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When a woman chooses abortion, the lingering psychological effects can be devastating. Deanna Jones, author of To Be a Mother, knows too well the grief and guilt that can haunt these women. As a teenager, an abortion seemed the only answer for Deanna, but the decision caused her great pain afterward. Finally, by opening her heart to Jesus Christ, she was able to transcend her grief and forgive herself. Her memoir, published by Outskirts Press, is a story of hope that will resonate with many women, and inspire all who read it. Deanna Jones found herself pregnant at the age of 19. In an unstable relationship, and with a musical career starting to take off, she decided she was not ready for motherhood. “No way,” she said. “This is my life, my body.” And so she made an appointment at a local clinic. But she was not prepared for the overwhelming despair that would result. After the abortion she was left with a feeling of emptiness and loss. “Legalized abortion denied me a beautiful gift from God,” she says. “The desperation post-abortion far outweighed the desperation during my brief, unplanned pregnancy, and I was so off balance that I felt as if I would never be able to hold onto anything ever again. A part of me was missing and I would never get it back.” There is a happy ending, however. To Be a Mother is not focused on Deanna’s loss, but rather, it is a story of redemption, resurrection, God’s grace, and His extravagant blessings. Deanna found that by facing her actions and calling out to the true Father, she would be transformed, forgiven, and enlivened. With the Lord by her side, she was able to move from a difficult childhood and a painful abortion decision to the miraculous redemption of Christ and the healing joy that came from the birth and adoption of her six children. This true story shows us firsthand that God is compassionate, illustrating the relentless nature of His pursuit to save and claim His children and allow them life everlasting. The Bible declares that the Lord will turn our mourning into gladness and our despair into praise (Is 61:3), and for Deanna Jones, this has become truth. Follow her inspirational story as she is lifted from a wounded child to a place of understanding and joy as a woman of God. To Be a Mother is a celebration of life, of motherhood, and the sanctity of life itself. About the Author: Deanna Jones was born and raised in Rockford, IL, and is currently a bandleader and singer for the New York-based band The Deanna Jones Orchestra. She considers her greatest assets to be her six children—two by birth, and four by miraculous adoption. |
Larry Schulenberg’s life drastically changed when he awoke one morning and discovered that polio, without warning, had taken away his ability to walk. During the intervening years, he’s done more than merely survive. He has become a husband, teacher, parent, and principal. Nearly a decade ago, Mr. Schulenberg was confronted by post polio syndrome and was forced to call an end to his career in education. Then, his son was incarcerated as a result of an addiction. So the former principal became an activist for reforming the federal sentencing laws and remained a loving husband and father. This inspirational memoir, To Catch the Snowflakes, tells the story of a little boy who was encouraged by his mother to do more than sit and watch the snowflakes fall to the ground and melt and so spent his life catching them. |
From the Back Cover:
Ron had no idea how personally involved he would become when he volunteered to work at the County Home for Neglected Children. Then he met Alan, a beautiful, blue-eyed seven-year-old with a sweet, eager smile—the most perfect child he’d ever seen. But behind Alan’s blue eyes were scars that only love could heal. And Ron soon found himself wanting to be the one to give that love. In the months that followed, helping a frightened little boy seemed easy compared to facing the questioning looks of friends and family—and fighting the open hostility and suspicion of County Welfare authorities. Ron was also losing his girlfriend, who felt she had lost Ron to Alan. Everyone seemed to question how a young, single man could possibly be a parent to a troubled little boy. But when Ron heard the words, “Me want you papa,” he had no doubts at all that he had become a father. |
This ebook captures the emotions of adoption and shares a glimpse of what it’s like to raise an adopted daughter. To Haley, Love Dad was written in a very easy to read “coffee table book” style. |
To Hug an Angel is an inspiring true story tracing the frustrating, difficult and dangerous search by would-be adoptive parents for a young Araucanian Indian girl through the treacherous Chilean Andes during a military dictator’s state of siege. Chile was a democratic society, but that was to change rapidly. While en route to Santiago to finalize a typical foreign adoption, Carol and John were unaware of an assassination attempt upon the life of Chile’s military leader-turned-dictator. A state of siege was gripping the nation in fear. Upon their arrival in South America, an intimidating search by Gestapo-like soldiers became the couple’s introduction to the human indignities that would soon follow. Carol and John found themselves alone when their attorney was arrested for crimes against the state. No one had brought the child to Santiago. While gunshots shattered the fragile night air only blocks away, the American travelers, not yet exposed to the full impact of the military action, remained committed to the adoption. Caught in the turmoil, with their trip home delayed and with no knowledge of the child’s whereabouts, they opted to venture a thousand miles south through the Andes to find the child on their own. |
