February 18, 2018 books, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, February 2018 Feature - Honoring China in the Everyday, Nicole 0 Comments

With the Lunar New Year holiday in full swing, it’s a terrific time to add a few titles to our China library!   Especially given that we were just studying a little bit of Chinese history during the Middle Ages, these new titles are perfectly timed. We read through all but the last of these …Read More

January 31, 2018 adoptee perspective, books, Chinese Culture, embracing their story, guest post, heritage trip, orphanage, Post-Adoption contact, telling their life story 0 Comments

Patti Waldmeir, award winning author and foreign correspondent, raised her adopted Chinese daughters Grace and Lucy for half their life in China. She’s just published a book about raising them in the country that could not keep them… The Waldmeir family visiting Grace’s hometown of Yangzhou in 2008 /// “Do they know they’re adopted?” Soaking …Read More

January 1, 2018 adoption community, books, Contributor Q and A, Stefanie 0 Comments

Happy 2018! It’s a brand new year, bubbling over with possibilities and, most likely, a smidge of regret and hope to make a few changes. Maybe some of those hopes include reading more. Or getting connected with other adoptive families locally or online. We’ve put together a few of our favorite (adoption-related) things: books, websites, …Read More

October 23, 2017 books, China trip, guest post, I'm Ready to Adopt, Lifeline, October 2017 Feature - Preparing for Adoption from the Experts, pre-adoption, prepping for China, TBRI-based therapy 0 Comments

You’ve dreamt for this day for months, years even. Planned for it, traveled halfway around the world for it and played it out in your mind a million times. And yet, the reality of becoming a family through adoption is undoubtedly different. What happens next depends much on how you, as the adoptive parent, process …Read More

September 20, 2017 adoption community, books, Chinese Culture, Rebecca 4 Comments

I pulled at the corners of my eyes, slanting them until all I could see was light and distorted faces. Then, I strung together a long chain of “Chinese-Japanese” words, “Ching, ching, chong, chang, chong.” It got me some laughs. Other kids did it too, so I guessed it was no big thing. I was …Read More

August 27, 2017 a father's perspective, adoption community, books, Dads, marriage, Randall 1 Comments

Randall and Kelley Nichols live in Coastal Virginia with their five kids. They’ve been in ministry for over twenty years serving couples and families. Recently they celebrated the release of their first book, Prayers of a Village, a 30-day devotional for adoptive parents. Learn more here. ….. Look… There are countless marriage resources out there. …Read More

July 31, 2017 adoption community, books, Carrie 8 Comments

I met Heba in a park a few months after we brought our youngest daughter home from China. I didn’t notice her playing with her young daughters, even though under normal circumstances I probably would have. I’ve always been drawn to people from other cultures and backgrounds, and her musical Arabic would have captured my …Read More

March 7, 2017 books, Kelley B. 0 Comments

Jennifer and I connected on social media when we were both adopting with the same adoption agency. I followed her process and her determined pursuit through the immigration issues they endured after bringing their daughter home from China. Jennifer has now written a book for adopting families! A wonderful devotional book that I suggest every …Read More

November 23, 2016 books, LWB, NGOs, other ways to care for the orphan, Rebecca 0 Comments

“Walking into my daughter’s orphanage for the first time changed everything
 I thought I knew about my life.” 
- Amy Eldridge Do you have anybody you’d like to sit across a table from? I’m guessing you have a list of folks. As for me, I’d designate one of my chairs to Amy Eldridge, founder of …Read More

September 15, 2016 adoption realities, books, Family Stories, Parenting Special Needs 5 Comments

I just flew back from South Carolina. I went there to reunite my daughter with a friend that she had not seen in almost four years. The last time the girls saw each other, they were in an orphanage halfway around the world. The nannies who had raised them pressed the bewildered little girls into …Read More

September 4, 2016 books, Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, Nicole 0 Comments

This year, the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival falls on September 15. It is a day of Thanksgiving and gratitude for the Chinese, when families reunite and give thanks for the harvest and family unity. It falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month (in September or October) when the moon is bright and full …Read More

August 8, 2016 affording adoption, books, fundraisers, fundraising for adoption, guest post, pre-adoption, should we adopt? 0 Comments

“I’ve thought about adopting, but I could never afford it!” I think every adoptive family has either heard that comment, or maybe even thought it themselves at some point. It was those conversations — sometimes at church, sometimes in the grocery store — that led me to write “You Can Adopt Without Debt.” I’ve wanted …Read More

June 24, 2016 books, Chris, June 2016 Feature - Books 1 Comments

We love reading at our house. Love it. As a middle school Language Arts teacher, this love makes my heart soar with delight. So. Yes. We have a ton of books. And yes, we have many, many books about {China} adoption stories. As well as stories set in China, stories about China, toddler/preschool books with …Read More

June 21, 2016 books, guest post, June 2016 Feature - Books 0 Comments

We all have a history. Even my picture book, Sweet Moon Baby: An Adoption Tale, carries a unique backstory. When I was four years old, I had three goals: a husband, a daughter, and a book. I was sketchy about how to accomplish the first two, so I tackled the book. In purple crayon, I …Read More

June 18, 2016 books, guest post, June 2016 Feature - Books 0 Comments

There is an ancient Chinese belief that an invisible, unbreakable red thread connects all those who are destined to be together. From The Red Thread by Grace Lin There is a subtle thread that ties some of these books together. It’s the bridge from Asia to America through adoption. When kids are placed into loving …Read More

June 15, 2016 books, Jean, June 2016 Feature - Books 1 Comments

I was so excited when I was asked to review this book. Our children love new books especially when they are about adoption. When it arrived at our home I caught a few of them checking it out before our reading time! The Story I’ll Tell by Nancy Tupper Ling Illustrated by Jessica Lanan The …Read More

June 11, 2016 books, guest post, June 2016 Feature - Books 0 Comments

Most in the adoption community know my name from the memoir, titled Silent Tears; A Journey of Hope in a Chinese Orphanage. But before my journal-turned-book hit the shelves and made haste landing in the hands of those hungry for information about what it may have been like for their children before adoption, I was …Read More

March 31, 2016 books, China trip, pre-adoption, prepping for China, referral, waiting for referral, waiting to travel 3 Comments

Talking today with Kelly, who authored our 10-part series I’m Ready to Adopt: Choosing an Agency as she shares about her new book Mine in China: Your comprehensive guide to adopting from China, which is available now for pre-order and will be released April 4th. Q: Tell us a little about your family. A: My …Read More

February 2, 2016 books, Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, January 2016 Feature - Celebrating China, Kelly 2 Comments

In years past, I’ve scoured websites and bookshelves for every Chinese New Year/Spring Festival themed kids’ book around to read to our clan in anticipation of the holiday. We found some good ones and some not so good ones. Overthinker that I am, I hope my musings help you decide which ones are worthwhile for …Read More

April 6, 2015 adoption realities, books, guest post 0 Comments

Each adoption tells a story. When our family was in the midst of the laborious form-filling, check-writing, waiting, waiting, waiting stage of our daughter Lucy’s adoption, we had plenty of time to envision how our story—how Lucy’s story—would go. We had plenty of education, you see. We read and re-read The Connected Child, we attended …Read More

February 25, 2014 adoption realities, books, Chinese Culture, Kelly 6 Comments

I may hesitate a little when I part with teeny tiny onesies and sneakers that have run one too many miles. But, our children’s books? They aren’t going anywhere. In fact, we converted one of our bedrooms into a “library” to house them all. They are overflowing and really need a good purging. But, I …Read More

June 1, 2010 books 1 Comments