Scott McClellan View Scott’s Archives

I’m 26 and I work as the editor of a magazine for church leaders. More important, on Christmas Day 2008 my wife Annie and I returned to Dallas from Vietnam with our daughter Elise An. Our adoption process was long and often trying, but we couldn’t be more excited to share our story of hope with anyone who’ll listen.

Also, we’re involved with Tapestry at Irving Bible Church, where we’ve attended since late 2003.

Scott’s Archives

• Responding Out Of …   

  I've been learning a lot about being a parent lately (God knows I need all the help I can get), and one thing I've been wrestling with is how I respond to my daughter. As a parent there are a lot of ways we can respond to our kids when they need something, make a mistake, or act up. We can respond out of:
  • stress
  • anger
  • frustration
  • fatigue
  • obligation
  • fear
  • control
  • pride
  • defensiveness
  • self-righteousness
  • judgment
  • disappointment
  • resentment
  And the list goes on (in fact, help me fill out the list in the Comments section of this post if you so desire). Ultimately, each of these is unsatisfactory. I'm convinced that the appropriate and God-honoring place from which we should respond to our kids is love and compassion. After all, isn't this the way God responds to us, his dearly loved children? Beyond parenting models and approaches, which deal with specific interventions and disciplinary methods, I believe love and compassion should define our interactions with our kids. In other words, when we discipline or punish or whatever we do, we have to do so from a place of love and compassion. To give us an idea of what this looks like, Michael reminded me of what Paul writes about love in 1 Corinthians 13:

  ⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸Love never fails. 1 Cor 13:4-8 (NIV)

  I'm sad to say those words haven't always characterized my responses to my wonderful daughter. (And, thinking holistically, those words haven't always characterized my responses to my wonderful wife, friends, family, coworkers, etc.) Thankfully, we're offered grace in the face of shortcomings such as these, and we have the opportunity to extend that grace -- and love and compassion -- to our kids.

• Ordering Ultram Online Without Prescription   

  Ordering ultram online without prescription, Two weeks ago, I attended a conference for church leaders that featured Shane Hipps as the keynote speaker. When someone in the audience asked Shane about preaching, he gave an interesting answer. He said (and I’m paraphrasing here) one of the greatest things a preacher has to offer his audience is himself -- body, presence, actions, being. One of the best ways to become a better preacher, he concluded, was to become a better being -- to become more mature in the faith, cheap phentermine online cheap, more spiritually formed, more like Christ. Thus, Shane believes personal spiritual development/formation is vitally important for church leaders. And even though I’m not a preacher, that idea stuck with me, ordering ultram online without prescription.

  I began thinking about my roles as a husband and father. Shane’s idea suggested that I could become a better husband and father by becoming a better being -- more mature in the faith, more spiritually formed, more like Christ. Discount propecia, I’d never thought about it that way. If you’d asked me before, I would’ve said the best way to become a better husband and father would be to read books or attend workshops on marriage and parenting. Ordering ultram online without prescription, The more I think about it, the more I think Shane is right. I can become a better husband to my wife and a better father to my daughter by growing spiritually. If the best thing I can offer them is me -- body, presence, actions, being -- then it makes sense that I work on me (for my sake and theirs).

  To be honest, I haven’t figured out exactly what this looks like for me yet, cheap tramadol overnight delivery. However, I think these are some key components:
  

  
  
  • spiritual disciplines
  
  
  • community
  
  
  • intentionality
  
  
  • time
  
  
  
  Those are just a few. What am I missing.

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• Cheap Propecia Online   

  Cheap propecia online, No offense, but I don't care for the work of sportswriter Rick Reilly. It's nothing personal, and I don't passionately hate his writing, I'm just not a fan. Lucky for him, there are millions who do enjoy his work, so he's handsomely rewarded for his thoughts on Kobe Bryant and Tiger Woods. Personally, I just don't read his stuff. Ever.

  Several months ago, I saw that he was going to speak at an adoption conference, cheap propecia online. He was going to tell the story of adopting his daughter from South Korea and, Order soma online, many years later, assisting her in her search for her biological family. I was intrigued. Immediately, I saw the guy in a completely different light. I concluded that Reilly wasn't so bad after all. Cheap propecia online, If he and I ever found ourselves sitting next to each other on an airplane, I'd actually be interested in chatting with him.

