February 14, 2018 complex heart defect, February 2018 Feature - Heart, Heart System, heterotaxy, major aorto-pulmonary collateral arteries, medical needs checklist, Morning Star Foster Home, pulmonary hypertension, referral, single atrium heart disease, single ventricle heart disease 1 Comments

Dear Could-Be Heart Mama, thinking of bringing home your own little Broken-Hearted Brave, It’s the morning here, on this Celebration of Hearts, and I wake up to a house full of little hearts — brave and broken ones, that is. We like to call ourselves this “Little House of Brave” — like a warrior rally …Read More

February 14, 2017 adopting a boy, adopting as first time parents, complex heart defect, Family Stories, February 2017 Feature - Heart, first year home, Heart System, heterotaxy, medical needs checklist, Morning Star Foster Home, pulmonary atresia, should we adopt?, surgery, waiting for referral 0 Comments

Prologue: In our son’s room, we have a picture that reads: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9) We chose this verse for him, but in reality it applies more to us. My husband, Derek, and …Read More

December 22, 2016 Beyond Adoption, Contributor Q and A, Half the Sky, International China Concern, Little Hearts Medical, LWB, Morning Star Foster Home, New Day Foster Home, NGOs, other ways to care for the orphan, Show Hope, Stefanie 0 Comments

We are pretty passionate about orphan care around here. And we love to help others find avenues for their similarly burdened hearts to care for the fatherless as well as encourage family preservation. Recently, our team was discussing our favorite orphan-and-adoption-related charities. And then we thought of you, our readers, and how good it would …Read More

October 11, 2016 adopting a boy, Developmental System, Down syndrome, Family Stories, Morning Star Foster Home, October 2016 Feature - Developmental 5 Comments

I was sixteen weeks pregnant with our second child sitting outside Panera sipping my tomato basil soup when an elementary aged boy walked by smiling and holding his mother’s hand. The boy had Down syndrome. As they walked past a question entered my mind I had never thought in my life, “What if my child …Read More

December 28, 2015 Beyond Adoption, December 2015 Feature - Beyond Adoption, Morning Star Foster Home, orphan prevention, other ways to care for the orphan 3 Comments

In the bed next to my sweet little one in that Chinese ICU, a little six day old baby lay. I didn’t take much notice of him at first, another baby on a ventilator among the rows. Not until I overheard one quiet doctor’s words to another – “The surgery? It’s too expensive. I don’t …Read More