From the Back Cover:
THE CARING GUIDE TO ADOPTION OPTIONS Finally a book that examines the full range of alternatives for those who cannot become biological parents, or who want to expand their families. Here are answers to your questions about agency and international adoption as well as less familiar choices, such as foster parenting, child and family mentoring, and identified and special-needs adoption. To Love a Child also provides information on applications, resources, and costs--everything you need to begin a life rish with Children. About the Author: Marianne Takas, an attorney at the American Bar Association's Center on Children and the Law, is the author of Child Support and Child Custody. Edward Warner, her husband, is a senior editor at Capital Publications. They live in Washington, D.C. |
From the Back Cover (paperback edition):
Dr. Robert Flavin had everything. An honored profession. A loving wife. Two beautiful adopted children. But it all began to slip away from him. First came separation followed by divorce, and then the staggering knowledge that he was dying. With only a few months left to live, Flavin made this candid, passionate and irreverent memoir. The true story of a man’s search for a way out of the depths of loneliness to reconciliation with his family —a search that took him to the edge of despair and brought him triumphantly back again. |
From the Publisher:
Adoption is not about not wanting a child. It is everything about wanting the best for a child to whom you cannot offer the best. It is a selfless realization that, while the baby is on its way, the parent is not in a position yet to be a parent. It is, beyond question, the most difficult choice a birth mother could ever make. |
From the Dust Jacket:
The letters we write are revealing. They are the mirrors of character and experience which tell so much about what we believe and why we believe it and what we are doing about it. This book is a series of letters written by Dale Evans Rogers to her son Tom, the beloved son who has meant so much to his mother’s faith. These letters tell of the lives and experiences of mother and son. Dale Evans Rogers opens her heart, writing intimately and informally and beautifully of how faith came to her and of how it is running as a spiritual transfusion into the lives of her children. She recalls how Tom trusted in the Lord when he was told one of his daughters might be crippled for life and that the other was a diabetic. This is a warm, personal story about “faith at our house”—about the teaching and practice of religion in the lively and prayerful household of Dale Evans and Roy Rogers and the seven members of the amazing juvenile “United Nations” who live beneath that famous roof. “We believe that God is the real father of all our children and we are just caretakers for Him,” writes the talented wife and partner of America’s foremost cowboy star. Dale Evans Rogers describes the adjustments that have been made through prayer and patience as new members were added to the family, and how such incidents of everyday life are used as opportunities to bring truths from the Word to the children. Here is an account for all families of how one family is successfully surmounting some of the many problems which surround and beset us all. By the Same Author: My Spiritual Diary (1955); Dearest Debbie: In Ai Lee (1965); Salute to Sandy (1967); The Woman at the Well (1970); Hear the Children Crying: The Child Abuse Epidemic (With Frank S. Mead; 1978); In the Hands of the Potter (With Les Stobbe; 1994); Our Values: Stories and Wisdom (With Carole C. Carlson; 1997); and Dale Evans Rogers: Rainbow on a Hard Trail (With Norman B Rohrer; 1999), among others. |
To Romania, With Love: Saving the World One Child at a Time. Mary Albanese. 1992. 153p. Fairway Press. |
From the Back Cover:
Venture deep into the heart-warming—and heart-wrenching—world of international adoption as John Simmons’ poignant memoir chronicles his family’s personal quest to rescue five children from an impoverished rural Russian orphanage. To Sing Frogs recounts the Simmons family’s journey to discover the true meaning of family, while nurturing Sarah, adopted at age five, through the inner turmoil of survivor’s guilt, having left so many of her closest friends behind at the orphanage. In his uplifting, yet brutally honest tale, this practical husband and father reveals a deeply moving perspective on the conditions at the orphanage, his angst over wanting to do more for the children left behind and the awe-inspiring, unshakeable faith and dedication of his wife, Amy. Meanwhile, Sarah’s journey of assimilation to life in America offers readers a unique perspective on the everyday experiences many take for granted, capped off by an unexpected reunion with two best friends from the orphanage she thought she would never