Jack Canfield - Chicken Soup for the Adopted Soul: Stories Celebrating Forever Families

CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE
ADOPTED SOUL

CHICKEN SOUP
FOR THE
ADOPTED SOUL

Stories Celebrating
Forever Families

Jack Canfield
Mark Victor Hansen
LeAnn Thieman

Backlist, LLC, a unit of

Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC

Cos Cob, CT
www.chickensoup.com

Not flesh of my flesh
Nor bone from my bone,
But still miraculously my own.
Never forget for a single minute,
You didnt grow beneath my heart,
But in it.
Anonymous

Contents

Barbara S. Canale

Erin Conroy

Heidi Shelton-Jenck

LeAnn Thieman

Brenda Henn

Sharon Beth Brani

Pamela D. Williams

Dave Gorden

Sarah Jo Smith

Ruth Curran

Diana M. Amadeo

Michelle and Stacy Tetschner

Lisa J. Schlitt

Kim Toms

Kathy Pride

Rene Friedman

Kim McKinney

Colleen Wells

David Avrin

Elizabeth Mallory

Cherie Clark

Cheryl Dieter

Bryan Clark

Elizabeth Watkins with Rhonda Richards-Cohen

Joyce Stark

Amanda Cole

Sharon Gibson

J. M. Cornwell

Jean Kinsey

Valerie Kay Gwin

Nancy ONeill

Sharon M. Yager

Clifton Bush

Coni Billings

Virginia Chaney

Eric Myers

Martha Bolton

Diana M. Millikan

Cheryl Gromis

Christie Rogers

Nancy Liedel

Valerie Kay Gwin

Mandy Houk

Bridget Colern

Mimi Greenwood Knight

Debra J. Haralam

Patti Wade Zint

Jessica Kennedy

Kimberly Hee Stock

Kim Gaudiosi

Melody Davis

Maresa Aughenbaugh

Ellie Porte Parker, Ph.D

Nancy Canfield

Anthony S. Tessandori

Laura Christianson

Cathy McIlvoy

Nancy Morse

Cathy Cruise

Brent and Linda Wood

Sandy Wright

Diana Green

Stefanie Johansson

Kelli Myers-Gottemoller

Cindy Kauffman

Belinda Howard Smith

Teresa Ambord

Tina OReilly

Lee Varon

Alicia Britt Chole

Keri Riley

Christine Smith

G. Ann Potter

Jody Ellis-Knapp

Jessica Kennedy

Chalise Annett Bourque

Sylvia Smart

Roger Dean Kiser

Nancy Bravo Creager

Maria Ervin

Linda Zou

Rhonda Lane Phillips

Leah Cook

Karen C. Helmrich

Elizabeth Henderson

Nancy Liedel

Ruthan Josten

Ana Hays

Barbara Jeanne Fisher

Priscilla Miller

Lisa Cobb

Edward Dow Bartling Martinez

Amy Tolleson

Bree Cutting Sibbel

Betty Tisdale, ThuVan Tisdale DeBellis, Colleen Bonds, Bert Ballard

In every speech I give, Im blessed to share the saga of adopting our son, Mitch. Every time, I declare, I dont know why he was conceived in another womb or born in another land, but I know with all my heart that God created him to be ours. Reading the 3,000+ stories submitted for Chicken Soup for the Adopted Soul taught me that this is not just my conviction, but the universal belief of every adoptive parent. I was surprised at the consistent theme of parents identifying and claiming their assigned children from groups of dozens, hundreds, or even thousands. I was struck to realize that adoption is a calling, be it from a dream or a feeling deep in ones heart or gut. There is a knowing, a certainty, propelling us toward that assigned child, and a confidence and faith that in timeseemingly too much timehe or she will be shown to us. It is then we comprehend and believe the truth shared by the precious little boy who surmised, I was born for you.

Every adoptive parent, child, and family member will find a piece of themselves in these stories. Take your time reading themsoak in the love, the privilege, and the glory of adoption.

And be preparedif you havent adopted yet, you will!

1
CLAIMING MY OWN

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

John 14:18

W hat gift has Providence bestowed on man that is so dear to him as children?

Cicero

This one is for my baby sister. She tossed a furry, spotted dog into the box. For baby Annie, she said in her endearing voice.

We sealed the box shut and addressed it to a Romanian orphanage in the town of Buzau. We felt a need to give back to the place that had given us Juliana, our only child. Friends from our church and neighborhood helped collect supplies and fill the boxes.

With the doors to adoptions closed, my husband and I were disappointed that we couldnt adopt from Romania again. But two-year-old Juliana insisted each time we packed boxes of medical supplies, food, toys, and clothes that it was all going to her sister.