It was also a nice break to fellowship with good friends and prayer warriors! Thank you to those that have circled around me (and our entire family) over the years. I want to spend just a few minutes and acknowledge a few of these amazing mentors and friends that were also at the summit.
Stephanie and Darryl Fast (http://www.stephaniefast.org/media.asp, and http://loving-shepherd.org/stephanie/stephanie.html). Stephanie has such an amazing and inspiring testimony! Check out the link above. We heard her speak on focus on the family many, many years ago and were touched by her story. Years later, we met through our connection with Chosen International. It has been a joy getting to know her and her husband Darryl. We also were able to meet in Haiti just a couple of weeks ago. We traveled to where Darryl and Stephanie were serving in Haiti (Les Cayes) and Billy was able to meet his birthfather and numerous other family members for the first time. Stephanie was there and able to talk to Billy about that experience as an adoptee herself. Thank you Stephanie and Darryl!
Greg and Cindy Bigelow (www.choseninternational.org). I met Cindy many years ago at a Chosen International adoption conference for teens. Cindy has a heart for adoption and has come along side families through the adoption process for years. She is an amazing prayer warrior and understands the challenges that face so many adoptive parents. I can't tell you how many adoptees and parents I have seen her mentor, pray for, and just come alongside and help in so many ways. Her and her husband Greg started a ministry that helped assist families with funds to adopt and then later saw an additional need of assisting families through the teens years in particular. There's a lot of information and resources out there in regards to adoption and attachment, but so many families come up to me and say, "But how do we apply these strategies with teenagers?"
Chosen is trying to help families in this area by providing resources and support to parents and teens. It's hard being a parent of a teenager even in the best of circumstances. The adoption piece adds additional challenges that often bring families to their knees. As a parent of six teenagers, I will say that although there are many ups and downs, there are ways to survive. We need to help families keep their head afloat on this journey. Please pray about funding for an upcoming teen camp for Chosen. The camps are an amazing experience for teenagers to not only come together in fellowship, but to embrace God's plan of adoption in their lives. We see lives transformed through the experience and numerous teens turning their lives over to the Lord. Praise God!
Deborah Gray (http://www.deborahdgray.com/home.html). What can I say about Deborah Gray? She is a dear friend. There are people in life that you connect with for one reason or another and it's funny that in this situation adoption has very little to do with our connection. I met Deborah many years ago. I had certainly heard about her for many years prior to ever meeting her. When I worked in adoption processing, we often referred families to her in Seattle even though she was 3-4 hours away from the Portland area. There simply was nobody local to refer to PLUS families that traveled to see her in Seattle just raved about her. She has an incredible success rate working with really tough cases. I have been blessed to be trained by her both in Portland and up in Seattle. Please check out her new book! She has a wealth of experience!
Ok....and I want to acknowledge one more couple even though they were not at the summit this year: Cindy and David Wilkins (http://www.stagesyouth.org/about-us.html). Cindy and David are pros in the world of adoption. They have been on the roller coaster ride (both in helping process adoptions and as adoptive parents) for over 30 years AND they are still smiling! They are amazing with children, teens, and parents. They are always an encouragement to those around them. If you're in the Hillsboro area, please check out the link above to Stages Performing Arts Youth Academy. They have some incredible camps coming up!
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