Craker - Anne of green gables, my daughter, and me: What My Favorite Book Taught Me about Grace, Belonging, and the Orphan in Us All

Lorilee writes with both lightness and depth, and I found myself completely taken by all three storieshers, Phoebes, Annes. The beauty of her storytelling and the tenderness of the events she describes make this a thoroughly rich reading experience. Well done, Lorilee!

SHAUNA NIEQUIST

Author of Bread & Wine and Savor

To say it as Anne of Green Gables would, this encouraging book will be a bosom friend to your heart!

HOLLEY GERTH

Bestselling author of Youre Already Amazing

We are all enamored by the plight of orphans and gobble up their tales in the wide world of literature. Perhaps we each see ourselvesour fears of abandonment and creases of inadequacyin their stories. Gently and with honest vulnerability, Lorilee Craker weaves the universal discoveries of orphan Anne into her own very personal story of being an orphan and adopting one. Open the cover. Turn the pages. Youll come out the other end glad for the read and deepened by the journey.

ELISA MORGAN

Speaker; author of The Beauty of Broken and Hello, Beauty Full

In this artful tapestry, Lorilee Crackerconsummate wordsmithgifts readers with a beautifully woven journey into the human heart. For her tender vulnerability, creative insight, and beautiful sentences, I highly recommend Crackers moving memoir.

MARGOT STARBUCK

Author of The Girl in the Orange Dress

Lorilee Crakers Anne of Green Gables, My Daughter and Me is a deeply personal memoir about the search for identity that will strike a chord in all of us. Readers will feel as if theyre sitting on the couch beside Craker, flipping through family photo albums, as the author shares the touchingand funny!story of her adoption, that of her daughters, and the impact of a red-headed Anne with an e heroine who lit the path ahead of them in the direction of true belonging.

SUZANNE WOODS FISHER

Bestselling author of The Heart of the Amish

With sparkling prose and charming wit, Lorilee Craker takes us on a journey where lives past, present, and fictional intertwine on the path to finding a place of belonging. Grab a cup of raspberry cordial, curl up on the window seat, and join their pilgrimage. You wont be disappointed.

JENNIFER ERIN VALENT

Christy Awardwinning author of Fireflies in December

An absolute must-read for anyone who loved Anne of Green Gables as a girl! Annes resilience combined with all of her big feelings gave me that trusted bosom-friend as I transitioned from girlhood to womanhood. And now Lorilee offers me the grown-up lens with which to view the scars I bear, the battle wounds of life, as a woman who is not defined by my abandonment but by my adoption into Gods family.

ALEXANDRA KUYKENDALL

Author of The Artists Daughter; specialty content editor, MOPS International

Anne of Green Gables, My Daughter, and Me is a deeply satisfying read, shining brightly with author Lorilee Crakers personality and wit. For those of us who have adopted children, Craker concludes that we cannot rescue or fix them, butlike all parentswe can communicate to our children how worthy they are of Gods abundant love.

JENNIFER GRANT

Author of Love You More, MOMumental, Disquiet Time (coeditor), and Wholehearted Living

With her characteristic spunk, sharp wit, and empathetic lens, Lorilee Craker peels back the layers of the heart in this uniquely woven cross-generational tale. Blending both humor and humility, Craker serves as the voice of the orphan in us. Lovely, lyrical, and laugh-out-loud funny... this uplifting memoir is a must-read.

JULIE CANTRELL

New York Times bestselling author of Into the Free and When Mountains Move

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Anne of Green Gables, My Daughter, and Me: What My Favorite Book Taught Me about Grace, Belonging, and the Orphan in Us All

Copyright 2015 by Lorilee Craker. All rights reserved.

Cover photograph of book copyright Dimitri Vervitsiotis/Getty Images. All rights reserved.

Cover photograph of woman copyright Mila Supinskaya/Shutterstock. All rights reserved.

Cover floral pattern copyright Irtsya/Shutterstock. All rights reserved.

Cover design by Faceout Studio, Tim Green

Photo of the author and her daughter courtesy Kimberly Omanchi/Fyne Photography.

Published in association with the literary agency of The Fedd Agency, Inc., P.O. Box 341973, Austin, TX 78734.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Out of respect for their privacy, the names and identifying details of some people in this book have been changed.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Craker, Lorilee.

Anne of Green Gables, my daughter, and me : what my favorite book taught me about grace, belonging, and the orphan in us all / Lorilee Craker.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-4964-0343-8 (sc)

1. Craker, LorileeFamily. 2. Adopted children. 3. AdopteesBiography. 4. Shirley, Anne (Fictitious character) 5. Montgomery, L. M. (Lucy Maud), 1874-1942. Anne of Green Gables. 6. Families. I. Title.

HV874.82.C73A3 2015

362.734092dc23

[B] 2015019549

ISBN 978-1-4964-0973-7 (ePub); ISBN 978-1-4964-0544-9 (Kindle); ISBN 978-1-4964-0974-4 (Apple)

Build: 2015-08-07 11:53:51

Dedicated to the Matthew Cuthberts in our lives:

Grandpa George Vanderlaan

and the memory of

Marv Besteman.

And to my girl, now and always,

Phoebe Min-Ju Jayne.

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

JOHN 14:18

I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands.

ISAIAH 49:15-16, NLT