see again. To Sing Frogs offers an intimate glimpse at the transformation within a father’s heart as Simmons struggles to reconcile his practical science and engineering background, where all things are explainable and quantifiable, against the realization that, in matters of the heart, some things simply can’t be explained. About the Author: An adoption advocate and father to nine children (three biological and six adopted), John M. Simmons chronicles his family’s journey of love, laughter and discovery of what it means to be a family through international adoption. His award-winning novel The Marvelous Journey Home and his memoir, To Sing Frogs, detail the Simmons family’s quest to adopt six children rescued from an impoverished rural Russian orphanage and raise them in a serene mountain valley near Park City, Utah. The Marvelous Journey Home earned Book of the Month status from Audio Book News Service and BookReview.com and made the Top Ten Reads Lists for MyShelf.com. The novel earned Best of State for fiction in the Utah Best of State Awards for 2008. Simmons appears frequently as an adoption advocate and to share his experience with international adoption in television, radio and newspaper interviews. He makes regular book club appearances, and is a frequent guest speaker for various civic and other groups to increase awareness about international adoption. Simmons lives with his wife, Amy, and their children in Kamas, Utah. By the Same Author: The Marvelous Journey Home (2007). |
From the Dust Jacket:
This is a book about the journey of building family through adoption of a child between the ages of one and three. The journey begins long before the child arrives, and continues indefinitely. This book explores the decision to adopt, the preparation for adopting and the adjustment to adoption of a toddler. The book is rich in examples of challenges and strategies from real families whose children were adopted as toddlers. While the approach is primarily practical and “cookbook” in nature, the author does not presume to have the definitive answer to every challenge parents may encounter in toddler adoption! There is no single strategy that works in all situations. Each child, parent and situation is unique. Professional support services are sometimes indicated, and a variety of resources are discussed. The author discusses both the exquisite joys of toddler adoption and challenges that the majority of families will probably encounter. This is a “can do” book that is intended to encourage toddler adoption for parents who are stable, mature and ready for the challenge and journey of their life! About the Author: Mary Hopkins-Best is a mom. She and her husband Richard are parents of a daughter born to them on 12/25/83, and a son born on 5/27/89 who was adopted from Peru at seventeen months and arrived home at nineteen months. She has been a special educator, teacher educator, and college administrator for eighteen years and holds degrees in special and regular education, rehabilitation, and a Doctorate in education. She is the author of numerous publications about people with special needs, including “Bonding with a Toddler,” OURS, November 1992, and has conducted workshops for UW-Extension and various adoption agencies. Dr. Hopkins-Best is a member of the Adoptive Families of America, Parents of Peruvian Adoptees, and Peruvian Adoptive Families; is a partner parent for Western Wisconsin Postadoption Project; and is a member of the Board of Directors for HOPE, International. |
From the Back Cover:
As we drove home from this mother of all meetings, Joe sat in the back, flicking through his Thomas the Tank Engine book, oblivious to the drama taking place in his life. We were silent. I feared the future. Ed was angry. We were on our own. As far as the local authority was concerned ... it was our problem. This is the story of Ed and Ruth Royce’s journey from childlessness to celebrating as a family. From a dual perspective, each with their own anxieties, expectations and vulnerabilities, they look back on their decision to adopt, to the fear that their family was falling apart, to their experience of music and art therapy, and then on to their decision to adopt a second time. Would they get to their sons’ deep-seated problems with drums and tambourines? They weren’t so sure... In this inspiring account, the Royces record their feelings about the boys and each other, and show how therapy helped them come together as a family. About the Author: Ruth and Ed Royce have been married for twenty-three years, are very keen on wine and music, and live in the Welsh Marches with their two sons Joe and Jack, and Monty the cat. Joe is now midway through his secondary school years and Jack is finishing off at primary school. |
From the Dust Jacket:
