Adoptees Writing Contest 2015, 3rd Place Winner, Lyn Rowley, Dear Birth Mom

Dear Birth Mom,

I don’t really know much about you. I don’t even know your first name.  But I do know that on May 14, 1952 you gave birth to a baby boy in Lodi, Ohio.  It was weeks before your due date and I don’t know what the emergency was, but you had a C-Section and delivered a very small little boy that you decided to give up for adoption.  He was in an incubator and spent several weeks being cared for by the nurses at the hospital who named him “Jimmy-Joe” after the two doctors who had delivered him.  One of those nurses had a cousin that she knew wanted desperately to add to her family since she was unable to have another child.  She got in touch with them and on June 12, 1952 that baby became their son.  Twenty years later, I met that boy and fell in love with him. Two years later, I married him.  Forty one years later, I still love him.  While I am sad that you never got to know him, I am so thankful for your gift of life that you gave to him when you said yes to adoption.  Did you imagine who he might have become?  Wonder about his new family?  Pray for him?  I will never have the answer to these questions because my husband, your son, does not want to find you.  If it were my choice, we would seek you out.  I want you to know that I pray for you every day.  In my dreams, in a very beautiful wonderful place, I see you running towards your boy and he knows immediately who you are.  And when he looks into your eyes, he understands.  And this is heaven. ~

 Lyn Rowley- Author

I've been married to my husband Ken for 41 years.   We have two wonderful children and four grandchildren, who are the joy of my life!  I love scrap booking, reading and journaling.  I have been writing a blog (Lynrowley.blogspot.com) for the last two years and have made many connections around the world through those posts.  I love sharing about Jesus and how He touches my everyday life.

( Permission is needed to reprint this letter in any print or online media )

 

 

Anne of Green Gables, My Daughter & Me, A Memoir- New book by an Adoptee Mom who adopted a daughter

I am excited to announce this new book I just ordered from Amazon- Anne of Green Gables, My Daughter and Me, a Memoir!  Like many adoptees and others- I LOVE Anne of Green Gables and have identified with her sentiments, feelings and quotes in Lucy Maude Montgomery's classic book, a best seller that never seems to loose its charm with moms and daughters through the decades!  I connected with Lorilee some  years back by e-mail when I saw she was speaking at a Christian Women's retreat in Michigan, sharing her adoption testimony. She is a believer and  she shares her faith and God's fingerprints in her adoption and her daughter's adoptive story.

Here is a review of this book that just was released this month- August 2015:

 A charming and heartwarming true story for anyone who has ever longed for a place to belong. “Anne of Green Gables,” My Daughter, and Me is a witty romp through the classic novel; a visit to the magical shores of Prince Edward Island; and a poignant personal tale of love, faith, and loss.

And it all started with a simple question: “What’s an orphan?” The words from her adopted daughter, Phoebe, during a bedtime reading of Anne of Green Gables stopped Lorilee Craker in her tracks. How could Lorilee, who grew up not knowing her own birth parents, answer Phoebe’s question when she had wrestled all her life with feeling orphaned—and learned too well that not every story has a happy ending?

So Lorilee set off on a quest to find answers in the pages of the very book that started it all, determined to discover—and teach her daughter—what home, family, and belonging really mean. If you loved the poignancy of Orphan Train and the humor of Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, you will be captivated by “Anne of Green Gables,” My Daughter, and Me. It’s a beautiful memoir that deftly braids three lost girls’ stories together, speaks straight to the heart of the orphan in us all, and shows us the way home at last.~


*Also today September 1st, 2015, On the Christian national radio show- Chris Fabry Live- Lorilee shares about her book and adoption story and her daughters. If you get the book PLEASE be encouraged to post your reviews or what resonated to you as an adoptee when reading Lorilee Craker's book.  Here is the posting from the show. And here is the Link: http://www.moodyradio.org/chris-fabry-live/

Anne of Green Gables, My Daughter, and Me

If you're an Anne of Green Gables fan, you won't want to miss Lorilee Craker's true story of how that novel affected her and her adopted daughter. Find out what home, family and belonging really mean.
***Go to this Link- they often have an audio recording of the show to listen to or to order- and sometimes you have to wait until the next day
Can't wait for the book to arrive in my mailbox in a few days!!!


