Alyssa. And I love our sweet Olivia.
And I love the idea of adopting again and having another wonderful relationship with our birth mom. But I'm scared that it won't be the same. I know it won't be the same, and I guess I don't want it to be exactly the same, but I still worry. I worry about what the process will do to me. Will I have any nerves or sanity left by the time we are blessed with another baby? I'm trying to focus on getting from here to there and not getting stuck in the moment.
For me, "stuck in the moment" is checking our profile stats obsessively to see how many people have looked at our profile, how many have looked at our contact page. (I know exactly where the mouse needs to be on each page of the log in process before I get to it.) It's not wanting to go anywhere I can't use my cell phone (which, these days, happens to include my home and neighborhood), or where I would have to turn it off. It's unhealthy and downright dangerous. Would I pass up an opportunity to attend the temple because a potential birth mom might call during that time block? Fortunately, I haven't gotten that bad. Yet. So, I am trying to find other things to do that are both productive and engrossing so I'm not always thinking about adoption. Yesterday that included cleaning the house and cleaning up vomit. (Oh wait, that last was just gross.) I'm looking for service opportunities, I'm trying to spend more quality time with my family and with friends. I'm looking for new adventures. I'm coloring my hair today because it sounds like fun and because I've never done it.
"Stuck in the moment," for me, also includes focusing so much on adoption that I appear, and quite frankly, am, a little unbalanced in my interactions with others. Someone may ask me, "How are things going?" And I answer with an adoption roller coaster update. And what they probably really meant was something like: "How is Brigham enjoying the new school year? How many students does he have? Has he moved into the new building yet?" or "Is Olivia still taking swimming and dance lessons? Is she loving preschool as much this year as she did last year?" or "Have you done your visiting teaching yet? What are you guys planning to be for Halloween? Is your dog still walking on only three legs?" Or any number of other things that are going on in my life. It isn't all about adoption. I'm not saying that others aren't interested in our journey. Everyone is supportive, but it's probably rather tiresome for me to come across as having a one-track mind.
I'm working on it, but this process is absorbing. I feel like it could suck the life right out of me if I don't find a way to balance the adoption portion of my life with the rest of it.
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