Ben Stein has proved himself a jack-of-all-trades in a series of jobs: author, magazine columnist, lawyer, film and TV actor, presidential speechwriter, professor, and television game show host, to name a few. But the career he has loved the most is that of raising his son, Tommy. In Tommy and Me, Ben Stein gives us an intimate look at life with his “angel boy.” Adopting a son in his forties challenged Stein in a way that no other relationship ever had. Spending time with Tommy transformed Stein’s values, leading him to abandon the self-absorption that had consumed him since law school days in the 1960s. In his life today, Tommy comes first. This whimsical and warm story reveals that life can begin when you think you have nothing left to learn. Through Tommy, Ben Stein learns to value the generous, nurturing side of himself. He also gains new insight into his relationship with his own father by becoming one. Most of all, he learns gratitude for the “perfect angel” he has as his son. Fatherhood was the role Ben Stein was waiting for all his life. His intimate and revealing journey through parenthood in the late 1990s will delight all Ben Stein fans who watch the TV program Win Ben Stein’s Money and the vast numbers of parents who need to value the best job on earth: “Daddy.” About the Author: Ben Stein, writer, teacher, lawyer, actor, and host of Win Ben Stein’s Money, has written more than a dozen books, numerous magazine articles, and many scripts. He teaches law at Pepperdine University and testifies often on tort reform and securities issues. His acting roles include appearances in the films Dave, The Mask, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and a recurring character in The Wonder Years. His popular Diary column runs in The American Spectator. He lives in Los Angeles and Malibu, California. |
From the Dust Jacket:
“When I discovered Tony, now over nine years ago, in that boys’ prison in Mexico, little did I know that one day that special little boy with the twinkle in his eyes would change the rest of my life. Little did I know the pain and suffering I would go through—and how the wounds of my own past would be reopened to be dealt with once again. Little did I know the impact Tony—my son—would have on my life and on the lives of thousands. Little did I know of the special journey God had set out for us....” So begins Carolyn Koons’s heartwarming and inspiring story of her rescue of Antonio, a child incarcerated in a Mexican prison since the age of five on a trumped-up murder charge. Founder of the Mexicali Outreach missions program, Carolyn responded to her faith in God with investigations that led her into a web of conflicting stories, bureaucratic red tape, and a frustrating legal system which acknowledged that the boy must be innocent—but refused to release him. Nine-year-old Antonio captured Carolyn’s heart at their first encounter. She admired his fight for survival and dignity against a violent, dehumanizing prison system. Convinced from the outset that he didn’t belong in jail, Carolyn suddenly found her life moving in an unexpected direction. Taking one step at a time, she refused to accept no for an answer in her attempts to free Antonio. Tony relates Carolyn’s two-and-a-half-year legal battle to release the boy—a struggle that taxed her faith and resources to the limit. Although three different lawyers gave up on the case, Carolyn persevered. Complications multiplied—but when the Governor of Baja was moved to intervene, Tony found himself with a new mother and a new life. That new life had its own complications. Saved from the fear and violence within the prison walls, Tony found adjusting to his changed circumstances in the United States difficult. Carolyn, too, found that she had much to discover about the responsibilities and opportunities of being a single parent. Tony shares the sometimes difficult, always rewarding journey of the two as mother and son. All who read Tony will find themselves exploring with Carolyn and her son the depths of the human heart and the joys of uncompromising faith in God. About the Author: Carolyn A. Koons is a Ph.D. candidate in higher education with an emphasis on single adult development at Claremont Graduate School. She has taught Christian education at Azusa Pacific University for twenty years. She is a recognized authority on the single life and is in constant demand as a speaker and teacher. Tony, now eighteen, recently graduated from high school. |
From the Inside Front Cover:
Eight-year-old Spencer takes himself to social services and demands to be taken into care. It’s a desperate act, a cry for help, but his parent’s reaction—good riddance—speaks volumes. Immediately Casey’s hackles are up for this poor childL it seems he either comes to live with the Watsons, or he’ll be sent to a children’s home. Spencer is the middle child of five siblings. His parents claim all their other kids are “normal” and that Spencer was born “vicious and evil.” Casey and her family are disgusted—kids aren’t born evil, they get damaged. Although when vigilante neighbours start to take action and their landlord threatens eviction, Casey is stretched to the limits, trying desperately to hold on to this boy who causes so much pain and destruction. Casey is determined to try and understand what Spencer is going through and help him find the loving home he is so desperately searching for. But it’s only when Spencer’s mother gets in touch with social services for the first time that gradually everything starts to make sense. About the Author: Casey Watson, who writes under a pseudonym, is a specialist foster carer. She and her husband, Mike, look after children who are particularly troubled or damaged by their past. While in their care, they guide them through a specially designed behavioural programme, enabling them to be moved on, either back to their parents or into mainstream foster care. Casey is married with two children and three grandchildren. By the Same Author: The Boy No One Loved (2011); Crying for Help (2012); Little Prisoners (2012); Mummy’s Little Helper (2013); Breaking the Silence (2013); A Last Kiss for Mummy (2013); The Girl Without a Voice (2014); Nowhere to Go (2014); A Stolen Childhood (2015); Skin Deep (2015); Mummy’s Little Soldier (2016); Runaway Girl (2016); Groomed (2017); and The Silent Witness (2017), among others. |