I

Adoptee Writing Contest 2015- Tied for 2nd Place Winner, Sheri Novotny

My Birth Mom   by Sheri Novotny

That call came one December night,
As we just sat down to eat.
My spouse he almost dropped the phone,

When he heard that voice so sweet.

I looked at him unknowingly,

As he prepared to drop the bomb.

He had to sit, get off his feet,

As he announced, “It’s your birth mom!”

I took the phone, held it to my ear

As the voice said, “Hi, it’s your mother.”

Was caught off guard, in disbelief,

and I just wanted to take cover.

God truly had His hand in this,

As the reunion came to pass.

It was what we both wanted,

but it happened all so fast.

We met a couple times you see,

As she struggled with her illness.

Just two quick months I knew her

Before she entered into stillness.

Into my life she did appear,

And then she went away.

The time I spent with her was gold,

But God took her home to stay.

A blessing to have met her,

The one who gave birth to me.

Even though it was for a moment,

I met my birth-mom thankfully.

Even though we talked a little bit,

Never sure just what to say,

A wave of peace came over her,

When she knew I was okay.

One day we’ll meet in heaven,

We’ll sit and talk awhile,

We’ll know each other even better,

The thought makes my heart smile.

For now she’s in the good Lord’s care.

The best care that I know of.

And when I think of my birth mom,

I’ll always think of her love.

A love that I had never known,

Before we met that day.   

Thank you mom for my life,

And making sure I was okay.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Sheri's Bio: I was around 3 weeks old when I was adopted by a Christian family.  Throughout my life, I had always wondered about my birth family. In my forties, I learned I had seven siblings living in Chicago along with my birth mom.  There was a reunion, but my birth mom passed away two months after our meeting.  It was all orchestrated by the good Lord and gave my birth mom immense peace before she passed.

The coolest part about the reunion was that my adopted family members were able to meet most of my birth family.

God has blessed me with a wonderful husband and an awesome son and I know things would have been way different had I not been given up for adoption.

The one thing I never take for granted is being adopted into a Christian family.  They always made me feel like one of their own, which I’ve always appreciated.  And looking at my life story, you can see God had His hand in all of it!

Copyright 2015 ( Permission is needed to reprint this poem in any media form- written or online )

 

 

 

 

2nd Place Winner in the Adoptee Writing Contest 2015, Shefalie A. Hollis

In memory of my birth mother:          

Mother,

It is my birthday

And I think of you…..

Thank you, for my life……

In all the passing years

I still think of you.

This day…… My day……

Not much celebration going on

The day you delivered me.

But oh my mother…if you could see me now….

I would want it to bless your heart…..

To see what I have done with the gift of life given to me.

I am so sorry you could not keep me or

Watch me grow and bloom into the woman

I am becoming today.

I am sorry, it was not your hand that held me

As a child in the night ,when I was so afraid.

Nor your voice that comforted me in the darkness and challenges  of

My life……

Nor your laughter, or your encouragement I heard

Throughout my youthful growing years.

You have not seen the many places, and people

Whose  lives have touched me and I them and all

That has gone into making me………Me.

 

But still…here I am……

I am trying  to do the best with my life I can.

I have loved, laughed, climbed mountains,

Walked in the valleys and…..well sometimes I have even stopped to rest in the shadows for oh so long………

Until I had almost forgotten the warmth of the sun……

I am learning to let people into my life and heart

And build a bridge to friendship……

I have known times of deep loss, .…. but also the pleasure of much gain…..

And I have known the joy of being raised with a family…..

I have been a daughter…and a sister…a wife…a mother….… and a friend to many…

Who have lost their way in life…….

