It’s hard. That’s no surprise. Afterall, there’s brokenness before an adoption ever begins. And, where there is brokenness, there is pain and grief and loss and questions and heartache. In the bloggy world, we read a lot about that stuff. Perhaps when faced with the brokenness, we’re moved to write. But, here’s the thing, there’s a lot of beauty too. There’s redemption, healing, laughter, and utter joy. ‘Cause that’s what our God is about afterall—grace upon grace and redemptive stories.

Today, we’re going to take a little time out of what can be the overwhelming part of adoption to share what could be the overwhelming part of adoption—joy.

Share your link here to a post from your blog that shares the joy of adoption. Then, go share in some others’ joy. Make sure you go check out a few of the other posts here too. I have a feeling that joy is a little bit contagious.

We know. Just the word openness made some of you uncomfortable. But, here’s the thing, though not every adoption is “open” in the sense that the child knows and has some level of relationship with his or her birth family, every adoption can be open in that parents can share information and honor the birth families of their children, even if their names and identities are unknown.

And, that’s what we want to talk about today. Openness. How you do it. Why you do it. When you do it. And, maybe what God has shown you through as you’ve built a spirit of openness in your family.

Share an old post or write a new one this week and share that one. We want to hear from each other so that we can encourage each other as we do this thing God has called us to do.

Cupid’s busy this week…and so are all the mommies looking on Pinterest for cute Valentine cards to make.

Since it’s the week of the year that romance can be more easily talked about without blushing, we’re hosting a different kind of linkup. We want to hear about your marriages, your relationships, and how adoption has impacted them. Maybe you’re in the midst of some hard stuff still. Maybe you have seen your husband or wife in a completely new way as you have watched him or her parent your child. Maybe there is a lesson you have learned through the adventure of adoption that has blessed your marriage.

We want to read about it. And, who knows, maybe it’s just the encouragement you need to write that Valentine to your special someone.

In celebration of WAGI team member Suzanne who met her new son this week in Shanghai, we are inviting you to share your own stories of the day you became a family.

Whether that day was last month or years ago, share your post, share your pictures, share your heart and let us celebrate with you the spirit of adoption.

Such a significant season we’re in to pause and take a look at adoption perhaps in a new way. In light of that, we’ve been sharing words about adoption and Christmas around here from just a few bloggers. But, we know you have some words about it as well.

Between your cookie baking and last minute wrapping, take a minute and share a post from anytime this month relating to adoption and Christmas. We want to hear your thoughts about the two to either get a front row seat to how you might be seeing things in a new way or be challenged today to see things in a new way ourselves.

If you shared a link here, please GO HERE and copy the code to share these links on your blog as well. It isn’t required, but it’s a great way to help your readers see new things too. And, that’s always a cool thing.

$450 billion in the U.S. spent on Christmas.

Gifts are good. Don’t stop giving gifts. But, let’s give purposefully this season.

Here’s an opportunity to share links to any and every storefront or shop where we can buy gifts and support a good cause.

Will you help us shop with purpose?

Consider sharing these on your own blogs, get the InLinkz code and post it on the html section of your blog post so your readers can get ideas to shop purposefully too.

This morning, November 4th, thousands of church services and special events echo across America and around the globe, all sharing a unified goal: that God’s great love for the orphan will echo in our lives as well.

Today marks an opportunity for people around the world to be presented with the needs of children in a way they may have not seen before. The family sitting singing next to us at church, our neighbors, our communities may be hearing God’s call to care for orphans for the first time this morning or at an event this month.

As we offered for the first time a few weeks ago with this waiting link up, here’s your opportunity to share your story because we’re all about stories and community and sharing. Share how you recognized Orphan Sunday today either as a church, family, or community.

We will periodically offer an opportunity like this to share a link from your blog about a particular topic related to adoption. To join in, simply include a link to a post that you’ve written on that topic. You don’t have to be an adoptive parent to share, but the post must be related to adoption or orphan care and the topic featured. And, we ask that you share one story each time.

Let’s share our stories. Share your own and then visit some links and let some others share with you.

Want to share all the links on your own post? Get the InLinkz code to add to your post and make the message of Orphan Sunday broadcast a bit louder.

Though there are many different types of adoptions, there are few things inherent to all of them. One of those things is waiting. While some struggle through it for a long time, others embrace it and enjoy the time of preparation. Some expect a long wait, and some are surprised when the wait ends and the real journey begins.

Here’s your opportunity to share your story because we’re all about stories and community and sharing.

We will periodically offer an opportunity like this to share a link from your blog about a particular topic related to adoption. To join in, simply include a link to a post that you’ve written on that topic. You don’t have to be an adoptive parent to share, but the post must be related to adoption or orphan care and the topic featured. And, we ask that you share one story each time.

Let’s share our stories. Share your own and then visit some links and let some others share with you.