It's almost world adoption day! Which is one of my own personal favorites.

And as this day is approaching I can't help but think about family and how beautiful and different each family is.

See, some families are with your mom and dad, those who brought you into this world, but sometimes family can be a lot more complicated and hard to understand from the outside.

It can be a parent and step parent

It can be a single parent

It can be family members that raised you like your parents

It can be foster care

Or it can be adoption

All of these different family situations are all so different and unique, and I love them each the same. All of them are hard and I don't believe there is any right one, but I feel like from the outside looking in it can be very hard to understand because no family is ever quite the same as our own.

My advice on this beautiful day, on adoption day, is to try to understand. If you're not adopted then thats quite alright! But don't look down upon those of us that were, don't judge or pity these people who don't have their "parents" but try to understand that this is their family, with all its beautiful and messy parts. These are their parents, grandparents, siblings and extended family members much like your own family. If you don't understand, choose to ask questions rather than ignoring it. Try to understand what its like to be adopted because honestly its one of my favorite things. It's a beautiful thing that these people could step into a child's life and choose to raise them like their own. Ask people about their adoption stories, listen to them and hear how amazing it truly is.

On this world adoption day, try to learn, try to understand, and who knows, maybe you'll realize its not that much different or confusing after all.