Julie Gumm - Author

Interpretative Art

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During the Karyn Purvis pre-conference at Together for Adoption she talked a bit about kids from hard places and how they see themselves. She showed us several drawings done by these kids and explained what they meant. There is a real science to this – extremely fascinating.

Some of the pictures showed the adopted child off to the side of the rest of the family – they didn’t feel like they were part of a family. Others demonstrated how they felt trapped or angry or hurt.

Of course all us adoptive moms had a sudden urge to go home and ask all our children to draw a family picture.

Before I could even ask, I got this.

This is me, as drawn by Beza at school.

In real life I have short brown hair. It definitely would not go in pigtails. Does this indicated I’m not the white mommy she really wanted?

She drew me with a crown. Does that mean she sees me as a princess? Or the wicked queen?

I have cape. Am I Superwoman?

Then I asked her about the bikini top. Because I don’t wear a bikini.

“It’s not a bikini mom. It’s those things….”

<long pause while she searches for the right word>

“Coconuts!”

Um yeah, because I walk around in a coconut bikini top A LOT.

Are We Just Remodeling Hell?

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On Saturday during one of the Together for Adoption conference breakouts Tom Davis made the remark “Building orphanages is like remodeling hell. That is not God’s plan.”

A small collective gasp went up from the audience. I think there were quite a few mouths open as well.

I tweeted the comment and it was obvious the shock carried over into the cyberworld.

It sounds kind of wild doesn’t it? But it is so true.

God’s design is not for hundreds of children to live in large institutional orphanages where rows of bunk beds line the room and paid staff dish out food and little else. Certainly not the nurturing that a mother and father can give.

Yesterday I shared Psalm 68:5 but that passage goes on to say

“God sets the lonely in families…” Ps 68:6

God’s plan for the orphan is a family. Not an orphanage.

That’s one of the reasons why I believe in and work for World Orphans.

Everything we do revolves around the church, the orphan and a family.

At the prevention stage our local church partners identify at-risk children and help keep them in their families by providing food, educational fees, medicines and whatever other needs there are.

If the church knows that the child’s orphaning is imminent (i.e. mom is dying of AIDS) they work diligently to find extended family that will be able to care for the child. If that isn’t available then the next step is to find foster parents from within the church or place the child in the children’s home on the church property. Even that home is a family – 8-12 kids living with houseparents who give them the long term love of a mom and a dad.

The indigenous church has heard God’s cry – maybe more so than the American church. They stand ready to help the orphans of their community but they lack what we have in abundance – resources.

My prayer is that the church as body will wake up and corporately decided that we are done remodeling hell, putting band-aids on wounds that need surgery.

We must help God put the lonely in families.

Off to Austin

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Tomorrow I am off to Austin and excited not just about the Together for Adoption conference, but the chance to enjoy some cooler weather. It’s still hitting 105+ here and I AM DONE!

On Wednesday I’m attending a pre-conference with Dr. Karyn Purvis – one of the preeminent authorities interventions for adopted, foster and other at-risk children. Before we adopted I read her book The Connected Child from cover to cover and have referred back to it many times. I’m looking forward to gaining even more wisdom on parenting Luke & Beza. Goodness knows we don’t have it all figured out. (I’ll have to tell you the “Battle of the Egg” story.)

Thursday and Friday are the actual conference and I’ll be trying to balance working the World Orphans booth, attending a few sessions and networking with other organizations and the individuals at the conference. They expect over 1,000 attendees and I can’t wait.

There are a ton of great “meet ups” happening for people passionate about specific topics or countries. I wish I could be a dozen places at once.

I’m going to be tweeting and blogging as much as I can so I hope you’ll follow along 🙂