National Adoption Month

Few experiences are as comforting and connecting as a family gathered around the Thanksgiving table. Fellowship with family and giving thanks to God for His many blessings are things we look forward to in the Daly household every year.

But the holidays weren’t like that for me growing up. My mother died when I was young and my stepfather abandoned me and my siblings, so Thanksgiving was anything but a peaceful family holiday. Mostly I remember feeling disconnected from everything that was happening around me. Holidays, if they were observed at all, were isolating, lonely experiences.

And that’s why, as Thanksgiving approaches, it’s worth noting that November is National Adoption Month. There are more than 120,000 kids in the U.S. foster care system who are eligible for adoption. Like me when I was young, these children don’t know the stability and care of a forever family – on holidays or any other day.

Not everyone is called to adopt, but everyone can do something to help, whether it’s coming alongside an adoptive or foster family with respite care or supporting organizations that facilitate adoption.

This year, as you sit around your table on Thanksgiving enjoying your many blessings, I hope you’ll remember the many kids who don’t have a family. And I hope you’ll consider ways that you can open your heart to kids in foster care or to the families who welcome them in.