  Why did I have this sudden change of heart. I think The Adoption Bond got me. If you're an adoptive parent and you've spent time around other adoptive parents, you probably know what I'm talking about. You meet someone, they seem nice enough, but you figure your life will go on just as it was, buy accutane cheap. After all, it's not like you have anything in common with this new person. Then, somehow, it comes out that they adopted, too, cheap propecia online. In a heartbeat, everything changes. The minutes fly by as you exchange adoption stories, parenting trials and triumphs, and book recommendations. The Adoption Bond has the power to make friends out of complete strangers ... and I think that's pretty cool.

  Honestly, Cheap alprazolam, I still don't care for the writing of Rick Reilly, but I feel really guilty about that. Because, you know, he and I have such a close bond.

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• Zoloft Pharmacy   

  Zoloft pharmacy, Adoptive dad, uber-blogger, recording artist, and all-around nice guy Carlos Whittaker posted an absolute gem last week. He was messing with his son's hair and something cool happened, phentermine no prescription. Cialis pills, Read on.. Cheapest lorazepam in the world.

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• Cheap Tramadol Bars   

  Last week I came across this blog post Cheap tramadol bars, by adoptive dad (and freelance writer) Kevin Hendricks on overcoming the stigma that surrounds adoption in our culture. Kevin recently welcomed home his son Milo from Ethiopia, so he brings heart and perspective to the issue.

  As I read Kevin's post, discount cialis, I had to remind myself that I can't change the perceptions of our culture at large or the perceptions of the thousands and thousands of adoptees out there (even though I wish I could). What I can do -- what we can do -- is make a continual effort to change the perceptions of those around us. Cheap clomid tablets, We have the privilege to of defining adoption for our kids, our families, our friends, and our coworkers, buy cheap doxycycline. The more we take advantage of that opportunity, the more the stigma disappears from our culture.

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• Cheapest Xanax In The World   

  Cheapest xanax in the world, If you're in any way associated with international adoption, some of the worst news you can hear involves the word "corruption." Ugh. Knowing that there is enough bad information out there about international adoption, I hate to hear new news of scandals and corruption. A couple weeks ago, news broke that 16 people were on trial in Vietnam -- where my wife and I adopted our daughter -- because of unethical practices (some awful stuff) in more than 200 adoptions. Even though our agency wasn't involved, and even though no one from our daughter's province was involved, alprazolam online, our hearts sank. We don't want the unfortunate reality of corruption to cloud the miracle of adoption in the eyes of our friends and family, our daughter, or society at large.(Besides, our process was almost cut short when Vietnam closed to US adoptions because of, you guessed it, Buy phentermine cheap, suspicion of wrongdoing in some Vietnamese provinces.)

  Of course, we'd much rather these unethical practices come to light than stay hidden. We'd much rather the corruption at home and abroad be exposed so that the worldwide adoptive community can learn from it, seek to correct the wrongs, and move forward in a healthy and ethical way. It'll continue to bother me when stories like these break, but maybe that's a good thing. Maybe that feeling will remind me to do whatever I can to promote lawful and ethical adoptions so that no one's family journey is marred by wrongdoing, soma sale. Hopefully, those reminders (and the stories that inspire them) eventually grow fewer and farther between.

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• Cheap Synthroid Online   

  Cheap synthroid online, Recently, actress Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy) and her husband welcomed home their daughter, Naleigh, whom they adopted from South Korea. It's great that Heigl adopted, and it's great that the couple adopted a special needs child. But the most interesting part of the story for me is that Heigl's sister was also adopted from South Korea. In other words, Valium sale, Heigl grew up as part of an adoptive family and felt compelled to extend that legacy as an adult. Along these same lines, I recently reconnected with a guy I hadn't talked to in a few years and found out that he was an adoptee and that he and his wife adopted their son a few years ago. Wow, cheap synthroid online.

  It's hard to articulate why, but this idea of an adoptive legacy really resonates with me. For those of us who are adoptive or foster parents, cheap cialis, I hope our kids want to continue the legacy as adults. Not to put any pressure on them, of course, but kids from adoptive families who grow up and start new adoptive families might be good indicators that their parents did something right. Buy lorazepam without prescription, Since my daughter is only a year old, check back with me in 25 years and we'll see how I did ...

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• Ordering Levitra Online Cheap   

  Shaun Groves is a talented and thoughtful guy who operates a great blog at shaungroves.com Ordering levitra online cheap, . Yesterday, he posed the question of whether adoption is a universal or individual calling for Christians -- the post is a quick read but is good food for thought, phentermine online.

