Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

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Support comes in community

September 15, 2017 by Kristin 8 Comments

God gave me much though adoption. He built my faith and my family. He opened my eyes to needs right here in my small town. He knit together a community of people bonded by adoption stories. These three friends are sweet gifts. I am so glad they (and others) were able to join me in supporting Life House Care Center last night.

I came home tired from two nights in a row requiring babysitters but so grateful for what God is doing in my life and community.

These friends (the ones pictured here, others who were at the same banquet tables, and still others who weren’t there) are woven into my story because of the Author of all our stories. We are bonded by adoption, but it’s become more than that. I’ve been to Guatemala with Kim. Our girls have different adoption stories but similar personalities. I’ve walked and talked real life with Allie. Our girls are the same age, so we swap their crazy tales too. Wendy and I got to be friends because mutual friends told us we needed to be. We have so many ideas to share every time we see each other.

We get to support each other while
we support causes close to our hearts.

{Tweet that.}

This time we came together around some tables at a fundraising banquet for Life House Care Center, where I get to volunteer a few hours each week. We are pro-life because we’ve seen God redeem brokenness when women were brave enough to choose life. We know women who need counseling and material support. We want for families to know the God who adopts us into His family forever.

We supported a cause together because we’ve been shown support as we’ve lived the stories God is writing in our lives.

*****

And speaking of writing, adoption, and support, my book is officially on Amazon! I have fun things planned for next week here on the blog and on social media, but I couldn’t hold on any longer letting you know. Obviously, we’re excited around here!

I’m happy to be linking up with Five Minute Friday today. It’s like Kate Motaung read my mind when she chose today’s prompt (SUPPORT).

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Nobody wants to bare her soul alone

August 7, 2017 by Kristin 2 Comments

Writing is my self-therapy as I process what God is doing and document everyday life. Even so, I need my people to make this happen. I’m excited to share my self-published book is almost ready and will be available for purchase in mid-September!

And I would love you, my people, help introduce my book to the world.

“Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family” is the story of God’s faithfulness through a season of infertility, three adoption processes, and the days since. Through it all, I learned God hears the desires of our hearts, wants us to live in community, and uses all of our circumstances for our good and His glory.

This second edition of “Peace in the Process” includes contributions from other adoptive moms, my kids’ birth moms, and resources for families who want to grow through adoption and the people who support them.

I originally published the first edition as an ebook in 2014 and am so excited for this updated version that includes so much more of what God has done in our family and community.

What being on a launch team means

You’ll get an early PDF copy of the book plus have a front-row seat to all the excitement. Basically, I want you to help me spread the word about this book that feels like baring my soul to the world … because who wants to do that alone?!

You don’t have to be a blogger; you just have to be willing to share some images and links I’ll provide as well as tell your friends – on social media, on the telephone, in an email, or while they sit next to you on a porch – about my book.

The book officially releases in mid-September and then I plan to continue to share about it in November as part of National Adoption Awareness Month. So your commitment to the launch team would be over before the holidays.

I’ve got a Facebook group ready for y’all, so let me know if you want to be part of this.

Sign up for the launch team here.

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Prepare & wait {on adoption next steps}

November 9, 2016 by Kristin 14 Comments

adoption-now-what-11-9-16

We want to adopt, so now what?

It’s a question people have asked me many times. I don’t have all the answers, but I love being able to share information with families who desire to grow their family in this way. I’m answering the “now what?” question for those who want to adopt.

{Not everyone is called to adopt, but there are reasons adoption & orphan awareness should matter to everyone.}

I’ll start with a disclaimer that many typical adoptions aren’t typical. Adoption is relational – so it involves people, and their emotions. Yes, it involves a family desiring to adopt and a woman choosing adoption for the baby she’s carrying, but it also involves the child, birth families, adoptive family relatives, social workers, attorneys, hospital nurses and staff, court workers, and probably others. So when you put that many people together, it’s typical that things may not look like you expect.

1. Consider what kind of adoption you’re going to pursue.

Domestic or international is the first decision. If you’re thinking international, there’s criteria for each country and come countries are more stable than others. If you’re thinking domestic, you can go about that a few different ways: An agency can facilitate the process, including doing your home study, training, and match with a birth mom. Private adoptions involve social workers and attorneys, but you wouldn’t use an agency to connect with a birth mom. Then there’s the foster system. Depending on your domestic adoption route, you could have a closed, semi-open, or open relationship with the biological family.

I’ll go ahead and tell you when we started pursuing adoption, we knew nothing. I was burnt out from a hard, emotional season of infertility and wanted a break from appointments. So we told people we wanted to adopt, but we didn’t officially pursue an agency or any official route. Then an open, private adoption fell in our laps – thanks, God! – so that’s what did. We loved it so much we ended up – again, thanks be to God! – doing it two more times.

If you’re new here, we have three kids – Cate is 9, Ben is almost 7, and Rachel is 1. We met Cate’s birth mom through my sister and she delivered in Indiana, so this domestic adoption also involved the Interstate Compact Act. Ben and Rachel were born in our hometown. We met Ben’s birth mom through our attorney friend and Rachel’s birth mom through a local friend. We went to appointments with their birth moms and were there when each of them were born. I have relationships with each birth mom still, although each one is different and has changed with time.

Private adoptions can look like ours or they can also involve having a profile book of your family on file with an adoption attorney or, in some areas, a pregnancy crisis center.

2. Get a home study done.

Regardless of what kind of adoption you pursue or end up finding yourself in the midst of, you’ll need a home study. This is also the mountain of paperwork you’ve probably heard about: birth certificates, medical information, financial records, background checks, answers to questions about why you desire to adopt, and whatever other blanks need to filled, Ts crossed and Is dotted. The home study process also includes home visits from a social worker, but this doesn’t need to be stressful because they’re just making sure you have a place to house and raise a child. They will not look in your drawers or inspect the dust bunnies under your couch.

Now, some agencies do home studies and placements, but there are also agencies that do home studies and then refer clients to placement agencies. With international adoption, most agencies that facilitate these processes work with specific countries and not every open country.

3. Prepare and wait.

Once you’re into the process, there are many hurry-up-and-wait moments. You’ll need to get things done, only to wait to be matched or connected with a birth mom or child. You’ll be connected, but then wait on more paperwork and on birth or travel to actually bring your child home.

“So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.”

– Hosea 12:6 ESV

I looked up “wait” after reading that verse recently and the definition from Blue Letter Bible reminded me about adoption: “Look for, hope, expect, to collect and bind together.” Seasons of waiting are part of life. We’re always waiting on someone or something.

Pursing adoption certainly involves waiting on so many variables out of our control. But God wants us to wait for him continually – over and over again. We wait to bring that baby home, but, really, we wait and expect God to show up once He’s collected us into a family too.

*****

Kristin Hill Taylor - 3 Word Wednesday
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About Me

Telling stories is my therapy and love sharing with friends on my porch.

The main characters in my stories are my entrepreneur husband, our fifth-grade girl who never forgets, our have-no-fear second-grade boy, and our joy-filled toddler girl. As we live out our stories, we seek God as the author of them all.

Learn more about my story here.

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