My husband and I recently brought home our new son and daughter. It was an 18 month journey we will never forget. We learned early on in the adoption process that adoption is a group effort. We were covered in prayer, we had friends organize fundraisers and we had people simply give of their time and money to help us give two children a forever family, generosity overflowed. Some of our support came from other adoptive families… they “get it”… and others who supported simply had developed a heart for the orphan and the way they can “care” is to help other families like us bring children into our home.
What I want to focus on here is about what happened when we got “the call” to go pick up our children. I simply want to make a list of ways that you can love and support adoptive families in those final days. In our case, we left the country in a hurry and only “knew” our children about a week before we flew out. So we had one week to get clothes, baby items (we weren’t expecting a baby at all) and so forth together before we departed, the rush was on!
SHOPPING- Get a list of items needed and go shopping for a family getting ready to travel. This frees up time for the adoptive parents to make final arrangements to travel and take care of loose ends that need to be tied up before they travel.
MOWING- If it is the time of year for yards to be mowed then make arrangements to mow while they are gone. You can even offer to mow when the family returns home to free up time to allow the family to bond with one another.
LANDSCAPING- Mulch or clean out flower beds , plant flowers or just spruce up what is already there.
CAR DETAILING- Most parents spend a lot of time in their car and the last thing they want to do or have time to do before traveling is clean a car inside and out. It is so refreshing to come home to a clean car.
CLEANING THE HOME- A thorough cleaning is such a gift to come home to.
SET UP BEDS- If any beds need to be set up make arrangements to help out that way.
GROCERY SHOP- Buy food so that the adoptive parents do not have to worry about that when they get home. Buy favorite foods, fresh foods and staples that may be needed.
CARE FOR PETS- Offer to sit for any animals the family may have.
COLLECT MAIL- Pick up the mail so the family does not have to have it stopped and then figure out how to get it when they return home.
PREPARE MEALS- Set up a meal schedule for the family when they return. You can also have people prepare meals to stock their freezer.
Above are a handful of ways we were helped. Our experience was with international adoptions where we were out of the country for three weeks. Every story and situation varies. Our personal experience was tough. We had our hands full with one child who was out of control and another one who was pretty sick. When we landed, where we call home, we were exhausted… physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausted. We had an incredible welcoming crew at the airport… a sight we will never forget. We had friends get our luggage together and then someone else pulled our car around with car seats installed. We were loved well. We came home to a clean house, stocked full of food (overflowing out of the pantry onto the counter tops). We had rooms set up, clothes gathered and organized and we even had new candles to burn that were calming. We had age appropriate toys for both kids given to us. We had diapers, wipes, laundry detergent and paper products waiting for us. We only had to buy some milk, eggs and fruit the first six weeks we were home. So many little things (and big things) were done that made our arrival home so much easier… less stressful. We were loved so well that our time was able to be spent with our kids. We had to transition two new children into our home and help our other three children embrace the change taking place.
I believe this is one example of why being among a group of believers is so important. They are able to serve you and love you as Christ would love. Many sacrificed and gave and in the end two children have a family to call their own.
Love well.
What I want to focus on here is about what happened when we got “the call” to go pick up our children. I simply want to make a list of ways that you can love and support adoptive families in those final days. In our case, we left the country in a hurry and only “knew” our children about a week before we flew out. So we had one week to get clothes, baby items (we weren’t expecting a baby at all) and so forth together before we departed, the rush was on!
SHOPPING- Get a list of items needed and go shopping for a family getting ready to travel. This frees up time for the adoptive parents to make final arrangements to travel and take care of loose ends that need to be tied up before they travel.
MOWING- If it is the time of year for yards to be mowed then make arrangements to mow while they are gone. You can even offer to mow when the family returns home to free up time to allow the family to bond with one another.
LANDSCAPING- Mulch or clean out flower beds , plant flowers or just spruce up what is already there.
CAR DETAILING- Most parents spend a lot of time in their car and the last thing they want to do or have time to do before traveling is clean a car inside and out. It is so refreshing to come home to a clean car.
CLEANING THE HOME- A thorough cleaning is such a gift to come home to.
SET UP BEDS- If any beds need to be set up make arrangements to help out that way.
GROCERY SHOP- Buy food so that the adoptive parents do not have to worry about that when they get home. Buy favorite foods, fresh foods and staples that may be needed.
CARE FOR PETS- Offer to sit for any animals the family may have.
COLLECT MAIL- Pick up the mail so the family does not have to have it stopped and then figure out how to get it when they return home.
PREPARE MEALS- Set up a meal schedule for the family when they return. You can also have people prepare meals to stock their freezer.
Above are a handful of ways we were helped. Our experience was with international adoptions where we were out of the country for three weeks. Every story and situation varies. Our personal experience was tough. We had our hands full with one child who was out of control and another one who was pretty sick. When we landed, where we call home, we were exhausted… physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausted. We had an incredible welcoming crew at the airport… a sight we will never forget. We had friends get our luggage together and then someone else pulled our car around with car seats installed. We were loved well. We came home to a clean house, stocked full of food (overflowing out of the pantry onto the counter tops). We had rooms set up, clothes gathered and organized and we even had new candles to burn that were calming. We had age appropriate toys for both kids given to us. We had diapers, wipes, laundry detergent and paper products waiting for us. We only had to buy some milk, eggs and fruit the first six weeks we were home. So many little things (and big things) were done that made our arrival home so much easier… less stressful. We were loved so well that our time was able to be spent with our kids. We had to transition two new children into our home and help our other three children embrace the change taking place.
I believe this is one example of why being among a group of believers is so important. They are able to serve you and love you as Christ would love. Many sacrificed and gave and in the end two children have a family to call their own.
Love well.
Thanks for sharing! We have close friends who will be traveling to Ethiopia in November (Lord-willing) and it's good to know how we can best serve them :)
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