Insiders Adoption Journal

Seven of my eleven children came to me as teens or tweens. They experienced more of their childhood years WITHOUT their father and I than they did WITH US. Overcoming the history for children adopted in their teen years is VERY difficult for any adoptive parents. 

Our kids didn't choose to fear rejection, their pasts pre-set this. Our kids didn't choose to not trust, the misplaced trust in their pasts pre-set this. Our kids didn't choose to question our motives, and yet here they were, questioning whether our motives were love or control. Our children didn't want to feel unsafe in our home, but no place had ever proven to be safe emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Our children didn't choose their past and this means they didn't choose us as their present or future. EVERYTHING in these kids' lives was done to them or decided for them. Simply put, Jason and I were their best option between homelessness, continued abuse, or being lost in a system. 

I remember a young...