{#13} Perpetual Student

Adoptive parents should be perpetual students of adoption issues.  Whatever training your agency did or will require is great but there is just no way that those training days will be sufficient.  Here are some reasons why:

1. Your adoption story is unique and will require you learning things that will not be pertinent to other families.
2. The things you need to know will change as your child grows and changes.
3. There is entirely too much information out there to cram into agency training days.
4. New research is constantly being published with new insights and tips.
5. You will be in such information overload during training, you’ll probably not absorb as much as you hear.
6. Even if you hear repeat information, it will probably mean a whole lot more once you’ve adopted.

You may be asking where do I find information? So glad you asked!  Here are some places I recommend:

• For the month of February, you can download Russell Moore’s Adopted For Life for FREE from ChristianAudio.com.
• The audio from last year’s Adopting for Life Conference is available for download.  This is what is playing on my iPod right now.
• Video and handouts from Grafted Families’ Conference are available here.
• Tapestry Adoption Ministry at Iriving Bible Church has all of their event resources available for download.
• I also highly recommend the Empowered to Connect website for great family and small group resources.

This is by no means an exhaustive list but it does represent my favorite resources that are free and in a variety of media.  Feel free to comment with your favorite places to be perpetual students of adoption.