So the Hague Training we did online was very informative for us. Lot’s of wonderful information on things we will be facing when we travel overseas and also some of the things we will be facing when we get home. But these past two days of training at the Gladney Center definitely left us breathless. The information we gained and training we received was so. so. mind blowing! Some of my favorite skills are from the TBRI training (Trust Based Relational Intervention).
We learned about the Attachment Cycle, common things children face when living in an orphanage or foster home, tips and tools we can use to help our children learn how to self regulate, brain development and how we can help to stimulate the brain so that the frontal lobe can start functioning properly, different stress responses and how to figure out which one our child tends to have, and so so so so much more! I’ll tell you one thing, I am very glad that I am a schedule person!
We learned about the sensory world. Some of the things that was talked about in training were things that I was fortunate enough to learn about in early childhood education classes but this went so much deeper and really gave us the complete picture! It went so much further into what sensory needs are! The different ways a kid can seek out his/her sensory needs or avoid sensory overload. I learned that I am more of a sensory avoiding person in general and Micah is more of a sensory seeker in general. We learned the different things that can create a child that has sensory seeking and/or sensory avoiding behaviors. And we were taught so much about how we can help. The TBRI training is so fantastic!!!!
Oh my goodness, my head is still spinning. How to see the need in the child, what behaviors show us that need, and how to meet the needs, how to help them learn new responses, and on and on and on! Again, some of it were things that I already had a basic knowledge of, but this complete picture is just so much more. We both feel better equipped, more prepared, and truly feel more confident in taking in some children and loving them the way they deserve to be loved. This training is invaluable. God is so good to have led us to Gladney so we could receive this training for our current children and for our future children. The way God has orchestrated this whole situation still leaves me in awe.
Learning about what these children go through and the some of the things they face just breaks my heart. And makes me ache to find our children and get them out as quickly as possible. These wonderful caretakers in the orphanages and foster homes overseas can only do so much. But sadly there are just too many children and not enough hands. Please continue to pray along side us that we are content with God’s time and that the hearts we are preparing to love are also being prepared to receive that love.
You know, this whole time I have been thinking of the adoption process as a marathon…it could be years before actually get matched and bring home a child. But really what this training has opened my eyes to is that once we bring home our children, that is when the true marathon begins. Raising any child is a marathon. But this is more of an obstacle course marathon. Not just the running and training. This is the jumping, hurdling, climbing, dodging, scurrying, running, sprinting, swinging kind of marathon.
One thing is for sure… It’s a good thing Lloyd and I like working out!
Adopting the Ekpos 