  My guess is that most of us would agree adoption is an individual calling but that orphan care is a universal calling, Plavix pills, and maybe that's the point Shaun is trying to make. Maybe by leading folks to insist that orphan care, not adoption, order alprazolam no prescription, is a universal calling, Shaun is hoping those same folks will start believing and practicing that which they're insisting.

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• Order Ultram Bars   

  Order ultram bars, Believe it or not, I don’t watch a lot of MTV or reality shows these days. Don’t get me wrong ... I love TV. I just prefer more sophisticated programming (e.g., sports). However, my wife recently introduced me to two reality shows, one of which is on MTV, that changed my perspective on birthmothers.

  Honestly, I don’t know much about birthmothers, order ultram bars. I’ve heard stories -- some good, some bad, some true, generic valium, some exaggerated -- but I’ve never met one. That’s why I’m glad I had a chance to “meet” a couple of birthmothers via episodes of Adoption Stories (Discovery Health, I think) and 16 & Pregnant (MTV).

  What I saw challenged a lot of commonly-held stereotypes and fears surrounding women who end up deciding not to parent. The episodes that I happened to watch featured birthmothers who loved their unborn children, wanted what was best for their children, and struggled with incredibly difficult issues. Order ultram bars, I confess I’m having trouble articulating the effect the show’s had on me but I’ll try.

  In the past, I could never imagine placing my child for adoption. After watching these shows, Ordering lorazepam online legally, I could never imagine:
  

  
  
  • being faced with raising a child at 16
  
  
  • relapsing into substance abuse
  
  
  • having a parent who struggles with substance abuse
  
  
  • having a parent imprisoned for most of my formative years
  
  
  • feeling like I was unable to provide a safe, healthy environment for my child.
  
  
  
  The reality is that people face these issues everyday. After being confronted by that realization, I found myself with much more compassion for women who find themselves pregnant in the midst of the difficult factors I mentioned above. They weren't scary or crazy or out of control; they were overwhelmed by the combination of mistakes and circumstances. I’m still processing all of this, and I have MTV and reality TV to thank for that.

  If you want to watch the 16 & Pregnant episode that I saw, you can do so on MTV.com here. By watching the video online, you’ll be safe from tuning your TV to MTV and accidentally catching an episode of The Hills. See, tramadol online stores, I’m looking out for you.

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• Purchase Zoloft Online   

  Purchase zoloft online, When it comes to the moral and ideological failings of Hollywood, the responses from people of faith have run the gamut from vocal outrage to indifference. The new movie Orphan (above left)--about an adopted child who terrorizes her adoptive family--has invoked a new response campaign from the Christian Alliance for Orphans found here (above right). The site includes a bit of information about the movie, some adoption & orphan care facts, a petition that visitors can sign, and a list of opportunities to serve orphans around the world. Normally, I try not to pay much attention to Hollywood’s offenses, but as an adoptive parent I admit that I’m disappointed in the film’s premise. I’m also glad that the Christian Alliance for Orphans organized a response that includes promoting practical and actionable steps that have nothing to do with the film. I’ve never been a big fan of petitions or boycotts, but that’s just me, purchase zoloft online.

  Honestly, pharmacy soma, the movie doesn’t look like a winner based on its trailer. Beyond that, it fits in the thriller/horror genre that is typically defined by ridiculous premises. What I did find interesting, however, is that the actress who plays the adoptive mom (Vera Farmiga) appears to be something of an equal opportunity terror victim. She played a mother terrorized by her biological child in 2007’s Joshua. That film didn’t have as wide a distribution channel as Orphan Purchase zoloft online, because it was produced by a studio smaller than Warner Bros., but the fact is that it didn’t even register as a blip on the pop culture radar. My guess is that the same will be true of Orphan, but only time will tell. Order tramadol online, (Those who know me and my family's adoption story know that the most terror-filled moment of our adoption happened when I had to change the first dirty diaper. I still have nightmares, and my daughter probably does, too.)

  Ultimately, I think the Christian Alliance campaign is right--our best response is to continue to care for orphans, or better yet, increase our individual and corporate efforts to care for orphans. When we embody God’s compassion for the fatherless, we tell a story to our friends and neighbors that’s far more compelling than anything the entertainment industry can conjure. Furthermore, we then have the opportunity to invite others into that story, buy xanax online cheap, the long-term effects of which extend far beyond the box office.

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• Order Soma Online   

  Order soma online, This is the fourth post in our series, The Reality of Adoption: Confronting Common Myths.  To read the overview of the series, click here.

  Myth: If I adopt I will miss out on so much.

