Cool Beans! Let's Do That Again!!

Late last fall I received a call from a friend who works at a local library. She asked if I would be interested if giving an International Adoption (IA) seminar in the spring. As much as I can talk about IA to anyone, it took me a number of weeks to accept her invitation. Why? Because last fall and early winter were a very bleak time for me as I looked at the world of IA. It seemed like referrals were slow at best and I wasn't sure I could encourage anyone to begin this process. How could I in good faith do this?

Eventually I decided to accept their invitation and focus more on the paperwork and process and yet at the same time be as honest as I could about the wait.

Fast forward to now when I was preparing for tonight's seminar. Referrals for friends are rolling in from China, Ethiopia and Vietnam and it's a time of many celebrations! 2 friends are in China right now and another leaves on Friday! So cool! Hope abounds!!

Although there were only 2 ladies at the seminar we had a GREAT time and I was totally pumped when it was over!! I shared my adoption journey with them; countries available for citizens of Ontario; what the paperchase involves; citizenship process; a bit about attachment, and all about you, my wonderful bloggy friends and local waiting mommies! Having the support network that we share is one of the most precious gifts and I am so thankful for you!

As I was planning the seminar I was concerned that I wouldn't have enough to talk about and in the end we went for almost an hour and a half. We were pretty much done after an hour and I mentioned they were welcome to leave if they wanted/needed to but they both stayed almost another half hour and we just chatted and I answered as many of their questions as I could. What a treat it was to spend this time with them and hopefully they left with answers to some of the questions they had. I don't know what their stories will be but it was fun to get to know them and share something that I'm passionate about with them.

We ended with this video that I had seen before but last week learned it's true origins. There is a family in the US who have started a camp for orphans in China. Their organization is called, 'Bring Me Hope'. Each summer they go to China and for 4 weeks welcome groups of orphans to a week of summer camp! Neat!! I'm sure many of you have seen it but it was neat to watch it again knowing exactly who had made it and the story behind their family.



It was such fun sharing with these ladies and I hope to have more opportunities in the future to share this seminar with others.