How do you communicate what is going on behind closed doors in your home with the people in your church community? It has been terribly difficult. No one, and we mean no one, feels equipped or able to offer us any form of respite in the form of taking care of our children so that we can get a break. If there were trauma-informed people who could give parents a small amount of time to rest and recharge before we have to get back up and do it all over again, that would be wonderful. Just a few hours here and there, even once a month.
But how can you expect people in your church community to step up when you yourselves are sharing that you are burned out, exhausted, and traumatized by your child's behavior? No one wants to willingly do that, which is understandable. Maybe if a church was able to provide its adoptive families with telephone support during crisis moments, just someone to answer a call during a moment of crisis, to provide families with someone to pray with, cry with, talk with when things get very hard.
Our church is very small, but we have been part of larger churches that have an active role in championing adoption within their community without fully understanding the undertaking that it might be for young married couples and the children they are raising. If more church leaders and members were simply educated in the struggles that come with adoption, it would help parents feel seen and accepted.