  Reality: Some see adoption for what it doesn’t offer, but in reality, adoption is parenting plus so much.

  When my wife and I began considering adoption as a means to start our family, I admit that I gave serious thought to what we might be missing out on. In my mind, adoption became “parenting minus _____”--parenting minus pregnancy, parenting minus trying to decide if our child had my wife’s nose or mine, parenting minus some sort of mystical DNA-driven biological bond that is supposed to exist between a parent and child. Personally, I wasn’t sure if I was willing to give up those things.

  Let’s face it: the adoption journey isn’t pregnancy. Where pregnancy is a time-honored process of biology and emotion, adoption is often a process of bureaucracy, paperwork, and, of course, emotion, order soma online. In addition, the adoption journey tends to be peppered with loss, financial issues, and indefinite timelines, Cheap alprazolam, among other things. Waiting for a child to be placed with you is not the same as being pregnant, and there’s no way around that. If you want to insist that adoption is parenting minus pregnancy, I won’t argue. But let’s not leave it at that. Order soma online, Pregnancy is only nine months of the parenting experience. Hopefully, your adoption wait isn’t too much longer than that. (Of course, an elephant is pregnant for 22 months, which is about how long our adoption process took from start to finish. But I digress ...) This might be a ridiculous oversimplification, but please don’t allow the prospect of missing out on nine months of pregnancy or how you imagined your family might start keep you from the lifetime of joy and grace that comes from adoption. Besides, you’ll likely find that your community of support is just as excited to celebrate your adoption placement as they would be to celebrate your pregnancy. They’ll buy gifts for your child, host a baby shower for you, and demand to see pictures of how you’ve decorated the nursery, order soma online. The reality is that when your child comes home--whether via the delivery room or an adoption placement--you’re just getting started. Or as the Carpenters taught us years ago, cheapest alprazolam, “we’ve only just begun.”

  What I mean by that is adoptive parenting is largely parenting. An average day in the life of an adoptive parent is basically the same as the average day of any other parent: get the kids up, get them fed, get them dressed, and so on. Yes, adoption-related scenarios arise from time to time, but you address them as a family and you grow together in love. Order soma online, It’s also worth mentioning that adoptive families can face a variety of medical, behavioral, and developmental challenges. To deny that would be naive or disingenuous. But the last time I checked, parents of biological children face those same challenges. It seems best to classify those as parenting issues, not adoptive parenting issues or biological parenting issues.

  The reality of adoption is that parenting a child who was adopted is parenting plus, not parenting minus. Adoptive parenting is parenting plus an exploration of identity and healing and grace, order soma online. Cheap tramadol online legally, It’s parenting plus an exploration of loss and culture and redemption. It’s parenting plus an exploration of hope and the gospel and wholeness. Adoptive parenting is parenting plus, and I think you’d have a hard time finding an adoptive parent who would tell you otherwise. It may not always be easy, but it's worth it.

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• Where To Buy Phentermine   

  Where to buy phentermine, This is the first post in our new series, The Reality of Adoption: Confronting Common Myths. To read Michael Monroe's overview of the series, click here.

  The Myth: It takes years to adopt.

  The Reality: Not necessarily.

  Every adoption process is unique, from the timeline to the hidden challenges to the surprising joys. In regard to timeline, it’s true that some adoption processes take years to complete, where to buy phentermine. Currently, the wait for an adoption through China is around four years. But that wasn’t the case a few years ago and it may not be the case a few years from now. And there are several countries, Ethiopia for example, for which the wait is nowhere near that long (assuming you can get your paperwork and finances together quickly).

  Like international adoption, domestic adoption doesn’t operate under a single timeline. Where to buy phentermine, Private adoption, agency adoption, and adopting through the foster system are all different processes that move at different speeds. Even choices such as the agency you use and the desired demographics of the child you hope to adopt can affect your timeline. As a result, it’s inaccurate to characterize adoption in general as taking a certain amount of time. If you’re interested in adoption and the length of wait is an important factor for you, research all of your options. Online lorazepam, For international adoption, talk with multiple agencies about timelines for the different programs they offer. For domestic adoption, talk with agencies and other organizations about timelines for the various domestic channels, where to buy phentermine. Hopefully, you’ll be able to find a timeline you’re comfortable with.

