 Sharla Kostelyk is an adoption advocate, speaker, and author of several adoption related books and references. Her online Adoption Magazine, established in 2011, was born out of her passion to support others in their adoption or fostering experiences. Married to Mark, a mortgage broker, Sharla and her husband have seven amazing children, two through the miracle of birth and five through the miracle of adoption. She and her husband were also foster parents for eight years.
Sharla has a weakness for Slurpees and has never been known to decline Bernard Callebaut chocolate! She is a bit of a foodie, loves to cook for family and friends, and has been known to prepare 30 plus appetizers for her dinner parties. She is a homeschooler, blogger, and delinquent scrapbooker.
In addition to That These Two Will Live, Sharla has written Shield: A Framework of Self-Care for Foster and Adoptive Families and has begun working on Firewall: Protection for Marriage in Foster and Adoptive Families, with plans to complete it in 2012.
Sharla plans to continue to advocate for vulnerable children and may someday try her hand at a fiction novel.
http://www.sharlakostelyk.com
- What made you decide to write the That These Two Will Live?
 I wanted to document our journey to bringing our children home from Ethiopia so that someday they would understand the depth of our love for them. I was also motivated by the hope that our story would help others who might be considering adoption or even just help others to better understand adoption.
- What was your impression of Ethiopia?
I'm not much of a traveler but I fell in love with Ethiopia. I was nervous about many things before I arrived, but I was put at ease almost instantly. I felt very safe while there and was amazed at the country's beauty. The diverse landscape was unlike anything I had ever seen. By far the most beautiful thing about Ethiopia though is the heart of its people.
- For families not called to adopt, what can they do to help the world's 147 million orphans?
The numbers are staggering. It can seem overwhelming, but even for families who don't feel called to adopt themselves, there are a lot of things they can do. They can pray for orphans and for adoptive and foster families. They can help financially by contributing to a grant fund for adoptive families (Orphan's Hope in Canada is one example) or sponsoring a child in need in a developing country through organizations like Compassion International or Vulnerable Children Society.
They can help adoptive families by offering support, encouragement, bringing meals, doing housework or laundry, caring for their kids to give them a much needed break, providing for some of their financial needs, and praying for them. This help will enable adoptive families to be as successful as possible and perhaps even enable them to adopt additional children.
Lastly, they can contribute their time or finances to programs that contribute to orphan prevention such as maternal care in developing countries or clean water initiatives. Hope International and other organizations that have shown a long commitment to helping those in impoverished countries really make a difference in this regard.
- What advice do you have for others who are considering pursuing a dream of writing?
For many years, I told myself that I would not be able to pursue my writing. I always had excuses...my kids were too young, I didn't have enough time, I was too behind in other things, nobody would want to read what I wrote. I believed these excuses until I realized that the dream was not going away and I had to consider that maybe it was something that God wanted me to pursue. It took four months after the day that I finally decided and committed to writing this book that I wrote the first word. Fear got in my way. After I finished writing the book, it took almost a year before I did anything to actively pursue having it published. Fear was holding me back. It was only when I was able to remind myself that fear is not from God and push through the fear to step out of my comfort zone that the blessings came.
If I can write while parenting and homeschooling 7 children including two with Special Needs, then anyone can! The first step is just to face whatever fears are holding you back and just start writing. You never know where it will lead!
Join Sharla at her book signing at Inspirations Christian Bookstore (Sherwood Park, AB) on February 11, 2012.
Sharla will be one of the session speakers at the AHEA Convention in Red Deer, AB from April 13-14, 2012. Come out to hear her speak about Homeschooling Adopted Children.
That These Two Will Live is available through Amazon, Chapters/Indigo, www.greatcanadianauthors.com and wherever fine Christian books are sold. |
