Introducing Elise

Hello, my name is Elise and I am thrilled to be a part of this group of women whom I greatly admire. We have all been led by the Lord to adoption, although we have taken a variety of paths to get there. I have given birth to children as well as adopted internationally, and now my DH and I are pursuing foster care with the intent to adopt. We are proudly and happily a multiracial family, and I feel incredibly blessed by the children the Lord has given us to raise.

I am writing under a pen name, not because I have anything to hide, but out of respect for my family’s privacy.  I will be blunt. Some of my kids have issues. I would love to write about them and share my experiences with children who have experienced abandonment, neglect, sexual abuse, mental illness, etc., but would prefer my family not be easily identifiable. I know there are other families out there who have struggled with some of these issues who have wondered if they were alone. No, you are definitely not alone. I want readers to know that, but I also want my children’s privacy to be upheld.

Adoption and my faith are two things I am passionate about, so I can’t think of a better forum in which to write. I love both the gospel of Jesus Christ and my family with all my heart. Both are what bring me the greatest joy, although at times my children have also brought some of my deepest sorrows. My strongest desire is to raise them in righteousness so they might someday return to a loving Heavenly Father. As it says in 3 John 1:4, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” That we might find joy in the journey as we travel along life’s path is also one of my hopes and prayers. As President Gordon B. Hinckley was known to say, “It will all work out.” :-)