Search Results for: blog free agency in children

Arizona’s CHIP Temporarily Covers a Limited Number of Children

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Medicaid often includes a program that is designed to cover children. It is often called CHIP, and some states will give it a friendlier name. Arizona has a KidsCare II program that is temporary, and that will only cover a limited number of eligible children. CHIP stands for Children’s Health Insurance Program. It is part of the Medicaid program. Medicaid is a public, or government run, form of health insurance. It is designed to cover people who are low-income, and who cannot afford to purchase private health insurance coverage. CHIP is the portion of the Medicaid program that covers children. … Continue reading →

For the Strength of Youth Series: Agency and Accountability

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Understanding agency and accountability are fundamental in the LDS faith. Without agency, the whole Plan of Salvation doesn’t make much sense. If we didn’t come to Earth to make choices and choose through our actions to go back to our Heavenly Father, then why are we here? The For the Strength of Youth pamphlet does a great job of addressing this topic. It explains that “you are being proven to see if you will use your agency to show your love for God by keeping His commandments.” I recently taught a lesson on this topic, and after reading 2 Nephi: … Continue reading →

Helping the Children of Haiti

As happened after the 2008 earthquake in China, adoption agencies have had numerous phone calls from people offering to adopt earthquake orphans. As I mentioned in my earlier blogs, children orphaned in a natural disaster or war are usually not free for adoption for a period of anywhere from six months to a year. The infrastructure must be repaired enough to ensure that family members have had the opportunity to locate children. So what can be done to help the children? First of all, remember that there are many children, in our own country and abroad, who are eligible for … Continue reading →

What to Tell Children about Divorce

Divorce is a hard thing for any family. When a couple who was married in the temple decides to divorce, it can be even harder in some ways, because of the teaching that families are forever when they’re sealed in the temple. Children feel that because their parents were sealed, the marriage is steel-clad and nothing will ever go wrong. But because we have our free agency, things do go wrong, even in temple marriages. What do we tell our children about divorce? A lot of this will depend on the ages of the children, but here are some ideas. … Continue reading →

Gospel Doctrine: “Free to Choose Liberty and Eternal Life”

Our Gospel Doctrine lesson this last Sunday was entitled “Free to Choose Liberty and Eternal Life,” as found in 2 Nephi 1-2. Another recommended reading source for this lesson is Moses 5:10-12. 2 Nephi chapter one contains advice from Father Lehi given to his sons shortly before his death. He makes promises to them, predicated on their righteous obedience. However, the Lord does not force us to do anything – we may choose for ourselves to accept those conditions and receive those blessings, or to disregard the conditions and see what happens instead. In chapter two, look for the words … Continue reading →

Free Agency in Children

I’m in a curious stage in my motherhood. Half my children are old enough to make many of their own choices and to either suffer the consequences or reap the rewards. The other half are still young enough that I need to guide them and flat out make some of their choices for them. It’s difficult when you’re trying to explain to a child why they don’t get to make a certain choice for themselves. They don’t know how much they don’t know, and they get frustrated and sometimes belligerent when they feel you’re running their lives for them. But … Continue reading →

November in the Adoption Blog: Month in Review

I began the blog on All Saints Day with a tribute to certain “Saints” in U.S. Adoption and Pioneers in International Adoption. Then I wrote a tribute to the founder of my daughter’s Korean adoption agency, who has lived an exciting and multifaceted life and is remarkable for his humble concern for children. In honor of National Adoption Month, I wrote two blogs on Top Ten Myths about Adoption. For Part One, click here. For Part Two, click here. Then I wrote a blog about events on National Adoption Day, Saturday November 17. These events included finalizations of thousands of … Continue reading →

A Guilt-Free Vacation

Vacation guilt. For most of us indulging in that extra slice of cheesecake on our Caribbean cruise or neglecting to slather enough sunscreen on our children would be examples of vacation guilt. But for others, spending a week of vacation sipping tropical libations while lying on powder soft sand on an island in the Pacific instead of building homes for those less fortunate is what truly constitutes as vacation guilt. If you fall into the aforementioned altruistic category you may be thrilled to hear that you are in good company. In fact, you are in the company of so many … Continue reading →

State Agency: Help or Hindrance?

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We have now adopted five maternal brothers out of our state’s foster system. We started the process when we took the first child in February, 2003. We were finally free of all responsibilities to the state when the fifth child was adopted in January, 2006. Frequently, the people working for the state were a hindrance to the process. I can give several examples. By May, 2003, we had the first four boys, one of whom was a newborn, in our home. In a short period of time, they had moved from an abusive home, to a shelter, to a foster … Continue reading →

Alabama Has a Plan First Program

Every state has a Medicaid program. A portion of that program is designed to cover the health care needs of low-income women who are pregnant or are seeking family planning services. In Alabama, it is called Plan First. Medicaid is a public, or government run, health insurance program. It is designed to cover low-income individuals and families who cannot afford to purchase health insurance coverage from a private health insurance company. Medicaid is funded, in part, by the federal government. Medicaid is also funded by the government of an individual state. In Alabama, the Medicaid program is administered by the … Continue reading →