Does Allyship Matter in Non-Diverse Communities?
Did you know that you can practice allyship skills even if you don’t live in a “diverse community”? Ask me how I know! It’s a myth that one has to live in a diverse community in order to learn about, value, or practice allyship. I am real-life proof . I grew up in the middle […]
Allies Build Boundaries, Not Walls
It’s September 2022 and after what felt like the longest, most unwanted break from writing about allyship, I am coming in hot, live from my new office on the second floor of our new home in Ohio! You read that right. We haven’t been super public about it, but this year Kelvin and I sold […]
Making New Friends
Would you believe me if I told you that on Memorial Day weekend this year, Kelvin and I packed the kids up in the cars and moved across the country? It was the five day road trip finale of a long season of figuring out where God wants us to call home, and we were […]
008: Who Does Allyship Benefit?
007: Allyship’s Enemy Number One: Denial
007: Allyship’s Enemy Number One What common threat jeopardizes our allyship journeys? Denial. It’s the first step of twelve step programs for a reason—if we can’t see the problem, we certainly won’t seek a solution. If our allyship is the solution, we have to fight against our own denial to identify our connection to the […]
006: The Role of Grace in Adoption & Allyship
006: The Role of Grace in Adoption & Allyship How does the way we think about grace impact our adoption and allyship journeys? This is not an exaggeration—it can be the difference between repeatedly hurting our loved ones with our good intentions or making meaningful progress in helping them feel seen, heard, and valued for […]
005: The Truth About Learning To Ally
005: The Truth About Learning To Ally What does every allyship journey have in common? It’s a life long learning experience. Jamie lends her teacher insight into the learning process, explains why all meaningful learning is challenging and offers several strategies to push through when things get tough, so you’re less likely to give up […]
004: Expectations
004: Expectations What’s the big deal about expectations? Jamie starts at the beginning by establishing clear expectations for her listeners: what they can expect from her and what they can expect from their own allyship journeys. She then acknowledges the power expectations have to negatively impact the health of our relationships and outlines a clear […]
003: Allyship
003: Allyship What’s the most meaningful way to live into our adoption stories? After two episodes of exploring the pain, grief, and tension that co-exist with the joy and love of adoption, Jamie shares what she has found to be the most meaningful way to live into her adoption stories—allyship. She tells about her first […]
002: Into
002: Into Are you ready to uncover the tension that exists in every adoption story? In this episode Jamie explores the beautiful and the painful parts of adoption stories as she takes inventory of what she has been adopted into and out of. She encourages those connected to adoption to take their own honest inventory […]