CCAI is excited to announce the release of a new book, Toolkit for Adopting an Older Child! With so many older children being made available for adoption and now being adopted, it became clear that an informational book providing preparatory information for families considering or already entering into their own older child adoption was much needed. Toolkit for Adopting an Older Child is our effort at CCAI to provide insight from both professionals and families who have adopted older children into the unique challenges that adopting an older child can present. This book explores the initial adjustment of a child over the age of 5 into a family, how to cope with basic, immediate needs, and how to prepare for long term behavioral, emotional, and developmental difficulties. It is our sincere hope that this book will meet the need of our families to have a resource to help them thoughtfully consider and prepare for the adoption of an older child. |
A series of hints on starting one of the biggest adventures of your life. |
Fostering? Easy, we would look after children who weren’t looked after properly or maybe smacked too hard... No-one prepared us for this nightmare. The scream, when it came, was unlike anything I had ever heard before. It was so piercing it made every hair on my body stand on end, and the memory of the terror I felt then, in that instant, has never gone away. I flew out of my bed and ran into the girls’ room, convinced that something truly, utterly devastating was happening to one of the children. It was. |
From the Publisher:
Touched is the story of Jerry Sandusky’s life in his own words. From his childhood to his professional career, this book goes behind the scenes to explore the successes and challenges that Jerry Sandusky has faced in life, both on and off the football field. After graduating from Penn State in 1966, Sandusky went on to coach collegiate football for 34 years. Thirty-two of those years were with Penn State, as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach under Joe Paterno, until his retirement in 1999. The book also explores Sandusky’s involvement in children’s charities, including the founding of his charity, “The Second Mile.” About the Author: Jerry Sandusky retired as defensive coordinator of the Penn State University football team following the 1999 season. He spent 32 years at Penn State, all as an assistant to legendary head coach Joe Paterno. Sandusky is the founder of The Second Mile, a charitable foundation that has touched the lives of more than 100,000 children. Kip Richeal is a 1987 graduate of Penn State University and a former student equipment manager with the Nittany Lion football team, Richeal is the author of two previous books. Compiler’s Note: This biography was published a number of years before Sandusky was indicted, in 2011, on various charges stemming from allegations of child sexual abuse. The scandal also tarnished the reputation of head coach Joe Paterno, who is alleged to have known about the abuse and looked the other way, including during the fifteen-year period encompassed by the indictment (see, e.g., Paterno Legacy: Enduring lessons from the Life and Death of My Father by Jay Paterno [2014, Triumph Books]). In Wounded Lions: Joe Paterno, Jerry Sandusky and the Crises in Penn State Athletics (2016, University of Illinois Press), Ronald A. Smith states in a timeline of events that, on June 20, 2012, Sandusky’s adopted son, Matt, revealed that his adoptive father had abused him, as well. In 2013, Matt Sandusky filed papers to legally change his family’s name (including his wife’s and children’s), according to Adam Galinsky and Maurice Schweitzer in their book Friend and Foe: When to Cooperate, When to Compete, and How to Succeed at Both (2015, Crown Business), citing a July 17, 2013 report on CNN. |
Missy and her husband are about to embark on a trip of a lifetime. Not just their lifetime but the lives of a brother and sister in a faraway place. I prayed for a sign. What I got was a hole in my heart, and I could not look the other way. Often times, simply taking the first step is the hardest. We all know what it feels like to be overwhelmed in some way, and the remedy can sometimes be as simple as this: Just do what is in front of you. So began my journey into adoption. Home is that wonderfully messy place that offers a reservoir of safety and assurance where love is fully given and fully accepted. Home is that haven where we are able to journey together through thick and thin as a family! The miracle of every adoption story is amazingly life-changing and unique, and I am truly honored that you decided to join me on a portion of ours. About the Author: Missy Grant is a wife and new mom of two who has “stumbled upon” a love of writing in response to her passionate pursuit of adoption. Missy is former tennis pro, a current triathlete, mountain biking lover of the outdoors, pilates and fitness trainer, who describes herself as a “simple girl with a passionate story to tell.” |
