A mother and father gave their young daughter a dollar and instructed her to give the dollar to a homeless woman leaning against a wall roughly five feet away from where they were standing. The little girl hesitated shyly as children do when interacting with strangers, but the parents encouraged her forward and praised her for doing such a good thing. I thought to myself, "Great job, Mom and Dad! Way to teach good character at a young age!"
Since then I have encountered various opinions of what a family is supposed to look like.
Personally, I believe that no one has the right to tell anyone else that the composition of their family is incorrect as long as everyone is healthy and loved. Your beliefs may tell you that your way and your way only is the correct way, but the love of a parent is universal.
I've heard that obese people should not be allowed to be parents, that single mothers were not adequate, that single fathers were incapable, that having two moms or two dads was morally wrong and a criminal disservice to any child, that adopting out of your race was foolish, that being raised by your grandparents or a grandparent was deficient, that having an excessive number of children was irresponsible and that practicing polygamists should be rounded up and jailed.
Love, above anything else, makes a family. As long as a child is happy, healthy and being taught principles of respect, honesty, fairness, responsibility, compassion, gratitude, friendship, peace, maturity and even faith, it should not matter who the teacher is, what they look like or who their partner is or if they are single.
Throughout American history, politics and religion have served to protect a standard of what a family is supposed to look like but this is changing and will continue to change.
I am grateful for anyone that has it in their heart to provide a loving home. Be it to your biological children or to those you've adopted.
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