Remember to check out the "BUILDING" page for ideas to strengthen and build your family 

Hi!  My name is Mark, and I am adopted.

It's pretty cool, being adopted.  My Mom and Dad CHOSE me to be their very own son.  If you are reading this, chances are that your mom and dad chose you, too.

I think it's pretty important to have a story of your very own.  Maybe your parents have already told you your story and you have talked about it together.  I like my story, partly because it helps me when other kids talk about things that happened when they were little, or when parents are talking about biological children.  I have a brother and sister who are my Dad's biological children, and they get to hear the stories of coming home from the hospital, or cute things that they did when they were babies.  My Mom didn't know me when I was a baby, so I don't get to have those stories.  Maybe you don't either.  Maybe you feel left out sometimes.  I know I did.  I was six when my Mom "found" me, and I think that being older made it harder on everyone.  But my story helps.  I would like to share it with you:

Once upon a time there was a lady who really wanted a little boy of her very own to love and teach and take care of.  She searched ALL over the world for her little boy.  She looked in China and India and Haiti.  She looked everywhere she could think to look.  She looked in Texas and Ohio and Missouri, too!  But finally, one day, there he was, right there in Arizona.  He had blond hair and big, blue eyes, and he could sing his ABC's.  When she first saw him (and he saw her, too) he was wearing little blue "footie" pajamas, and she thought he was the cutest little boy she had ever seen.    She knew right away that he was the son she had been looking for all along!  And that little boy was ME!

If you don't have a story, don't worry.  You can write or tell your story at any time.  You could go right now and have your parents help you write down your story.  And it doesn't have to start when you were a baby.  Your life really started the moment you met your parents..the people who love you and take care of you! 

We are ALL adopted, you know!  In Galations 4:5 in the Bible, it says that Christ was sent "to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive adoption as sons."  We have been adopted into God's family.  Now that IS exciting!

I wish that I could tell you that I have been a nice , wonderful son all the time.  But I am human, and I give into my fears and frustrations.  I am sure there are times when my Mom wanted to "throw in the towel" and give up.  Somehow she never did that, and I appreciate it very much <smile>  But I know that I have it inside me to always make good choices and to help my family be a great family.  So do YOU!  You don't have to sit around and wait for the worst to happen.  It's in your power to make good things happen.  It all starts with a decision to honor God and to believe in the TRUTH that your parents love you (even when you think they are just being mean).  It means you won't let your feelings get in the way of what is right. I trip over my own feelings all the time, but when I remember the truth, that is, that my parents love me no matter what, everything comes back into focus again. 

As you read through some of the other pages, you will find some "happy" ideas that can help you and your whole family grow closer together.