A Beloved's Journey

On Tuesday this week I received my first phone call from the Ministry for Vulnerable Children. They informed me that they had received my application, which had been posted on Tuesday the week before. She told me that the next step was to participate in some training days. She gave me some dates to attend 2 of the three training days. I thanked her and said I would get back to her with the dates I could attend. I got off the phone shocked and nervous. The reality was beginning to sink in. I was surprised that they had rung me so quickly but very worried about getting time off work to attend the days. I typed up an email to work, nervous about the cost of having to take days off work and possibly not getting paid. Instead of allowing the situation to overwhelm me I decided to declare the greatness of my God. Fortunately that night I also caught up with an amazing friend of mine who spoke words of love and encouragement, reminding me that this is God's story, not mine and that he

Today I had the privilege of meeting a couple from my church who have adopted a child from Thailand as well as having two of their own. I was so blessed by them and their openness to walk the journey with me and share their story. They had some great experiences to share and some important lessons learned. They gave me plenty of ideas such as buying two identical teddies, taking one on your first trip to the orphanage and leaving one on their bed for when they arrive. The first bear will probably go missing but having the second bear will give them a connection to their home country and to me. They also stressed the importance of making sure people know that it will take time for the attachment to build between me and the child and that I will need their help to make this possible. So when the child falls over or is crying tell them where Mummy is and encourage them to go to me otherwise the child is likely to attach themselves to anyone who is kind, or fun. We discussed the interest

I thought I would start the first post with how this journey started. I hope this will give you an insight into who I am, what beliefs I have and why I am on this journey. I invite you to join the journey with me. From a very young age (about 4) I knew that I was blessed in life and that what I had was more than most. We were not a rich family by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, until the age of seven I lived at a christian camping centre where my dad worked as the groundsman and my mum was a kitchen-hand and on-site nurse. But in knowing that I was blessed I also knew that there were others that needed help in this world. Africa burned on my heart the most and I would often go to bed at night and pray, "Dear God, please help all the poor people in the world." In praying this I truly believed that in that moment all the poor people would feel God's love, grace and hope. What child-like faith. So, when creating my plan for my life (as we do) I pictured getting