Steps
to Realizing Your Adoption Goals
Every Time!
By Mardie Caldwell
...Continued
from our last issue. (If you missed the first five tips,
please see our last
issue.)
6.
Reachable goals are realistic.
To reach your goal, you will need an adoption plan, a path,
and a vehicle for getting there. Your goals must make
sense! When you explain them to friends and
family, your goals should create excitement and draw support
and encouragement. Your goals should be just out of reach,
but not out of sight!
You
want to stretch to be your best, not strain after impossible
dreams. Set realistic goals you CAN and WILL
achieve if you stick with it! More families fall
short of this one secret, that is, don't give up and don't
slack off in what you need to do to reach your goal.
7. Reachable goals are tangible.
You need to be able to imagine seeing, hearing, smelling
and holding your child. Go for things you know are realistic
and that you can clearly visualize. The brain has a hard
time going for "someday we will adopt a child",
but it can visualize a healthy child under 12 months
old!
Define your goals in terms that excite the senses, and
then go for it with all your heart!
8. Reachable goals are written.
Successful adoptive parents know precisely what they want,
because they've written it down. Often, they write a
short description of their goals every single morning,
as a personal reminder of their priorities and their
objectives. They do what they must each day to achieve
this goal, such as working on their adoption profile,
filling out their home study paperwork or making the
doctor’s appointments for physicals. The act of
writing your goals down vastly increases your chance
of doing what is necessary to move closer to your successful
adoption. Write it down! Then, keep your notes where
you can see and read them every day, and take a step
closer to that goal of adopting.
9. Reachable goals are shared.
We are far more likely to stick to our adoption plan and
reach our goal if we know our friends and family support
us and our plan to adopt. Being part of a group of people
with the same goal increases our determination, our stamina,
and our courage to keep going.
Caution:
Never share your goals with anyone who may ridicule,
belittle or discourage you from adopting! The world is
full of doubters and you have
no time for them.
Find a support group, a group of successful adoptive parents,
and others who have succeeded who will encourage you every
step of the way. Successful adoptive parents
count on and confide with others who have the same goal!
Too often family members are unfamiliar with the way adoptions
are conducted today and have only been educated by the
media and the fear of adoption. The truth is that the majority
of adoptions go through without incident or problems
10. Reachable adoption goals are consistent with your
values.
One of the biggest reasons people fail to achieve their
adoption goals is that they have conflict between what
is valuable to them and what is realistic. Do they perceive
adoption as rescuing a poor child or as a gift from one
person to another? Is a child not of your body as valuable
in your mind as a biological child? Whenever your values
and your goals are in agreement, there is no stopping you!
Clarify
your values first, and then set simple,specific, measurable,
tangible, written goals that are consistent
with those values. You will achieve adoption success, every
single time! Don't give up, and remember, there is a child
for you!
Mardie Caldwell COAP is the Founder of Lifetime
Adoption Facilitation Center, the host of the Radio
Talk Show Lets
Talk Adoption, Author of AdoptingOnline.com,
Your Internet Adoption Resource Guide, and numerous
articles on adoption, parenting and financing. She
is an adoptive mother, married with 4 children.
|
Education for a Lifetime
Giving Back to Birthmothers
We often hear from Adoptive Families (and even Extended
Adoptive Families) that they would like to do something
for birthmothers, but what can possibly equal the gift
they gave of a child?
Many birthmothers have benefitted from Lifetime
Foundation Education Scholarships. They have far more birthmothers
apply every semester than they can possibly fund. All are
worthy, all have given the gift of a child, and all are
seeking to better their lives through education.
The recepients from last semester represent a broad array
of educational pursuits, including medicine, graphic arts,
social work, law enforcement, and many more.
Visit Lifetime
Foundation today to learn more about how
you can help give a lifetime gift to a birthmother, the
gift of education.
|
Adoption
Wisdom
Be
strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid...
for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee;
he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. The Bible, Deuteronomy
Successful
adoptive parents know that the timing, planning, and dedication
to completing their adoption goal can make its achievement
much easier and smoother. As with any goal, there are basic
steps that must be taken to attain the desired
end result. Those who have gone before know it takes time and patience and
following a concise plan to realize adoption success.
There
is a time for all seasons under heaven. |
From
Our Family to Yours
Need
time to get those adoption profiles done? Here is a simple,
yummy, and easy dinner dish. Just add a green salad and
fresh French bread and you are set. Light a candle, use
your good china and enjoy!
Quick
Crock-Pot Chicken Parmesan
3
whole boneless chicken breasts
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1 1/4 cups butter
10 1/2 oz can pizza sauce
6 slices mozzarella cheese
Graded Parmesan cheese
Cut chicken
breasts into halves. In a bowl, beat egg, salt and pepper;
dip chicken into egg mixture. Put bread crumbs in a zip
bag to shake and coat the chicken.
Sauté the
chicken in butter until lightly brown in a large skillet
Arrange chicken in crock-pot and pour
pizza sauce over it. Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours.
Add mozzarella
and parmesan cheeses. Cook for 15 minutes. Serves 6. |
Heart
of Adoption
Answers to your Adoption Questions
Amanda Jo writes:
"After investigating many local agencies and
facilitators, we are getting ready to begin our adoption
journey as soon
as the holidays are over. Do you have any tips on how we
can get going quickly?"
Don't wait, get started now.
Many families plan to get started at the beginning of
the year. And it is certainly an understandable decision
-- what with resolutions, a new calendar, not to mention
the task of actually getting through the holiday festivities
themselves!
Adoption professionals often find themselves
swamped with new families after New Years, which means
that you'll have
more competition for your adoption professional's time
as you open your file and get the process started. Many
times, it is even the new families who get the "Christmas
Miracles" because they may be more available and easier
to reach than families who have been in the process longer
and may not be as focused on making sure their professional
has all their emergency contacts.
Start sooner! You'll be glad you did!
|
Bethany's Poem
by Heather,
Bethany's Birthmother
Bethany was born, Jesus was there.
She was made beautiful by God's amazing hands.
We love her so, but she had to go, to a place far from us
all.
She is there today, to stay, to live, with her loving parents
James and Leigh Ann.
Oh how they love her so,
We also do but God said to let her go,
and do as He says to do So we did though it was hard,
But she is there, and Jesus is there, in a place she is safe.
We'll see her soon some day at least.
Bethany Marietta, live life to the full,
With parents and Jesus to love always.
Thank you Lord for adoption
Lord thank you for your love,
The love that You give in a time of need.
The love that You give when life is hard for us all.
The love that You give when we need it the most. |
Special
Family Needed
Lifetime
Adoption is seeking a family open to a very special situation.
Birthmother
is 34 weeks along. Baby is full caucasian, diagnosed via
ultrasound with dwarfism.
If
you are interested or you know anyone who may be interested,
please call their offices today at 530-271-1740.
To
see more birthmothers seeking families with Lifetime, please
visit their website. |