I so wanted you to meet my friends…

I wanted you to meet the woman who became my “mum”…

I am learning  to sing in the barren times, and the times of plenty….

I am learning to let the light shine from within…

And to let the wounds heal over…..

I am learning to sing  a new song…..

And I wanted to say thankyou.

I think of you and wanted you to know

My life has gone on…..

And I am coming into full bloom…

And this day of all days……. my birthday,

I remember you and smile.

Jean shefalie Hollis copyright 1/1/06

 

 

Bio:My name is Shefalie and I am bi-racial. I live in the UK and am married and have a grown married son, and we have a lovely granddaughter who is a gift to my heart and spirit and has brought much healing into my life. 

Adoptee Writing Contest 2015 1st Place Winner- Alissa M of North Carolina

Becoming His Own

I don’t remember the day or the hour,

but I do recall the elusive power,

Of knowing that out there, somewhere unknown

Was the woman, the mother in whose womb I’d grown.

I thought about her day and night, 

And prayed and prayed that I just might,

Get to meet her face to face,

And give her a long-awaited sweet embrace. 

Out in public, I’d look all around,

Wondering if she could be found,

I searched for a familiar face here and there,

Paying close attention to those with red hair.

While I waited, there were lots of questions…

“Do we look alike or have the same expressions?”

“Does she have the same curiosity?”

Or most of all, “Does she even love me?”

I knew I must keep those questions to myself,

And my feelings of rejection belonged on the shelf.

Because society said, “You were special and chosen,

So keep your mouth shut and your feelings frozen.”

I was grateful to the parents who loved and raised me,

But it wasn’t about them… it was about my desperate plea.

My longing to find the many unknowns

So I could stop guessing and feeling alone.

For years, I begged God, searching to no avail,

knowing deep down that my prayers would prevail, 

So after much research and letters and calls,

I finally found the searcher who would end it all.

I sent off to get my birth information,

And when it arrived, I studied the narration.

“Baby Girl Crittenton” stung at my core,

A nameless baby with her mother no more.

On the last page was just what I needed,

The signature of the one who bravely conceded.

I can only imagine what she went through,

As she lived out her secret that just a few knew.

My searcher then found the man she had married,

I called him, trying to hide the secret she’d carried.

When I asked where she was, I was shocked at his answer, 

For sadly three years prior, she had died of cancer.

So I told him the truth about how she was my mother,

But he denied it and said it must be some other,

Because the Carol he knew loved her children too deeply,

That to give one away would not have been easy.

I said what I had been taught, that I was just blessed,

That she loved me so much and wanted the best, 

But deep down, I heard, “Your mother loved her children…BUT

I’m so sorry to say that YOU did not make the cut.”

I buried that grief for years and years,

Not even knowing that there were tears,

But with some wise counsel, I have learned to grieve,

The one who gave me life, the one I had to leave.

I know that the Enemy has whispered lies in my ear, 

About how I’m not wanted, about how I should fear,

Rejection from those who are closest to me, 

But I’m here to tell you that God’s setting me free.

He whispers truth to my spirit, telling me I’m wanted,

That I should reject those lies that have keep me haunted,

He tells me that I am chosen, loved, and completely known,

And that HE was the first to call me His own.

Alissa M    2-7-14 

 

"Alissa lives in North Carolina with her husband and two kids. After teaching deaf preschoolers for fifteen years, God called her to homeschool her children, so she has been dedicated to educating them for the past seven years. In her free time, Alissa enjoys serving others, hanging out with friends, playing pool, and doing nail art.  Her deepest desire is to continue to grow closer and closer to her Heavenly Father and to become the woman He created her to be."

 

( Alissa M was awarded a $200.00 cash award for her 1st place entry.  Congratulations! )

 

Copyright 2015- Permission is needed to reprint in any media format in print or online.

 

 

 

Adoptees Writing Contest 2015 Winners Announcement

 

 

Announcing the Adoptees Writing Contest 2015 Winners:

 

1st: Alissa M of North Carolina 

2nd: Shefalie from the UK.