Our consumer culture sets exacting standards and norms for what constitutes an ideal child. The tough realities of life often create children and child-bearing and rearing circumstances that are outside the ideal. How do women whose experiences don’t match the norm cope and adapt? How do they make sense of it to themselves and to the world? In a rich series of ethnographic case studies, Transformative Motherhood intimately conveys the experiences of women in the United States who, in each case, have reproductive encounters that do not match up to these cultural standards. From women who choose to become surrogate, foster, or adoptive mothers, to others who give birth to children with disabilities or who have had a pregnancy loss, all creatively meet the challenges posed by their particular mothering experiences. It is often the language of giving and getting, so prominent in a consumer culture, that these women use to make sense of their situation. In the process, Transformative Motherhood redefines conventional understandings of motherhood, the mother/child relationship, and the role of biology and the law in determining what constitutes a family. Contributors: Rayna Rapp, Hélena Ragoné, Judith A. Modell, Danielle Wozniak, Gail Landsman, and Linda L. Layne. About the Author: Linda L. Layne is Hale Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute. |
A growing number of children are experiencing the multiple moves that are an inherent part of the Foster Care System. Early Permanence for children is vital for healthy bonding and attachment to their forever families. In our time, open adoptions are the norm and we see a growing number of older child adoptions with children who have spent at least some time in the Foster Care System. These children from hard places have experienced challenges in their early lives. They deserve and require a gentle approach when being transitions to their forever families. Foster Care is by its very nature, a temporary solution to a long-term challenge. Children who suffer repeated disruptions of caregivers are at risk for developmental delays, poor self-regulation and behavioral and mental health problems. The earlier in a child’s life that we are able to accomplish permanence the better for the child’s attachment capacity and long-term outcomes When an at-risk child is moved to her permanent home, we are disrupting her primary caregiver once again. It is incumbent upon us to undertake this process with care and sensitivity. Our primary goals are to Preserve the Child’s Attachment Capacity and to Support their Prior Connections. A traumatic transition can lead to long-term effects on the child and indeed the entire adoptive family. Transition is the slow and measured relinquishment of the nurture, care and discipline of a child by her current caregivers and the assumption of these same duties by her new adoptive parents. When embarked on in a thoughtful, tender manner, transition can be a gentle process that enlarges both the child’s sense of self and the circle of those who love and care for them. “In this book, foster and adoptive families will find many practical suggestions and tips that I believe will serve as anchors as they embark on the less than calm seas of transitioning children. Those who read will also find an unwavering commitment to remaining child-focused while having empathy for all involved in the complex dance that is transition.” |
This book gets to the heart of transracial adoptions with an inside look from the children’s voices as well as documenting encounters with the child welfare system, school system and law enforcement. How the adoptive parent’s handle encounters with racism because of their belief’s and love for their black children and the events they have all endured. |
From the Back Cover:
Phoebe, an autistic nine-year-old girl, is taken into police protection after a chance comment to one of her teachers alerts the authorities that all might not be what it seems in her comfortable, middle-class home. But after several shocking incidents of self-harming, and making threats to kill, it soon becomes apparent that Phoebe’s autism may be the least of her problems. About the Author: Rosie Lewis is a full-time foster carer. She has been working in this field for over a decade. Before that, she worked in the special unit team for the police force. Based in northern England, Rosie writes under a pseudonym to protect the identities of the children she looks after. This is her first book. |
From the Dust Jacket:
