Oh, how my time at Gladney has been sweet! As an intern in
Marketing, I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew of Gladney’s wonderful
reputation and of their high standards and values, but was unsure of what the
day to day operations of the office would look like. My internship at Gladney
has afforded more learning opportunities than I could have ever expected.
Everything that Gladney does in the internship program is focused on you
getting out of the internship what you want. Each morning I arrived eager to
start the day! I have spent most of my time with my co-workers in Marketing,
making AP profiles online and helping out with social media campaigns. I am
grateful for the loving and encouraging environment for which I get to walk in
to each day. Some mornings I attended meetings: legal, international,
development- whatever interested me I was encouraged to attend! The whole
experience was geared towards me getting what I wanted out of the experience.
The whole Gladney staff works to treat interns as real workers and enables them
to take part in projects and on cases that real employees partake in. They are
all about hands-on experience! I was overjoyed at the things I was able to
participate in- Domestic Orientation and bi-weekly legal meetings being two my
favorites.
But nothing compares to the excitement of what began as a
typical day in mid-June. I started off the morning at my desk working on online
profiles when Courtney, a birthparent caseworker, came and asked me if I wanted
to accompany her to a small town in Texas to pick up a baby! I had told Heidi
that I was interested in witnessing birthparents transfer parental rights and
she had graciously passed the word along to Courtney. With next to no
hesitation, I hopped into the car with Courtney (whom I had just met for the
first time!) and we began our 3- hour journey. I am sure Courtney was sick of
me by the time we reached the hospital in Paris, as I had asked her a million
questions on the car ride there. She told me all of the details about the case
and I found out that I was able to be present in the hospital room as the birthmother and birthfather transferred their
parental rights. We arrived at the hospital and I was so impressed by
Courtney’s professional attitude, compassion, and support that she showed for
the birthparents. After discussing the situation a little and talking about
what the process looked like moving forward, Courtney and I grabbed a second
witness from the hospital waiting room and began the paperwork process.
Courtney made it as smooth as possible for the birthparents and they left the
room shortly after, with Courtney already having plans for a follow-up
conversation and selecting the AP’s. Being in the hospital room during this was
surreal. Being in the room as all of this happened is something that the baby
will never remember. He will be told of the selfless decision and love that his
birthparents had for him. That they desired a loving, forever home for him. How
special to be able to witness that moment! I will never forget the excitement I
felt holding the baby and feeding him on the 3- hour car ride home. I was
hardly able to believe that within a week-this baby that I was holding- would
be going home to a new family who was going to be over the moon excited for him
to have finally arrived! Just getting to play a small part in the adoption
story of this child was an honor. That day I was so strongly reminded of God’s abounding
grace and great love for us. God’s love is eternal and everlasting- and just
like the new adoptive parents this baby now has-he can’t wait to welcome us
into his open arms!
Elizabeth Shannon
Marketing
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