2nd: Sheri N. of Illinois. 

3rd: Lyn R, of Illinois. 

4th: Hugh S. of California. 

 

The winners have been notified and awarded their cash prizes.

1st: $200, 2nd: $100, 3rd: $50, 4th: $50

 

Thank you to everyone who sent in submissions! It was difficult for the judges to make decisions with some wonderful and creative and heartfelt entries. One of the goals of the contest was to receive many submissions and an extension of the first deadline was made to allow more entries to come in. There were a limited amount of entries and so some of the initial guidelines for submissions needed to be waived a bit for a good number of them would not have qualified. Instead of extending the contest a 2nd time these variances of the guidelines were accepted ( Such as being a piece that was never published before, word count, and written by an adoptee- and not someone touched by adoption ).  Also with votes, there was a tie for 2nd place. Entries were judged on creativity, adoption education, positive adoption language, and heartfelt expression.

 

Beginning this week and for 5 weeks, each of the winning entries will be published here and on the Adoptee's Cafe site on blogger.com. ( Starting with the 1st Place Award )

 

Please Note: These poems and letters many not be reprinted or shared in any print media form without permission. These entries will be shared in another adoption publication to be announced at a later date. To contact any of the authors, you need to contact Jody Moreen. Send inquiries to jodymoreen (and the @ sign ) gmail.com

                                                                                     

EXTENDED to July 1, 2015, Adoptees Creative Writing Contest ( Christian Faith Based )

ADOPTEES CHRISTIAN WRITING CONTEST ( Share with Adoptees 18 & Up )
Spring is on the horizon and in the month of May we celebrate Mother's Day. As adoptees, we are keenly aware that we have been given the gift of LIFE. Regardless of the circumstances of our birth, there was a special birth mother that chose LIFE and carried us safety in her womb for 9 months. I don't know about you, but I have always embraced a soft and loving place in my heart for my birth mom. Sadly I was never able to meet her face-to-face before she passed away. In honor of all birth mothers I am asking adoptees or those orphaned since birth who carry love in their heart for LIFE to share your thankfulness, gratitude and loving and honoring sentiments to your birth mother and to God. Contest open to persons 18 and up. In 250 words or less share in a letter, a poem, a prayer or a song of praise. ( If you have already written something longer- feel free to share, but new writings strive to keep close to 250 words- a goal to be concise ) You may include a beautiful scripture verse in the Bible at the beginning, end or in the content of your piece. Feel free to share what God places on your heart. Be simple, poetic or creative, whatever way you are lead to express your praiseworthy sentiments. ( You may address your birth mother by her first name, if you know it, or you can just use the word Birth Mother or Dear Mother or another loving title.) Please prayerfully consider participating and share this with others you know that are adopted or those orphaned since birth. I would love to compile a collection of some of these letters to use to honor LIFE, and encourage birth mothers, women in crisis pregnancies, adoptees and others touched by adoption. Just imagine- your words, your expressions could save a precious life by touching a woman making a challenging pregnancy decision! PLEASE-DO NOT post your letters here. E-mail them to me at: jodymoreen( followed by the @ sign )gmail.com and in the Subject line add- or send them to me via snail mail at:
Jody Moreen, 408 Christopher Ct. SE, Winter Haven, FL. 33884. PLEASE include your name, address, zip code, phone number and e-mail address at the end of your piece. Also state whether your entry is an original, or already published in any print or media source.  ( see note at end of this posting )
A pre-selected group of adoptees and birth mothers will vote on their favorites ) Winning entries will be published on my Adoptees Anchored in Christ blog at:
adopteesanchoredinjesus@blogspot.com and also on Adoptees Café : adopteescafe@blogspot.com
1st prize: $200.00
2nd prize: $100.00
3rd prize: $50
4th prize: $50
Honorable mentions: ( up to 10 depending on the amount of entries ) will receive their choice of a silver-toned Chosen Necklace containing the words ( Created/Chosen/Celebrated/Cherished) on a pendant from Dayspring, an Adoptee's Anchor -Christian mug or a new Adoption book of their choice from selections from my ever growing library )


