Pam Parish beat me to it! She’s published a book, one that every prospective and current foster or adoptive parent should read.
I discovered Pam Parish through and adoption group on Facebook. I went to her website and found so much helpful information, supporting parents of foster and adoptive children who’ve been through trauma. I was excited to see we’re doing very similar work.
As I’ve gotten to know Pam (albeit, we reside on opposite sides of the country) I’ve grown to respect her. The only problem I have is that she beat me to publishing a book. 😉 I think I can forgive her though, as the premise of our two books are different, yet they have a common denominator, and that is to
help foster and adoptive families thrive.
Pam’s book, Ready or Not, is a comprehensive book for all current and prospective foster and adoptive parents. Even though I’m engulfed in the adoption and foster care world, and I write about it daily, this book still brought to light ideas I hadn’t considered.
Ready or Not provides excellent discussion questions that can be reviewed with your spouse, a friend, or with a small group of others who are considering adopting or fostering, or who already are.
Each devotion in Ready or Not explains enough without being too lengthy, which is awesome when you don’t have extra time in your day. Honestly, each devotion only takes a few minutes.
Throughout Ready or Not, Pam asks essential questions of families, such as,
“Have you thought and prayed about what behaviors you are and are not willing to accept before saying yes to a foster child placement?” She also adds excellent verses, such as Psalm 34:17-20, which talks about how God is close to the brokenhearted, and other verses that lay out our call to be His hands and feet to these children.
Pam talks about adoption being a lifetime commitment, and foster care being a commitment to loving a wounded child. Pam knows what this is like because she’s living it, she has seven daughters, six of whom were adopted as teens. She knows what so many of us struggle with, and throughout her pages, she gives guidance, support, encouragement, and reminders of how we are to parent our children; ultimately with abounding love.
Pam continually reminds us that throughout our endeavors, God is there, and He knows what we’re facing. It’s so refreshing to read her words and remember that we need to love as Christ loves.
“As we gain entry into the lives and stories of our children, let us humbly remember that, even in the frustration, there’s beauty. We’ve been granted an opportunity to walk near to those whom are nearest to God’s heart – the vulnerable, weak, and abandoned. As we’ve seen Jesus do, let us do also.” Pam Parish
If you didn’t get the clue, I HIGHLY recommend Ready or Not. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy Ready or Not as much as I did. If I was a speed reader, I could say that I read it in one day, but I’m not. However, I did read through it in less than two weeks.
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