My Community

When I became pregnant with Samantha, I had no idea I was joining a community that would be so uplifting.  I certainly knew I'd join the ranks of motherhood and would be connected to the millions around the world who are parents.  The idea of starting our family filled me with such...joy.  True joy.  We made our decision to start our family, and do it right away.  We knew it was right, and we felt such deep happiness.

But, parenthood is filled with a many of sub-groups, or sub-communities. 

mothers of daughters

mormon families

"newlywed" parents

student families

BYU babies

special needs families

I never could have anticipated that we would be entering the special needs community.  And as shocking as it was at first, I have felt a change of heart.  That shock has turned to love and deep appreciation for the many I have met who have been in this community far longer than I have.  I've learned from the many who continue to share their insights and their hearts with me. 

I know I've shared this before, but I have loved being a part of Kidz.  Recently, it was featured on KSL in Utah.  Even though Tara, who started the blog, is from Utah and so it gets a lot of readers from there, this is a blog that helps people worldwide.  I'm so honored to be a part of it.  One of my favorite parts of being in Utah, aside from Samantha's progress with therapy, was being able to meet some of these moms who I've been writing with and getting to know.  Meeting them in person helped solidify my love and compassion for them. 

This community is incredible.  Some of the kindness, gentlest, wisest people I know are elite members of the special needs community, and I'm happy to be a part of it...even if it means some heartache here and there...it's one great group to be a part of.

And being a part of this community, led us to entering another:

families who adopt

What a blessing.