Wednesday, November 23, 2016

My Adoption Was an Answer to Prayer by Guest Author N. J. Lindquist




I was four years old when my mother told me I was adopted. I had very little idea what she was telling me, but she read a book to me about how parents sometimes can’t keep their babies, and how God has to find other homes for the babies. She ended by saying that God had chosen her and my dad to be my parents. I’m also pretty sure my paternal grandmother gave her the book.
I nodded and that was that. Seriously, I was content that God was looking after me and everything was okay.
Oh, as I grew older, I had a vague awareness that, unless I’d been given up for adoption because they had died, I must have another mother and father somewhere out there.  But I never worried about it and I didn’t feel a desire to track them down or ask for explanations.
When I was in my teens, I occasionally wondered if I might know my mother. Perhaps she was a relative who had been a teenager when I was born.  A few times I wondered if I might be related to someone famous, like Elvis. And he’d find out and come to see me. That would be cool. But I knew that was just a silly daydream.
When I became an adult, I thought about looking for my birth parents, but I never did. For one thing, I had four active sons who kept me busy. But also, as an only child, I was the one who had to look after my parents as they aged. I shuddered when I thought of being responsible for another set of parents.
But more important, the older I became, the more convinced I was that God
really had put me where he wanted me to be.  While my parents believed there was a God and kind of left it there, I’ve known since I was a young child that you can have a relationship with him. My paternal grandmother and several other members of my father’s extended family were devout Christians who shared their faith with me, and since I was three or four, I’ve never once doubted that God loves me and put me exactly where he wanted me.
But then came the day when my first grandchild was born and her dad, my oldest son, asked if I knew my family’s medical history.
I came to earth with a thud as I realized, for the first time, that the story of my birth wasn't my story. It was also my sons' story, and my grandchildren's, and their children's.
I contacted Parent Finders, and they told me how to contact the Post Adoption Agency in Regina. Within a short time, my birth mother and I were in contact. She lived across the country from me, so we didn’t meet right away, but we talked by phone and email.  She told me who my birth dad was, too, and I was able to meet him.
Their story was one that’s been repeated many times. Two young people, not ready to start a life together, never mind a family. A Salvation Army hostel for unwed mothers.  A married couple in their late thirties who were unable to have a child. An agency that served as the go-between.
The sad part is that my birth mother was given no choice, and she was devastated when she had to say good-bye to me. But in the end, my birth was the catalyst that caused her to turn to God, and that led to her meeting the man she eventually married and having six children with him.
My birth father also married the right woman for him, and they had three children.
Author NJ. Lindquist on the right, her birth-mother on the left.
My father passed on before I met my birth family, and my mother was alive but unaware. However, both of my parents came to know God personally before their deaths from lung cancer and dementia.
Looking back, I’m so glad my son asked me that question, and that we now have relationships with members of my birth family. But, mostly, I’m glad that God took what could have been a bad situation for all concerned and turned it into a very happy one.
You might be wondering at my title; how was my adoption an answer to prayer? Just this:   
·        My paternal grandmother and several of my father’s siblings and spouses prayed for my parents and me as long as they were alive.
·        My birth mother prayed for me every day of my life from when I was only a few months old.  
·        My mother-in-law prayed for the woman her son would marry from the day he was born.
·        My husband also prayed for his future wife-to be.
I first heard the words of Psalm 139:13 when I was young: “You formed my inward parts; you wove me in my mother's womb.” I’ve always felt those words were written for me. And because of them, I’ve always believed that my parents needed me as much as I needed them. I was an answer to prayer.
Copyright N. J. Lindquist, 2016.

N. J. Lindquist is an award-winning author, empowering speaker, and experienced writing teacher.  Originally from the Canadian prairies, she and her husband Les have lived in Ontario for more than 30 years.
If you’re interested in learning more details of N. J.’s story, check out her website where she’ll be blogging about her adoption and other stories. You can also get a free ebook. http://www.njlindquist.com

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

November is Adoption Awareness Month and brand new release Finding Sarah Finding Me is a non-fiction memoir that addresses the deep emotional and psychological healing that is often required for people touched by adoption, infertility, or pregnant, unmarried, and afraid. 

FINDING SARAH FINDING ME: (Back of the book description) 

Sometimes it is only through giving up our hearts that we learn to trust the Lord.

Adoption. It’s something that touches one in three people today, a word that will conjure different emotions in those people touched by it. A word that might represent the greatest hope…the greatest question…the greatest sacrifice. But most of all, it’s a word that represents God’s immense love for his people.

Join birth mother Christine Lindsay as she shares the heartaches, hopes, and epiphanies of her journey to reunion with the daughter she gave up...and to understanding her true identity in Christ along the way.

Through a birth-mother's story and glimpses into the lives of other adoption triads, readers will see the beauty of our broken families, broken hearts, and broken dreams when we entrust them to our loving God.
  • Main author, multi-award-winning Christine Lindsay, as a birth-mother could not possibly accept any payment, and has arranged for 100% of royalties from this book to be donated to Global Aid Network Women's and Children's Initiative.  This is for the life-time of the book.
By purchasing this book you are helping to: 
  • Encourage others who are touched by adoption, the happy and the sad.
  • Give hope to those with an unplanned pregnancy to consider the choice of adoption as an alternative to abortion.
Go here to read Chapter 1. http://www.christinelindsay.org/p/finding-sarah-finding-me-birth-mothers.html  and more about this non-fiction book.

