In another blog I read occasionally, the author thanked a recent award winner for drawing attention to "those important [adoptive] moms who love like Jesus does." This statement bothers me for several reasons. First, because of its pat me on the back mentality that I'm being so virtuous and Christian by adopting. I'm sorry, but adopting does not equate laying down your life to the extent Christ did for us. But most of all, this bothers me because it leaves the birth mom out of the picture. How many of the birth moms, particularly in foreign countries, are NOT teenage moms giving up their babies but are moms and dads who desperately would love to keep their families intact but are unable to because of the bad economy and lack of community development where they live. God created families so what can we do to help families stay intact and thrive rather than encourage families to disband in hopes that their child may get a better future?

"There are 147 million orphans across our world today. If 1 in 10 Christian families were to adopt, there would be 0."

I love my Christian brothers and sisters who choose to adopt. However, there are so many logical fallacies with the above statement.

1. How many of these 147 million are truly orphans with no parents at all? So many children at orphanages have living parents who believe they can't afford to care for their children. With economic development in their home countries, these parents could keep their kids.

2. If all orphans were adopted, there would just be more orphans. I fear international adoption only increases the number of parents who abandon their children because they feel they are unable to care for them.

3. Let's encourage sustainable, economic development around the world to increase the standard of living and decrease the number of orphaned and vulnerable children around the world. By all means adopt, but let's tackle the needs of orphans and foster children here in the U.S.

Joy of leisure reading

This weekend I read two books for the fun of it. These were books that I picked up solely for enjoyment rather that education or edification. They were both quick reads that I polished off in a couple of hours. At times, I am reluctant to embrace my "fun" reading as I have so many other things to do that it seems like an indulgence that I can't afford. However, the joy and exuberation I feel after reading a good, wholesome novel is better than chocolate. It is an indulgence that I must make room for on a regular basis. It is not only good for me but Sarah enjoyed watching me read and inquired what the book was about and other questions. She sees me reading frequently (hey, I'm librarian mom) but it was good for her to see me reading for pure pleasure.

Pat me on the back parenting

I hate what I like to call "pat me on the back parenting." I am well aware of the fine line between telling and bragging when it comes to your children's activities. But I think you cross the line when you brag about what your child does in terms of charity work. At that point it becomes not so much what your child does, but "look at me I'm such a great parent because my kid did this." It's OK to be proud of your kids and it's OK to tell grandparents or close friends but beyond that just goes too far.

I've been frustrated lately that in the circle of people I know often only viewpoint can get a hearing even though multiple view can be very valid. I have inquired with several trusted friends to see if the alternate view I propose is truly valid and have been assured that yes it is quite true but that yes, it's not the "cool" thing.

Thinking about these alternative viewpoints that are still definitely Christian just slightly outside of mainstream reminded me of several longings. One, I would really like to be involved in a book club or two that reads and discusses a variety of great books--both new and classic. Second, it is really frustrating to be involved in a community where I could have the kind of deep discussion I would like yet everyone is too busy because we are student focused. Finally, it is also frustrating to feel like I'm shut out of the very community in which I'm a member.

p.s. Soapmaking went very well.

Adventures

Since my last post was a month and a half a go, so much for becoming more frequent in my blog postings. I have started a twitter account though. Twitter, with its character limit, seems more conducive for the "hey this is what I'm doing" type of posts than a blog does. When I post here, I feel like I need to have something of substance to say.

Recently, I purchased the book Totally Cool Soapmaking or Kids for dd and me. So today, we went to Michael's to purchase the needed supplies. I'm really excited as this seems like a very do-able project that can be done in a short amount of time yet have a nice product at the end. We're planning on contributing our efforts to our church bazaar. Each year I have grand plans of making something that do not materialize and then I feel badly. This year, I've decided not to worry about it but the soap will be a nice addition.

Along with the above mentioned book, I have purchased a number of other fun things as well. I still have high hopes of doing a lot of educational activities in the evenings. My desire is much larger than my output. I really want to study history and science with the kids, read great literature, write stories, do math, and in short, homeschool. I also want to do Bible study, church history, missions, and worldview study. Unfortunately, doing all of those things along with any kind of crafty things is downright difficult.

Speaking of worldview study, I was really excited this evening to learn of a new worldview curriculum for elementary kids. It is the worldview only portion of another curriculum designed for Christian schools. The first of four volumes has been released with three more to be published one a year between now and 2012. The first volume has ten lessons with each lesson taking one to two weeks. Because it is worldview without the Bible survey, we can use something else for Bible without feeling like we are overlapping. Now I just need to decide when to begin using it. It might be interesting to do this study in a group as well.

I am recommitting to blogging more faithfully. I feel like my relationship with blogging is similar to a variety of other things I know I should do and are good to do like exercise that just don't quite make it into my day. I have had a great summer and took four weeks off work. Part of those weeks were vacation time in Chicago at ALA and part were family vacation closer to home. ALA with kids went much better than I thought and was a lot of fun. DD already is talking about when we can go back to Chicago. The rest of my time was at home just hanging out with the kids, cleaning some, reading some and just relaxing. Good times!

I'm now back at work for thee second week. Smooth transition back except for computer anomalies. I'm working on exciting new presentations and instruction sessions and am really looking forward to creating some new screencasts.