( NEW DEADLINE- JULY 1st, 2015-  Please copy and paste and SHARE this contest info with your family, friends and adoption community on e-mails, Facebook, etc  )


****  Multiple submssions welcome!
Questions about the contest can be sent to Jody at jodymoreen(followed by the @ sign)gmail.com

ADOPTEES CHRISTIAN (Faith-Based ) CREATIVE WRITING CONTEST- DEADLINE EASTER SUNDAY 2015

ADOPTEES CHRISTIAN WRITING CONTEST 
Share with Adoptees 18 & Up 

Spring is on the horizon and in the month of May we celebrate Mother's Day. This year it is May 10th, 2015. As adoptees, we are keenly aware that we have been given the gift of LIFE. Regardless of the circumstances of our birth, there was a special birth mother that chose LIFE and carried us safety in her womb for 9 months. I don't know about you, but I have always embraced a soft and loving place in my heart for my birth mom. Sadly I was never able to meet her face-to-face before she passed away. In honor of all birth mothers I am asking adoptees or those orphaned since birth who carry love in their heart for LIFE to share your thankfulness, gratitude and loving and honoring sentiments to your birth mother and to God. Contest open to persons 18 and up. In 250 words or less share in a letter, a poem, a prayer or a song of praise. ( If you have already written something longer- feel free to share, but new writings strive to keep close to 250 words- a goal to be concise ) You may include a beautiful scripture verse in the Bible at the beginning, end or in the content of your piece. Feel free to share what God places on your heart. Be simple, poetic or creative, whatever way you are lead to express your praiseworthy sentiments. ( You may address your birth mother by her first name, if you know it, or you can just use the word Birth Mother or Dear Mother or another loving title.) Please prayerfully consider participating and share this with others you know that are adopted or those orphaned since birth. I would love to compile a collection of some of these letters to use to honor LIFE, and encourage birth mothers, women in crisis pregnancies, adoptees and others touched by adoption. Just imagine- your words, your expressions could save a precious life by touching a woman making a challenging pregnancy decision! PLEASE-DO NOT post your letters here. 
E-mail them to me at: 
jodymoreen ( followed by the @ sign ) gmail.com and in the Subject line add- or send them to me via snail mail at:
Jody Moreen, 408 Christopher Ct. SE, Winter Haven, FL. 33884. PLEASE include your name, address, zip code, phone number and e-mail address at the end of your piece. Also state whether your entry is an original, or already published in any print or media source. Contest deadline is Easter Sunday April 5th, 2015- emailed or postmarked before Easter Sunday.**** ( see note at end of this posting )
A pre-selected group of adoptees and birth mothers will vote on their favorites ) Winning entries will be published on my Adoptees Anchored in Christ blog at:
adopteesanchoredinjesus@blogspot.com and also on Adoptees Café : adopteescafe@blogspot.com
1st prize: $200.00
2nd prize: $100.00
3rd prize: $50
4th prize: $50
Honorable mentions: ( up to 10 depending on the amount of entries ) will receive their choice of a silver-toned Chosen Necklace containing the words ( Created/Chosen/Celebrated/Cherished) on a pendant from Dayspring, an Adoptee's Anchor -Christian mug or a new Adoption book of their choice from selections from my ever growing library )
**** If entries number less than 50 by the April 5th, 2015 deadline, participants will be notified by e-mail of an extended deadline- so please include your e-mail address with your entry. Feel free to write and inquire.
Questions about the contest can be sent to Jody at jodymoreen ( followed by the @sign )gmail.com

Adoptees: Life Changing Joy/Overwhelming Emotions/God's Surprises in Birth Sibling Reunions- Identifying with Moses

"The LORD said to Aaron, "Go into the desert to meet Moses." So he met Moses at the mountain¹ of God and kissed² him.