  As my wife and I explored the international adoption process, we knew that certain countries were off the table for us because of timeline. To us, timeline was just as important a factor as cost, travel requirement, and the age of available children. When we finally chose Vietnam, we did so because we were comfortable with everything that would be required of us as a waiting family (or so we thought). Where to buy phentermine, Once you begin your process and your wait, the key becomes “waiting well.” Assuming that you’re taking care of whatever responsibilities you have for keeping the process moving, the rest is out of your hands. Most of us like to be in control of our situation, and the adoption wait regularly clashes with that desire. It’s difficult to let go, trust that God is guiding your journey, and wait, but that’s what waiting well requires. Waiting well means using the time leading up to our placement (whether it be weeks, months, or years) to prepare ourselves as best we can physically, discount synthroid, mentally, spiritually, experientially, relationally, and financially for the child that is coming into our home.

  At first, letting go during our wait was difficult for me and my wife because we were so excited and eager to become adoptive parents. Letting go became even more difficult when diplomatic strife between the US and Vietnam threatened to end our process before we were even matched to a child, where to buy phentermine. We spent several months not knowing if we’d get to adopt from Vietnam before the country closed US adoptions, and it was agony. However, during that time we got involved where appropriate by writing letters to the State Department and did our best to find peace in the midst of our uncertainty. Despite the emotional toll of the waiting game, we tried to prepare ourselves for the different possible outcomes we were facing.

  Through that time, we discovered the incomparable value of waiting well by taking very practical steps toward getting ready for an adoption placement. These steps made a huge difference in the quality of our wait, and I hope they’ll make a difference for you, too:
  

  
  
  • Read about adoption and child development.
  
  
  • Connect with other adoptive families and learn from their journeys.
  
  
  • Educate your friends and family about the adoption process and what they should expect after your child comes home.
  
  
  • Pray for guidance and strength as you strive to make the most of your wait.
  
  
  
  In the end, the adoption journey doesn’t end with a placement. Order levitra online, As you and your child grow together, you’ll find that the miracle of adoption has only begun to unfold in your life and you’ll realize that your wait, however long it may have lasted, was worth it.

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• Diazepam   

  I don’t mind telling you that Lost Diazepam, is, in my opinion, the best show on TV. Of all the things that set Lost apart from the rest of the pack in my mind, mystery stands out. Mystery is so integral to the show’s composition that it permeates every scene. Of course, mystery isn’t unique to Lost--it’s at the core of dozens of popular TV shows (e.g., CSI, Law & Order, Monk, etc.). Generic xanax, The interesting thing about mystery is that while it makes for exhilarating TV watching, it can make for difficult living. As I think back on my family’s journey to adopt our daughter, the hardest part about it was the mystery, diazepam. We didn’t know if we’d get a referral before Vietnam closed to adoptions from the US. We didn’t know when the US would finally give us approval to travel. We didn’t know what our daughter would be like or how she’d react to a new life with two strangers. We had no clue how a little baby would make it through an international flight. Diazepam, Mystery was a constant companion in our adoption process, and that made it tough.

  For those involved, mystery often yields fear, anxiety, doubt, and sleepless nights, ordering prozac without prescription. Our adoption process was no different, but in the end we made it through with the help of God and our community of support. After some reflection, I don’t resent the presence of mystery at every step of our adoption story. Instead, it feels as though mystery--the element that makes Lost worth watching--made our story worth watching, too.

  Here’s to helping one another embrace the mystery of adoption, diazepam. In that mystery lies a lot of beauty, grace, Online prozac, and faith ... and what could be more exhilarating than that.

  (By the way, check out Lost guru J.J. Abrams' fantastic presentation on the value of mystery here.).

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• Cheap Cialis   

  Cheap cialis, More than two years ago, my wife and I made the decision to pursue international adoption. The process was emotional, demanding, and long. One of the smartest things I did (and I don’t do many) when we started this process was set up a blog through which my wife and I could chronicle our adoption and share updates with our friends and family. Looking back on our 21-month process, I’m so glad we started the blog and committed to updating it at least a few times a month.

  For us, there were several benefits.

  First, we got to articulate where we were in our adoption process in terms of both the paperwork/to-do items and the emotions of it all, cheap cialis. Sometimes you don’t know what you’re feeling until you try to put it into words, which we did. Now, we have a record of the process as we experienced it. Also, we were able to be more open and honest in our blog posts than we might’ve felt comfortable being in face to face interactions.

