It’s Thanksgiving, and for some, listing your blessings will flow off the tip of your tongue. However, for many in our adoption community, it’s a tall order to find reasons to give thanks.
Giving thanks seems to be a tall order when you’ve just discovered you’re pregnant and have no means to become a mom. It might be difficult to have a heart of thanksgiving when you’ve relinquished your child for adoption. In the same manner, you may be an adoptee that is expected to be so grateful, but instead it’s a tall order to muster any bit of gratitude. Or, giving thanks is a far-fetched thought when you’re still waiting for your adoption miracle that will make you parents. You might be an adoptive family that can easily tally a list of complaints for the way this journey has gone. There are many in our adoption community that may not feel a whole lot like giving thanks this week. It sounds much easier to avoid the family gatherings and catch-up conversations because there isn’t a lot of thanksgiving to contribute. The holidays have a way of magnifying the pain when what we long for seems too far out of reach. What might happen if you pushed against the natural tendency to focus on the have-nots and, instead, find ways to give thanks, no matter what? Try it – take a minute this week to name your blessings. Write them down and then come back to reflect on that list over and over. It’s a tall order, but you might find yourself feeling a little more like giving thanks.
Then, adoption community, can we fill a tall order of providing hope and encouragement to those under our wings that need it this Thanksgiving? Will you take a minute to relate to and pray for an expectant parent who is fighting through fear, loneliness and desperation? Can you be a friend that offers hope because you know how refreshing it is when someone gives it to you? How about sending a card to someone you know that is in a time of wait? Can you help lighten the load for an individual or family who is weighed down this season? Would you be willing to use your own story to offer hope and encouragement? Could you thank someone for helping you through to the next chapter? It might just make a difference in all of our Thanksgivings.
It’s a tall order, but at AAI we’ll be praying this week that we will each experience that giving of ourselves may be the best way for us to give thanks this week, no matter what.
#inthistogether #thankfulnomatterwhat
