The practice of building intentional community around your family to provide support, accountability, and witness to your child's story and belonging.
Rabia lived embedded in a community of seekers; she was not alone in her devotion. Adoptive families often isolate, either by design or by circumstance—moving to neighborhoods where they are the only transracial family, keeping adoption stories private, managing the family unit in isolation. This concept invites adoptive parents to build visible community: trusted friends who know your child's story, mentors from your child's cultural or ethnic background, adoption-competent therapists, and spiritual communities that honor your family as it is. Community serves multiple functions: it provides your child with multiple witnesses to their belonging, it offers parents support during difficult seasons, it prevents the parent-child relationship from becoming the sole container for all of the child's identity and belonging needs. Rabia's spiritual friendships sustained her; similarly, children thrive when they are known and valued by a wider circle. This also protects against the closed-system dynamics where an adoptive family's narrative becomes self-reinforcing without outside perspective or challenge.
Peri can explain this concept, give practical examples, help you decide whether it applies to your situation, or recommend a journey if appropriate.
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