Getting to Know us... Profile Excerpts - Religion

The last two days have been full of family, friends and food. What else would you expect at Christmas! The high light of our day was attending Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Pine swags and advent wreaths were placed on the sanctuary and throughout the church. The smell of fresh pine was wonderful mixed with incense. The two hour and twenty minute concert and Mass contained a complete orchestra, organist, hand bell choir and parish choir. The entire event was magnificent! The processional presented Joseph, Mary and the Christ Child at the alter. It was very magical for us in many ways and made us contemplate about when we would be given the opportunity to become parents.

When we began our adoption journey we searched our own beliefs long and hard. We thought about how the church would view and support our non-traditional family. We explored our past experiences and biases. We did our research and met with a priest. We ultimately came to one conclusion... IT'S NOT ABOUT US! It's about a child or should I say... our potential child. We got over our issues and I (Brandon) converted to Catholicism. One might think converting was easy but with the Catholic Church rituals are ever present. We must also give great thanks to our parish priest. The adoption journey would be much more difficult without his guidance and support.

As for life... it has already changed. We no longer sleep in and leisurely read our Sunday papers and journals. Those days have already passed us by. We take great pride in attending Sunday Family Mass as we prepare to expand our own family.

This was just one "more" thing we had to complete before proceeding with our adoption. What a journey this has already been and we can't wait for the rest to start. With all this being said, we thought it would be appropriate to share another Profile Excerpt. A note for first time readers, our Profile Excerpts make up a book that potential birth mothers review when choosing a family for their baby.

For those readers who pray, please keep us in your prayers. For those still waiting for a child, we will keep you in our prays to Saint Gerard (Patron Saint of Unborn Children).

Religion

We are Romans Catholics and take an active role within our parish. It is our strong belief that a child should be part of a community outside their own immediate family. A child needs to have a belief system based on values and morals for guidance. Religion gives a child a sense of belonging and history.

Our nieces and nephews have been baptized and will hopefully choose to be confirmed in the Catholic faith. We would like to give our child commonalities with family members and the community around them.

We are currently working within our parish to ready ourselves for the joys of parenthood. We have begun conversations with our parish priest and will attend Baptismal classes.

Living in today's world is complicated . We want to give a child every opportunity to succeed in life. We also feel it is necessary to expose a child to other religions, when appropriate. This will give the child a better understanding and appreciation for the differences that exist around them. We hope to instill a true sense of respect for all beliefs systems.