Every adoption is a magnificent occurrence. Couples who despaired of ever having children pour out their love to a new family member. Lonely, forgotten children find a caring family and a loving place where they can grow and thrive. But sometimes the pieces of an adoption come together in such a way that it moves beyond the everyday marvel into the miraculous. Now bestselling author Karen Kingsbury continues her Miracles series with this collection of twelve true stories illustrating the presence of God in adoption. • Brought Together by a Miracle. A Manhattan social worker receives a new case—a three-year-old girl newly orphaned in a horrible accident; but the woman has the strangest feeling that God is up to something unusual. • Twice the Miracle. A young couple loses twins in the heartbreak of miscarriage yet learns to pray again, with uncanny results. • The Right Place at the Right Time. A young attorney who, with God’s help, works hard to place “special-needs” children in loving families stumbles upon a miracle. • A Series of Miracles. High-school sweethearts who marry but can’t conceive adopt a young Chinese girl who has a surprise for them—and so does God! But most poignant of all is Karen Kingsbury’s own story—the story of a family that set out to adopt one Haitian boy but came home with three boys instead! About the Author: Karen Kingsbury, a former staff writer for the Los Angeles Times, is widely known for her bestselling inspirational titles, including A Thousand Tomorrows, Gideon’s Gift, Maggie’s Miracle, A Treasury of Miracles for Teens, A Treasury of Miracles for Women, A Treasury of Christmas Miracles, Redemption, and A Time to Dance. Her novel Deadly Pretender was made into a CBS television Movie of the Week. She lives with her husband and six children in the Pacific Northwest. By the Same Author: When Joy Came to Stay (2000, Multnomah); Halfway to Forever (2002, Multnomah); Reunion (with Gary Smalley) (2004, Tyndale House); Fame (2005, Tyndale House); Forgiven (2005, Tyndale House); Even Now (2005, Zondervan); Like Dandelion Dust (2006, Center Street); Found (2006, Tyndale House); Family (2006, Tyndale House); Ever After (2007, Zondervan); Forever (2007, Tyndale House); and Between Sundays (2007, Zondervan), among many others. Compiler’s Note: Much of Kingsbury’s prodigious output centers on the “Baxter Family Saga,” which began with the Redemption Series (co-written with Gary Smalley), and continued with the Firstborn Series, Sunrise Series, Above the Line Series, and Baily Flanigan Series, among others. Following the revelation (in Reunion) that the Baxter family matriarch had given up her firstborn for adoption, and the subsequent efforts of the family to become reunited with its lost member (in the Firstborn series), the adoption theme fades to background noise. Readers who find Kingsbury’s intensely Christian point of view appealing will likely enjoy all of her books; not just the ones I have chosen to list here. All others are hereby forewarned. |
From the Dust Jacket:
Melanie Allen had a dream—to adopt a special-needs child and provide a stable loving family for her. But her dream turned into a nightmare that would tear her family apart. To all appearances five0year-old Alex was obedient and charming but, over the course of five years, Melanie was left desperate by her behavior. Alex festered with the rage born out of her unimaginable neglect as an infant—and she turned that venom on those who were trying to care for her. Unbeknownst to anyone, she was suffering from a severe attachment disorder—a problem not uncommon in neglected children. Yet the manifestation of her symptoms was so deceptive that even Melanie’s relatives didn’t believe her when she told them about the trouble with Alex. Melanie sought help from social services, to secure a correct diagnosis for the little girl she was determined to help. Unfortunately nobody in authority accepted the seriousness of Alex’s condition until it was almost too late. About the Author: Melanie Allen was born in 1963 in the Midlands, a few miles from where she now lives with her family. She is currently studying for a degree and hopes one day to become a health visitor. |
This is the funny, sad, gripping story of Ms. Dillon’s long courtship with Roger; their eventual marriage; and their excruciating efforts to have a family, despite infertility, miscarriages, failed adoptions and one baby’s death. These events naturally raised serious questions about God’s goodness, and the story includes the spiritual journey occurring underneath the details. The drama, honesty, humility and humor make it hard to put down. Almost everyone will relate to this story, because it’s about True Love. About the Author: Susan Dillon was born in the Midwest during the baby boom, attended college in California, and worked in the public interest for a few years in Washington D.C. She went to law school hoping to find some direction in life, worked in large law firms and a nonprofit corporation. Her real life began when she married and began raising a family. She and her husband and two children live outside Washington, D.C. |
True Love Waits promotes saving sex for marriage after a courtship long enough to get to know your potential partner on all levels of a relationship: intellectual, emotional, and spiritual. The author’s social conservatism is not based on any religious teachings. Rather, it is based on achieving a holistic intimacy with your boyfriend or girlfriend before becoming physically intimate. The book describes the author’s journey from the hippie days of free love to a conservative philosophy of waiting for marriage. The author’s transformation is a direct result of growing up in the 1950s and her teenage years in the late 1960s as well as her raising six children over the course of forty years. |
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