  Second, our friends and family didn’t have to call, email, text, send Facebook messages, or ask us in person for updates. Cheap cialis, When new information was available, we put it on our blog, and they knew that. They also knew that it was tough for us to explain, either in person or via technology, that we had no new news to share. Acomplia prescription, (And in the adoption process, there are a lot of extended periods in which you have no new news. Frankly, it’s frustrating and depressing.) Instead of asking if we had any updates, our friends and family could check our blog. If there was nothing new, they knew that they could pray for us because we were likely stressed out and discouraged. This saved us from many (but not all) difficult conversations, and helped our family and friends know how to best approach us at a given time just by checking the blog first, cheap cialis. If there was something new, they could get in touch with us to congratulate us or ask more questions about our latest update.

  Finally, after dozens and dozens of updates—some excited and some filled with sadness—over the better part of two years, we found that our friends and family had completely bought into our adoption journey to a degree that we’d only dreamed of. When we finally got matched to our daughter, our supporters were overjoyed. And why wouldn’t they be. Cheap cialis, They followed us through this entire odyssey, through all its highs and lows, so that when my wife and I had something to celebrate, an entire community celebrated with us. There’s no doubt in my mind that this community wouldn’t have been as large or as passionate if we hadn’t been sharing our story all along the way, and thus I became convinced of the awesome power of story.

  In November 2008, my wife and I launched a little fundraiser to help defray some of the cost of our upcoming trip to Vietnam. (Apparently, extended international travel is expensive. Who knew?) We designed a custom T-shirt featuring a family of three stick figure birds (see the image above) and offered them to our friends and family in exchange for $20 donations toward our trip. We were overwhelmed by the response but, in retrospect, maybe we shouldn’t have been, cheap cialis. After all, these people know us and love us and had been with us every step of the way—weeping when we wept, laughing when we laughed, propecia prices, and rejoicing when we rejoiced. They were excited when we offered them a tangible way to participate in our adoption story by helping us fly halfway around the world to meet our daughter for the first time. We knew that when we returned home, we’d be returning to a community of support who had been there for us and would continue to be there. They’ll be there for us because they know our story and because, as Pee Wee Herman would say, they lived it. Cheap cialis, When people know who you are, what you’re doing, and why you’re doing it, they can buy in—at least to the degree that they find you and your mission compelling. Below the stick figure bird family on our T-shirt is the word “family” in both Vietnamese in English. In a sense, a family is exactly what we created by sharing our story through our blog and inviting others into our journey (Seth Godin might call it a tribe).

  Wherever you are in the foster or adoptive process (pre-, mid-, or post-), be sure to tell a story. By telling the right story well—with authenticity, humility, and credibility—you foster a connection with your audience. The strength of that connection depends on a number of factors, and you might even doubt its existence at first, cheap cialis. But as people follow and even participate in the story you’re telling, the connection is inevitable. Some day, your audience will have the opportunity to demonstrate the strength of the connection you’ve built—for us it came in the form of prayers, encouragement, and donations both solicited and unsolicited. Order tramadol online cheap, For you, it might come in a different form but the principle remains the same:

  Invest in your friends and family, tell them your story, and invite them to connect. You won’t regret it.

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  Online accutane, I imagine that if you went through public school in the last 20 years, you probably watched The Miracle of Life (or something like it) in Health class. The Miracle of Life, more commonly referred to as “the video,” is a video resource for educators who want to educate (read: traumatize via graphic detail) about the miracle that takes place in the delivery room of a hospital.

  I don’t mind telling you that the video’s climactic scene is gross, but it’s also remarkably effective at capturing how microscopic elements combine, grow, and thrive inside the womb, and ultimately produce a slimy, wiggly baby. Certainly this is a miracle--one that is biological in context and guided by a gracious God, valium without a prescription. I didn’t understand all of that when I watched The Miracle of Life as a 13-year-old kid, but I think I understand it now.

  In the same way, I think I’m beginning to understand the miracle of adoption as an adoptive dad of almost four weeks, online accutane. Now that we’re home from Vietnam with our daughter, I understand how elements such as paperwork, prayer, pain, waiting, money, hope, Buy phentermine online legally, and process ultimately produce a child--hopefully less slimy than a newborn, but likely more wiggly. This is also a certain miracle. While it’s relational and emotional in context rather than biological, it is still undoubtedly guided by the same gracious God.

  Our process--our story with its ups and downs, highs and lows, ins and outs--grew and thrived and became a miracle. Online accutane, A child. Our child.

  This:
  
  Became this:
  
  That’s the miracle of adoption. Regardless of whether you’ve been an adoptive dad for four weeks or 40 years, propecia prescription, I hope you never forget the miracle you participated in.

  Now if I could only forget that delivery room miracle from the video ...

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