References for Exodus 4:27

• Cross References

• 38 4:27 - S Ex 3:1
• 39 4:27 - ver 14; S Ge 27:27 ; S 29:13

28 Then Moses told Aaron everything the LORD had sent him to say,³ and also about all the miraculous signs he had commanded him to perform." Exodus 24:27-28. 

My beautiful birth sister Judy went home to be with the Lord 18 years ago. I will never forget our life changing reunion three years before when I was but 36 years old. We met on a reunion weekend with all my Johnson birth sisters- 3 in all. ( My birth name before being adopted was Carol Ann Johnson ) I did not know of my birth family until I did a search for them in mid-life. After a 2 and 1/2 year emotional search I found them. Sadly my birth parents were already deceased. My birth sisters were told I died at birth when I, the baby, did not come home from the hospital with my birth mother. I remember my first meeting with Judy like it happened yesterday. It was truly overwhelming and amazing to look into Judy's face for the first time- and see mirror images of my physical traits for the first time in my life due to being adopted. Even though Judy and I only spent a few brief years getting to know one another- I thank her for lighting up my life with JOY with her tender love, her special gifts of caring and sharing of herself with me and my family.  I will never be the same because of the priceless gift God allowed in our reuniting as sisters. I know God's heart rejoiced when He witnessed Judy and I and my sisters reuniting, for that is the kind of compassionate God we serve.

   I find comfort in the pages of scripture when reading about the life of Moses, the most notable adoptee in the Bible. He too was separated at birth from his two birth siblings Aaron and Miriam due to the edict sent out by a cruel Egyptian ruler that targeted killing all Hebrew babies, hoping to extinguish the life of the foretold child who would be the coming Hebrew messiah. Moses mother Jachobed kept Moses hidden for as long as she could but as he grew his cries became too loud to silence him from the searching soliders who were on a terrible mission of slaughter. By God's leading, Jachobed obediently weaved an ark- a basket of reeds and sealed it with pitch to allow Moses a safe journey in his travels down the dangerous alligator infested Nile River where she prayerfully released him to his future destiny. 

   God did not forget Aaron, Miriam and Moses who in their painful separation as siblings faced trauma and deep loss. Their suffering surely must have birthed in them an inner angst- a longing to reunite someday. The scripture verse from Exodus tell us that God nudged Aaron to go out and meet Moses in the desert. They were now adults and so many difficult and challenging years had passed them by and they likely felt God had forgotten them and abandoned their dream to be together again. But God surprised them, and overwhelmed them with His compassion, love and grace. Moses and Aaron met in middle of that parched desert and embraced and kissed. In God's perfect timing and creative ways He brought healing, reconciliation and inexpressable joy. What a mighty God we serve!

PRAYER:

Lord Jesus, our compassionate Father, We thank you for being with us through the losses, separations, and painful challenges of our lives. You comfort and sustain us through those wilderness experiences when our hearts are pierced. And then in your compassion and wisdom you overwhelm us with surprises and joy, often when we least expect them We thank you precious Father for loving us and providing for all our needs. You know us more intimately than we know ourselves. And we praise you!  Amen.

( Copyright 2015 by Jody Moreen. Permission is needed by the author to reprint a portion or the complete text in any media form- in print or online )

Adoptees are Created, Chosen, Cherished and Celebrated by a Loving God-( Part 1 )

   

God's love letter, the Bible, shares with us God's love for us in creating us for fellowship with Himself and others. In Genesis we read of the beauty of Gods creation in a world that was formless, empty and void. In the scriptures we read that we were Created by the triune God and made in His image. We were Chosen in Him before the foundations of the world. He has Celebrated His love for us each and everyday with the rising and setting of the sun. He has made provisions for all our needs. We are Cherished by our first and forever Father and He longs for intimate fellowship with us now and for eternity. What wonderful truths are found in God's Holy Word! 

