Well, I was finally finishing up my a A Child’s Waiting blog when shazzam! The whole thing disappeared. I’ll try to get it reconstructed and up in the next day or so. In the meantime, here’s a few thoughts on Forever Family.
RELIGIOUS CULT 1 :
Church of Bible Understanding (formerly ‘The Forever Family”): Founded by Stewart Traill 1971 as the Forever Family. Abusive
Sample Activity :
Then one day, Barbara came to work with the bad news! Some one who didn’t like the group of communers- set the fellowship on fire while they were out witnessing! I was horrified and invited them to move into my house. My house was actually too small, but they told me that they found a big house and since they had no furniture etc, that perhaps I would consider moving in with them… was supposed to be getting married the following month, so I thought why not. I wanted to get my boyfriend saved and perhaps, by moving there, he would get saved.
RELIGIOUS CULT 2
Mormon Church: The family is the fundamental unit of society and the primary setting in which children develop virtue. God has placed families at the center of His eternal plan for the happiness of His children.
Sample activity:
* preparing and eating meals together can stimulate conversation.
* Adopting a family hobby
NOTE: Though Presbyterian, my family took, this directive to heart. We combined my mother’s chipped beef on pancake dinners with our special family hobby: arguing at the dinner table. Hardly an evening passed without searing discussions on personal short-comings, accompanied by accusations, martyrdom, and self-pity all performed to the beat of a good table pounding.
RELIGIOUS CULT 3:
Forever Family–Family Online Radio Reaching teens/young adults with the life changing message of the Cross…
Sample Activity:
Every Thursday join us for Blazin Bible Studies with Sam & Uni and special invited guests… We cover topics like: Sex, Drugs, Violence and Music and how it effects our everyday life… We see what the Holy Bible has to say about these and many other things… These Life Groups are geared towards Freshmans to Seniors in High School but not limited… So ages 13-19 is our target but everyone will be welcomed… Check our posts as we may change time slots and we always have announcements for special events…
RELIGIOUS CULT 4
I‘m not fond of the term “forever family.” Maybe it’s because I’m a therapist and have seen too many “forever families” break up. Maybe it’s because, as an adoptee, I have trust issues. Or maybe it’s because saying “forever family” evokes the uncertainty of it. Do non-adoptive parents tell their kids they are in a “forever family?” I don’t think so…Marlou Russell, :Ph.D. Adoption Counselor.
Sample Activity:
Don’t promise an adoptee something you can’t deliver. A parent can’t guarantee that s/he won’t die or won’t get divorced. The world is filled with random events and situations that are out of our control. Can a parent promise a “forever family?” Not really.
I love the last paragraph about not promising an adoptee something you can’t deliver. I would add, don’t promise a mother who is surrendering her child to strangers something you can’t deliver. We EMS moms were promised Ward and June Cleaver and got people every bit as dysfunctional as any others…in some cases, more. My daughter was taught how to use prescription drugs and alcohol to self-medicate by the woman who adopted her. Another mom’s son was raised by a woman who was married 5 times. Guess she was going for a record. My son was raised by a “physical disciplinarian” who knocked him around until he got big enough to knock back.
Adopters are human and are as subject to human failure as the next person. Add the trauma of infertility and the very different nature of raising a child you did not physically bear, and the situation is ripe for some problems. Along with “forever families” there is no such thing as “as if born to.” The sooner that fact is realized, the sooner the special emotional needs of the adopted child will be recognized.
Sample Activity:
Don’t promise an adoptee something you can’t deliver. A parent can’t guarantee that s/he won’t die or won’t get divorced. The world is filled with random events and situations that are out of our control. Can a parent promise a “forever family?” Not really.””
No one, not anywhere, related or non-related can promise anyone a ‘forever family’. An entire family can be wiped out in one fell swoop in a car accident. Husbands & wives divorce, and yes even those who adopt… never to see either one of the ‘parents’ again or even minimally involved with the children.
BUT!!!! Genetics/Heritage do have one true advantage. Even if you are the only survivor within a natural family, in the here and now..one with just a little bit of information can do a genealogical search..so in this instance one is a part of a ‘forever family’. They may be dead, buried in the far corners of this earth, but nonetheless one is genetically related to others and all their ancestors history, good, bad or indifferent. JMO!!
“We combined my mother’s chipped beef on pancake dinners”
Ugh! To have to eat that is enough reason not to be a member of these crazy churches.