Must-watch video illustrates importance of patience, helping others

Adopting a child is very much like a roller coaster ride. The highs can be exceptionally high and the lows can feel like a brick falling off a skyscraper.

While adopting is not for everyone, it can be one of the most rewarding journeys a family can make together — a lifetime decision that has a ripple effects on the lives of the people you know best.

After eight years of working as a counselor for at-risk youth, hosting numerous foster children and ultimately adopting two young people that have changed our lives forever, there are few things that can help illustrate some of the raw emotions that can be involved. Which is why I really love the short 12-minute documentary “Removed.”

In it, there is no sugar-coating some of the drama that the little girl experiences. The pain she feels you feel with her — it is realistic to what children are experiencing in our communities, schools and, in some cases, extended families.

I find one part especially powerful … a moment when a foster mother gives the girl a dress as a token of affection and the girl reacts totally differently than you’d expect. As you watch, you get a better idea of why she behaves the way she does.

That is part of the process that people on the outside don’t understand. They see one of these children reacting oddly to an experience and judge the child, judge the foster or adoptive parent and the parent’s reaction, but don’t know the full backstory or haven’t gone through the full range of motions and emotions that each of the people involved are experiencing.

I’d urge you to watch this video, share your thoughts below. The goal is to encourage those on the outside of these situations to practice patience, understanding and support for those who are in the trenches fighting a silent battle that can be so extremely painful and yet ultimately so amazingly rewarding, too.