The Heart of Adoption: the Rosati Story

I was reading an article the other day called, "To Find a Forever Family," and I've really wanted to share it.  It's about the Rosati family, and their journey to find their 4 children, by adopting them from the foster care system.  Their thoughts and attitudes really resound with my heart, and while I'd strongly encourage you to read the entire article, I wanted to share some of my favorite excerpts.

"Just a normal night in the life of an average family. But this is a family designed through choice, not biology. And tough choices at that. All four Rosati children were adopted from the foster care system.  The kids’ exuberance may be where that initial impression of controlled chaos comes from, but what lingers long after everyone settles down is a sense of pervasive peace. It’s in everything from the way John and Kelly reason with a child through a disciplinary issue to the words they use when telling their story. They never say “We adopted …” It’s always “[this child] came home [in such-and-such a year]” — as if these children always belonged to them, and they had only to discover it.

I can't even describe to you how often I think in that same way  - wondering how soon till our kids get to come home?


She goes on to talk about orphans in America:

“ 'Because we don’t have orphanages in America, we think we don’t have orphans — but we do,” says Kelly, who is now the senior director for the sanctity of human life department at Focus on the Family. “These are kids who wake up every day not knowing if they are going to be moved that day, who have no permanence in their lives. Many of them have only known neglect, abuse and abandonment.  “So we were just really challenged that if we were going to be pro-life, we needed to do something about this and not just look away.” 

And for those of you who are considering adoption:

"It takes people who aren’t perfect, because none of our kids are. It takes people willing to do a lot of giving to kids who’ve had people take a lot from them. We need families who are flexible, with a sense of humor, who are willing to be a mother bear for their kids, give them tough love and advocate for them in school and the community.  “Our kids have seen a lot of loss and a lot of hurt, and they just wonder, ‘Is anyone ever going to step up for me?’ Not for a week or a month, but consistently, like a marriage, till death do us part.”

This family sounds awesome, and I can't wait till I can tell a similar story - of how God used our family to reach out to kids in need, loving them no matter what, "till death do us part."  And again, you can check out the whole article here.

*To read all the posts in this series, click here.