   But the scriptures also tell us that we were born into a fallen world- a world where God gave man free-will and choice and clear instructions, commandments and warnings to follow. But sadly man did not listen or obey God but chose to be his own god and followed his own selfish will. Man forgot God's laws and commandments as He was enticed by sin. Adam and Eve rebelled and did not follow the clear instructions God gave them in His perfect garden. They willfully disobeyed and sin entered the world. Adam and Eve listened to their adversary Satan who tempted, seduced and cast doubt in their minds over the truths God had told them. They tried to hide and cover for their sins but no one is able to hide from the eyes of an all-seeing Almighty God. And there is nothing within man that can blot out the ugly stain of our sins. But God so loved man. He foreknew that man would sin and He lovingly provided Jesus the only perfect sinless sacrifice to die in man's place. God freely offered man salvation if man chose to believe Him and make Jesus Lord of his life.

Our adversary Satan is still about the business of lying and casting doubt on God's Truth for He is the Father of Lies. And we are given the freedom and responsibility to discern and respond to God's truth or fall into the trap and enticement of sin that our adversary sets for us. We have that choice. 

As adoptees we are fully aware that our birth parents could not keep us or parent us due to choices they made and/or unfortunate circumstances they found themselves in. They had to relinquish their parental rights which opened the door for us to be adopted or fostered or placed in homes of other caregivers. For some of us this separation and loss created a vulnerability in our lives, a kind of wound or trauma that opened the door for us to believe Satan's lies and doubt the love of God for us.  Regardless of whether we were placed in loving adoptive families or not, many of us were impacted by the pain of our first significant loss. And our adversary Satan lost no time and seized the opportunity, just as he did with Adam and Eve to lie to us by telling us falsehoods about our birth parents and their feelings for us and casting doubt in our minds about God's love for us. But we were born as innocent children made in the image of God and He sees us as beautiful and precious and priceless. The circumstances of our birth and our birth parents actions or choices do not dictate our value or worth. Only God, our Creator has the right to that assignment, and He looked at all He created and said that it was good. Sadly some of us have been snared by Satan's trap and believed those devastating lies of our adversary and lived in light of their falsehood. Some of us have forgotten who made us, who we are and whose we are - God's precious, priceless children. We have an amazing heritage and a perfect heavenly Father!(Copyright 2015- Jody Moreen) Permission  is needed to reprint this piece in part or full in any media form- in print or online, 

Adoptees- Before You Were Born, God Chose You- Galatians 1:15

While facilitating adoption triad support groups the past 20 years, I have listened to many fellow adoptee's share their innermost thoughts and feelings. Sadly, a good number of them struggle with their earliest life narrative and their interpretation of being relinquished by their birth parents. At one time, I also wrestled with the confusion of not knowing why I had been placed for adoption until I learned the truth. Regardless of whether or not adoptees felt loved and cherished by their adoptive parents or not, the sting of not being kept resonates within some adoptees and may negatively impact their identity and feelings of worth. The beauty of adoptees being in face to face connection with birth parents in support group meetings is the opportunity they have to hear birth mothers and birth fathers share about the challenges and insurmountable circumstances that blocked their ability to parent. And hearing many birth parents express their feelings of love and remorse and longing for their child often helps adoptees rewrite their emotional scripts. Error is replaced with truth that can bring resolution and closure to their missing life history.
What I have discovered in my own adoptee journey is the precious truth that God chose me before the foundations of the world and had a plan and special purpose for my life. Just like the adoptees Moses and Esther in the scriptures, adoption became a detour God allowed in my life to mold me and make me into the unique person that I am today. He designed my features to mirror the image of my birth parents who gave me birth and brought me to life. And he provided a specific family to raise me and equip me to adulthood. And I have the privilege, by faith to embrace all the gifts bestowed on me by my birth and adoptive parents and mature into everything God created me for and wants me to be. And that is all because of God's Marvelous Grace.   ( Copyright 2015. Jody Moreen )
Permission needed to reprint this piece in part or full in any media in print or online format. Contact Jody Moreen.  Jody Moreen ( the at sign ) gmail,com