Bringing Home Charlie Brown

One of the things I love to do is educate people, probably a good thing since I'm a teacher. ;) However, educating people about adoption and foster care is a big passion of mine. This last week we had the privilege of going out to dinner with a couple who is in the beginning stages of considering adoption from Foster Care. At one point in the conversation Tony said to me, "I'll talk for awhile, you eat." Well, that didn't last long because I had so much I wanted to say. You see all of this experience in foster care and the world of adoption leaves me with so much to share. I could literally talk for hours and hours about our experiences and the knowledge we posses. If you have questions let's talk, if you are even thinking the teeniest tiniest bit, let's converse. If you have time to sit and listen I'll tell you everything I know. There is something so important about face to face conversations about adoption. Our own journey started when someone sha...

Have you ever felt like life was spinning out of control? Like your days, nights, and moments, are going faster and faster, yet you have no say in how things are happening? That has been my last two weeks. I remember before starting this time period I already felt extremely overwhelmed. I HATE when we have something on our calendar multiple nights in a row. There is something about staying home and doing "nothing" that fuels my soul so much. I used to be one that loved to go go go, but these days I long to stay home. Don't get me wrong, I also love going out, spending time with family and friends and creating new memories, but there is something so healing about being home in a quiet house. (Well not quiet exactly, we do have two small dogs who feel the need to defend us against every dog, squirrel, rabbit, and person that crosses in front of our house.) These last two weeks have been filled to the brim with obligations, both self-inflicted and required by jobs, house g...

I said to someone the other day that I often feel that the students who are the most broken and who need the most help are the ones who I seem to find and connect with the most. It's almost as if I put out some type of invisible radar that says, "Hey, if you need lots of love, if you have had lots of trauma in your life, if you need someone to make you feel safe and loved, come find me, we'll be pals." But maybe, there is some invisible force that pulls us together. I have always had a heart for those kids who are "disenfranchised," but after experiencing some trauma of my own, it seems as if more and more of them pop out of the woodwork. Maybe I have this innate ability now to see the hurt past the facade of smiles and nods. Maybe it's that I am pulled to them by some inexplicable energy or force that tells me they need me. Maybe, it's that they feel safe enough in my presence to share their life hurts. Maybe it's because I care more about bei...