Book Review: Bringing Lucy Home

Good morning!  I'm back with one more book review - this one more specific to adoption!  The author of Bringing Lucy Home, Jennifer Phillips brought home her daughter Lucy from China last year using the same adoption agency that we are using!  Here's my review:

Bringing Lucy Home tells of an adoptive family's unexpected separation and how God used these events in their lives to write a moving story of love, family, trust and healing. Since my family is currently in the adoption process I can somewhat relate to the events that led up to this family's heart-wrenching separation, but I could never imagine the difficult and emotional journey they ended up taking!

Due to circumstances no one could have foretold, Ms. Phillips and her newly adopted daughter Lucy were separated from her husband and 3 other children in Australia as she waited in American for Lucy's visa. You can feel the heartache and longing of this family as they wait week after week for THE news that will allow them to be together again. I love the honesty and openness as the author recounts each turn of events, each glimmer of hope, each devastating "no" given. At the heart of it all is a beautiful picture of God's relentless love for His children!! It was very moving to read how the author recognizes the hand of God working in their difficult situation to bring comfort, love, and even change into their hearts and lives. No one would wish to go through a hardship like this, but to see how God works all things for His glory and their good is an amazing and encouraging thing!!

Ms. Phillips has a wonderfully engaging sense of humor and writing style which makes reading this book especially delightful! You really will laugh, cry and be fully engaged with this charming book! I wholeheartedly recommend this book!

Today is the one year anniversary of the day we received our approval from LifeLine to proceed with our adoption!! God has done so many wonderful things in that one year and we are looking forward to holding our daughter soon!! :)

A Book Review

As a little aside I wanted to share with you all a book review today.  Anyone who has been through the adoption process knows there is a lot of down/waiting time!!  If you're like me, having good books to read helps to pass the time!  Today, I have a fantastic work of Biblical fiction to share with you BUT come back tomorrow for an equally wonderful adoption-related book! 

It's no secret that I am a huge fan of Mesu Andrews!! She has a gift for taking a story and making it come alive with rich details, exciting twists and turns and beautiful, interesting characters! And The Pharaoh's Daughter may just be my new favorite book from Ms. Andrews (although I truly love them all!).

The story follows the Biblical account of Moses, from a bit before his birth through his young adulthood. If you thought you knew this story, you are in for a treat! Expertly researched and woven together with marvelous detail, this book takes you on a journey of with Anipee, the pharoah's daughter, as she finds the baby Moses and spends the rest of her life loving, caring for and protecting him. I don't want to give away details from the story, but every single character and twist in this book adds to the beautiful story of God's providence! I loved reading of Jochabed and Miraim and how they were able to be a part of Moses's life once he entered the palace. Imagining how Moses would have grown up and lived as a member of Pharaoh's family is fascinating! One of my favorite thing is that each chapter begins with a small portion of scripture which serves to give you a foreshadowing of what may be ahead. Often I found myself going back to that scripture and being amazed at how it fit perfectly!

I can wholeheartedly recommend this book for anyone who loves Biblical fiction and if you've never tried it this book is THE book you should read first! I was, and truthfully still am, captivated by this story! It's one of those books you will want to read without stopping!! Mesu Andrews has outdone herself on this one - a true MUST read!!

I was given an advance copy in exchange for my honest review. Thank you.

Update . . . and a name!

Time for a little update as we patiently (or some days, not-so-patiently) wait for our LOA (letter of approval) from the Chinese government to proceed with our adoption.  We really are in the final stages people!! Once LOA arrives the average time to travel is 8-10 weeks!!! SQUEEEEEEEE!!  If you've followed our FB posts, that is the reason you've seen a lot of packing posts.  I'm eagerly trying to get easy stuff out of the way - buying supplies, washing/ironing/packing clothes for Lila, getting our luggage situation squared away (what we are taking for checked bags, carry-ons, etc.), making copies of documents, making appointments with the travel clinic for vaccines and prescriptions.  All these things keep me busy and really to help to pass the time!  Next week you'll probably see a flurry of . . ."we cleaned this room today" as the Spring cleaning fever and nesting are definitely making their way to the surface!!

As for funding, it may seem like I say this a lot, but we are so thankful and grateful for all the support and donations we have received.  We currently have a little under $10,000 left to raise!!  We have 5 more grant applications out and are praying for some favorable responses to help make up the difference!  God is so faithful and has provided for every amount we have needed each step along the way and we are confident He will provide this last "little" bit! (ok, in no one's mind is $10,000 a little bit, but considering the amount raised so far . . . . ).   If you would like to help - every single donation is so appreciated!! - please visit our You Caring page.  Thank you!!

How about some fun news?  It looks like we may have settled on a middle name for our sweet girl.  We (ok mostly I) have struggled with this decision! Should we include part of her Chinese name? Should we wait and see what the nannies call her?  I think this is a very personal decision for international adoptive families - and the thing is, no one is right!  You just have to do what is right for your family!  I know people talk about "taking away the only things they have", etc., but in the end we decided that the name given to her by the government (or orphanage) really wasn't an emotional thing.  For the most part, the children are given a surname that corresponds to the city where they are located - all of the children at our daughter's orphanage have the same last name.  Of her other two names, one is most likely a name given to every child born that particular year, or found the year she was or something like that.  So you can see, no one lovingly cared for her and spent time with before deciding on what name would fit her personality, or "go with" her, or be best suited for her.  It was not emotional.  Names are important in any culture! We all have names we like and names that just make us cringe (I'll refrain from sharing mine since I don't want to offend anyone, but it's no secret that I like plain, old-fashioned, uncomplicated names.  You may not, and that's ok for you and your children!!).

That being said, we have decided to give her the name Lila Mei-Lin.  Throughout this process we have always liked the name Mei since the meanings include, beautiful, pretty and younger sister.  Lin has various meanings including beautiful jade (disclaimer: this is all what we have found online, we have not consultant anyone about specific Chinese characters, etc.).  We like the way it flows together!  Am I going to be sorry about the hyphenation someday? Perhaps, I don't like to complicate things but we just like the way it looks better than un-hypenated.

Please continue to pray with us that we will receive approvals and visas and all the things necessary in a timely manner! We're praying for early June travel, but realize all things are in God's hands not ours.