A Little House for Emily & An Adoption Conversation

This is just a warning. This is going to be long, but I hope you’ll stick with me because I think it will be worth it.

Back in July, I entered and won a giveaway through a blog that I regularly read, which led me to Finding Our Way, McCall's blog. I learned that the giveaway was a fundraiser for the adoption of a little girl from The Congo, Emily. So, I donated $10 to her adoption fund, which I think got me two entries into this giveaway. When I won I was so flipping happy! It was sponsorships to awesome blogs, a gussy sews pouch, an awesome calendar, and a few other things! It pretty much made my month.

After I won, I started reading McCall’s blog posts back to learn more about her adoption and something made me think she was southern, like Mississippi/Alabama/ maybe Arkansas kind of Southern (I don't really know how to explain this). So, then when it was confirmed that she was indeed a fellow Mississippi girl, I knew there must be a bigger connection. I started following her on IG, which honestly is the best way to really peek into someone's everyday life and make instant connections. It's funny how God uses this little thing called the internet to spark conversations, interests, and stir hearts. I mean have you seen her little girls talk about bringing their sister home? If that doesn't stir your heart, you might be dead inside. ;)

Here we are today with this little house. This little house is not only to help the McCall bring her little girl home, it's also a tool to be used in my home (and 100+ other homes) to spark and continue conversations about adoption. While Jonah is a little young to understand adoption and where Africa is, etc, he does know that we are putting money into this little house for Emily. I've prompted him to tell people who come to our home about the little house and hit up his grandparents for their spare change (he scored a half dollar from Poppie this weekend)!

He loves to do craft projects so, I let him help me a couple of weekends ago put it together. 

Why is this so important to me?

First, I want Jonah to know that families don't have strict definitions or restrictions. They are made in all shapes, sizes, colors, and situations. Specifically, adoption has always been really close to my heart for a number of reason. It’s been very interesting to me since I was a kid. Our church used to volunteer with a children’s home here in central Mississippi and I loved it. I loved shopping and buying things for the kids there. I liked meeting them, even though I was probably a little shy, I wanted to know what it was like to be in their shoes. I mean what kid wonders this? . . . the type of kid that grows up to be a social worker I guess. When I was a senior in high school I wrote my Senior Research Paper for my English class on foreign adoption. No joke. I went online and requested information packets from all these adoption agencies. I got stuff from Russia, China, and domestic agencies too. I wonder what my teacher thought of my topic, since I had absolutely no connection to adoption in my personal life?

All of this to say, there has always been an open conversation in my home about adoption, well actually while Wesley and I were just dating we talked about it. He was very open the idea, but back then some unintentional hurtful things were said and I just didn't know how the people around us would react to bringing in a child that would be so different from the norm. So, I laid off the subject for a very long time. 

Then, I started working with foster children, which is where my heart was when I went into social work and when I became a therapist for foster children,  I saw how a foster parent could really make or break a child’s recovery from the trauma they may have been through with their birth parent and I decided that maybe I wanted to go that route. Now that we have Jonah, I’m kind of lost in what God’s intentions are for our family and adoption/fostering. It’s all a bit scary, but it's an open conversation. 

So while we figure it out and wait on God's timing, I want to do all I can to support other people in their journeys to make a difference in one child’s life. So, here we are back to Emily's Little House. 

Typically, we put all our extra change into Jonah's college fund, but throughout September, we are going to put it in Emily's Little House (Jonah loads in the coins one by one every night). At the end of the month, we will count what's in the house and then donate that amount here and you can too. You don't even have to have a Little House. 

You can also help support The Aldridge Family by buying a "Be the Change" Tshirt! 

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