Today I attended my monthly meeting for the Agency Representatives to LDS Family Services. We listened to a panel of birth mothers, an adoptee, and an adoption parent. They told us each of their struggles, their sacrifices, their joys, and their lives. They answered sensitive questions and were bold in their answers.
My stake calling encompasses many things, but one of the components is that I am there for mothers who find themselves pregnant and unwed. As a culture, sometimes we sometimes don't know how to behave around someone who finds themselves in this position. It was suggested that sometimes we feel that if we get excited about this type of pregnancy, we are condoning it. I learned that these mothers wanted to be able to find joy in what was going on, but it is sometimes very hard to find someone who supported them and was always on their side, no matter if they choose adoption, marriage, or single parenting. That is where I come in. I am an advocate for the birth mother. The statistics show that every ward will average one unwed mother once a year. That is startling. I hope that when the opportunity presents itself and I have an opportunity to be of support and encouragement, that I will do my best to love and nurture my sister in the gospel. We have always been counseled to abhor the sin, but love the sinner.
I am blessed to be married to Ben, who was adopted, along with all his sisters and his brother. I am grateful for all their mothers who gave the ultimate sacrifice so that their children could have a better life than they were able to provide. It is truly the ultimate sacrifice a mother can offer. I am in awe of the strength and courage of these mothers and blessed to know a few of them. {{Hug}} for you if you are one of them reading this post. In that same breath, I am grateful to my in-laws and everyone who take these sweet children in and give them those advantages. {{Hug}} to you too.
I stole the title of my post from a birth mother's blog, the credits go to her.
3 comments:
Very well said.
If you know anybody considering adoption, there is an AWESOME couple here in Georgia wanting to adopt. The husband is our Home Teacher and the Wife is one of the girls that ran the Nashville Half Marathon with me. They are an awesome couple and really wanting to have a family. They have been married 15 years and have tried all avenues to begin their family.
Ok...so help. I just had that feeling of not knowing if I should be excited for a 19 year old or not. She just moved in to our ward with her mom. She's an inactive member, but her and her boyfriend are taking the discussions. Right now, I'm just being a friend. What do I do?
Thanks to you posting this, I was up until midnight reading that blog. Heartbreaking, but also hopeful. Bethany, I would suggest Googling The Happiest Sad and reading some of that blog. It's very insightful and my eyes were definitely opened thanks to her honesty...
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