Someone you know may need this honest but drenched in hope book.

Monday, November 07, 2016

A very special request from Christine Lindsay

November is Adoption Awareness Month, and I am asking you to support my Thunderclap message to help me spread the word about the new release Finding Sarah Finding Me. 
Why on earth should you do that? 
Because this true-life story is so precious to me, I could never accept money from its publication. I only want to do the following:

• 100% of royalties from this book will be donated to Global Aid Network Women's and Children's Initiative. This is not a one-time thing, but for the entire lifetime of the book. Help me raise funds for hurting women and orphans. 

• That through the story, those struggling with adoption issues will be encouraged. 

• That women and girls currently in an unplanned pregnancy will be encouraged to consider the choice of adoption as an alternative to abortion.
Finding Sarah Finding Me is a non-fiction memoir that reaches out to people touched by adoption, those considering the scary prospect of adoption reunion, and those girls/women who find themselves in an unplanned pregnancy.
I am asking for your 5 second help in this on-line campaign.
Thunderclap is a platform on social media, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) that allows people to pledge to a one-time concentrated message going out all at once. Think of it as a massive flash mob to promote MY message on YOUR social media. This pledge is scam free and completely safe in putting out this one-time message.
Here is how you can help me:

Click on this url http://thndr.me/lXBkPR which will take you to my Thunderclap Page for Finding Sarah Finding Me.
On that page you will have three options (red buttons) to either support my message with Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, or even all three.
That’s all you have to do, then my message will automatically go out on November 18 on your social media at 12 PM EST. This will happen only once, and no one will scam you later. Trust me, I’ve done this before, and done it for others.
Thank you for considering pledging to helping me get this message out through this Thunderclap message. It is the desire of my heart to encourage hurting people through this book that has been a long time in the developing.  

Blessings on you.
Christine
That Thunderclap link again       http://thndr.me/lXBkPR

Tuesday, November 01, 2016

Children of Dreams -- by guest author Lorilyn Roberts

November is Adoption Awareness Month
To celebrate that I will be having guests all month whose lives have been touched by adoption. 

My guest today is Lorilyn Roberts, Adoptive Mother, and author of Children of Dreams, the 2016 Readers Favorite Award Winner in the Memoir category. Below is an excerpt for this book. 
This last deception will be worse than the first
Matthew 27:64

December 6, 1999, 5:00 P.M.

I felt exhilarated to have landed safely. All of our bags arrived in one piece, including the one with the broken zipper, and we checked into our room, number 504, at the Lillie Hotel without any problems. I had no tours of the red light district of downtown Hanoi as I had had in Bangkok.
Aside from being tired and hungry, my adrenaline had kicked in as I anticipated receiving my baby. I walked downstairs to the lobby to get more information from the desk clerk on when that would be. The young woman at the registration counter knew Anne, my contact person, as many adoptive mothers had previously stayed at the Lillie Hotel. I was surprised to see the other two women from the airport already in the lobby. They were crowded around a young man I did not know. The young Vietnamese lad spoke very broken English
“Your baby be here soon,” he said to the young woman I came to know as Jackie. She had a husband and five-year-old son back home in Canada.
That’s how it worked. Anne had a contact person at the hotel that would have the babies dropped off after the adoptive families or mothers arrived.
He looked at the second Canadian woman, who was an older, and said, “Your baby be here soon, too.”
I was excited for them and could hardly wait to hear the same words spoken to me. My heart fluttered in anticipation to meet my new baby. The other mothers cleared out of my way so he could address me with news about my baby.
“There is problem with baby,” he said to me.
“What?” I asked. “What problem with my baby?”
I thought he meant some sort of medical problem. My excitement to be in Vietnam and anticipation of receiving my baby evaporated into worry and fear. He started to explain more, but because of his poor English, I couldn’t understand most of what he said. I briefly reflected back to Nepal and how fortunate I was that Ankit spoke English so well.
“When will I receive my baby?” I asked. I could feel my blood pressure rising as I tried to control the tone in my voice. The receptionist at the desk tried to help with translation, but the most I could get out of either of them was that he didn’t know. Anne would call me tomorrow.
“Tomorrow?” I repeated. That was completely unacceptable.
“Please have her call me tonight,” I yelled at him, “immediately!”
I was visibly upset that I was talking to him and not to her. How could she do this to me? How could she not let me know what was going on and send this man who spoke such poor English to be the bearer of bad news? Being fatigued and jet lagged from the trip didn’t help. I felt slighted that the other women were receiving their babies and I wasn’t receiving mine.

*~*~*~*

Children of Dreams was a 2016 Readers Favorite Award Winner in the Memoir category. You can download a free copy (mobi or epub) by signing up for her email list at: https://payhip.com/b/Xhl2


To learn more about Lorilyn and her books, visit her website at http://LorilynRoberts.com