Summit VI – Monroes, a third time

Posted by Patrick Corkum on April 30, 2010

This is now the third breakout (out of four) that I have been in with Michael Monroe of Tapestry. It is the second one that he has done with his wife Amy. I LOVE these guys! They are so passionate not only about helping families around them, but helping other ministries. They have so many materials out there to help  you do what they do.

This session is the session that I have been most looking forward to as it really relates to where I am right now, knowing that there is a huge need around us (and for us) in the Maryland area. This session is about post-placement support. What is post-placement support? Well, your adoption agency typically helps you through the adoption process and right up until the adoption is finalized. What then? They try to tell you about things that you might encounter, but there is no way to REALLY prepare you.

Adoption comes with problems that are unique to adoption and there is a huge gap out there helping people with these problems. The church does not do a good job, partially because they just don’t know that there is a need and partially because they are not equipped. We have heard so many times that people wish that there was help, they wish there was someone to help them through the post-adoption process (which is life-long).

I can’t wait to watch the video series called Empowered to Connect that they have created with Dr. Karyn Purvis! Check out the videos they created here.

Run Patrick, Run!

Posted by Patrick Corkum on March 23, 2010

So today, I get up the energy to go for a run. This seems to only happen on Tuesdays for some odd reason. I have NO idea why. Maybe today it was because it took me twice as long as expected to get downtown for my first Technet meeting (ARGH! #&%*&$#%*&#) So, as usual, I decide to challenge myself. Please keep in mind that I haven’t run since last Tuesday, walked the Tuesday before and hadn’t done much of anything else in the past 8 months. We have a state park that is 1.02 miles down the street from us. And when I say down, I am not referring to just south, I am referring to D O W N!!!! This of course fits my personality spot on – jump in the deep end with no life preserver so that you have no choice whether or not to finish. So, I start off and cruise down hill at a moderate speed, makin sure to not tire myself too much early on. Well, I get down the hill to the park at 1.02 miles and enter the driveway. Well, the driveway goes down a little and then up. At about .001 miles into the up, I am pooped! (my youngest son told me when I got home that I am not poop, I am daddy). But, I convince myself that it is all in my head and that I can continue. Besides, I don’t want to go back up the BIG hill right now anyway. So, I decided to do a little trail run on the muddy trail (okay, it wasn’t muddy at all). All the while, I am thinking to myself… if I get to a muddy part, I’ll have a great excuse for stopping and walking a little so as to not fall. This plan worked out perfectly! I got a little downhill in and walked the VERY MUDDY uphill . After all, I wouldn’t want to risk falling and breaking my leg or anything like that. All the uphills were muddy, forcing me to walk to avoid slipping and falling and breaking a leg. So, after shortening my trail loop, I get a rough estimate that if I return home now, it will be pretty close to a 5K total. This is perfect, I will get to see if I can beat my high-school best 5K time of 17:52 (really). I leave the park and charge back up the monster hill to the top. <I am at this point thinking how stupid my idea was to run downhill 1.02 miles to the bottom of the hill FIRST.> So, I start up that hill, having been running for 26 minutes already in a hope that I will beat my best-time ever. Up the hill I go, running walking at what felt like light snail speed. As two women, who were walking, passed me, I reflected and wondered as to why I was attempting to run. Then finally, I arrive at home, beating my best time with a time of 41:15!