Adoption: A Mother’s Resourcefulness

At any given time in my life, I can't remember ever planning to write anything. I never aspired to be an author, in fact it wasn't even remotely on my mind. However, when we adopted our second daughter from China, we had the following experience. 

We were told that we were adopting a healthy baby girl. When we first arrived in China, she appeared to be healthy, from what we could tell. She was delayed, but many of these babies are delayed at first. They catch up quickly once in a loving home and with good nutrition and proper health care. To make a long story short... our daughter began to exhibit various health issues shortly after we received her. Testing showed that she was malnourished and anemic. She had a few minor issues, but we thought that all of this would be resolved as time when on. However, she didn't improve right away and we learned of other health issues with time. Some issues were more serious than others. At one point, we were even questioned by the hospital in regards to why she was having these health issues. They didn't seem interested in the fact that we had barely adopted her and that she came from an orphanage in China. This was a rather scary and stressful time for our family. As we dealt with the unknown in regards to her health, we worried as to whether or not she would ever be completely well and healthy! We worried about the severity of her problems. 

As I was pondering on our situation one day, I was thinking of ways in which I could help our family out, without working outside of the home. How could I help with the many costs we were incurring? While we had good insurance, my husband had a good job; I really wanted to do something. As I prayed and pondered my options, the thought to write an adoption story came to mind. I sort of brushed it off... thinking that I had no writing experience. 

However, the thought remained and the entire storyline, as well as the name of the character, I was to name the book, and other details came to me, immediately. Due to the way in which all of this came about, and due to the fact that this entire endeavor was beyond anything in which I had ever aspired... I felt that I had to go forward with the idea. It was like a gift, given at a time when I was stressed and worried about our young daughter. 

The road to publishing was rather slow, even though the story was written down immediately; I felt strongly that there needed to be specific illustrations. After having two different illustrators bail on me... I was blessed to find the perfect person for the job! It all fell into place and everything that she drew was just as I had described to her... just as I had imagined! So, after more than 3 years, I was finally able to see the book, Lily come to fruition. While Lily isn't an exact story of our family's adoption journey, it is similar. Without the trials we experienced of ill health, however. I hope that when children read about Lily, they will be able to learn a small bit about their Chinese past, mingled with their American heritage. 

China is rich with culture and tradition... as I continue to write more Lily adventures, I hope to touch upon various traditions and holidays that the Chinese celebrate. Hopefully, this will give these children, their families and friends, a glance into the mixed heritage of these amazing, adopted children! While my original plan was to write the book, Lily... this has now branched out and will be a children's series. Lily is a simple story, intended for children approximately 7-12 years of age. What a journey this has been! When I look at our beautiful, and I might add now very healthy daughter, I am so thankful for the blessings of having her in our family and for the small miracles along the way that led to her improved health, after rather serious struggles. As stated in the book... many people say that she is a lucky girl to be adopted into our family. We say we are the lucky ones! In the end, I think that we are all lucky... and very, very blessed.