Book picks similar to
Everyone Can Do Something: A Field Guide for Strategically Rallying Your Church Around the Orphaned and Vulnerable by Jason Johnson
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The First R: How Children Learn Race and Racism
Debra Van Ausdale - 2000
Parents and teachers will find this remarkable study reveals that the answer to how children learn about race might be more startling than could be imagined.
There Is an Urgency
Gregrhi Arawn Love - 2009
With Howard in prison, the only father he knew as a child was Bobby, his mother's pimp, drug dealer, and lover. In 1980, he was placed in his first foster home. While foster care was often horrifying, nothing compared to the daily near-death experiences he survived living in Father Panik Village with Bobby and Debbie. On May 23, 1980 his coerced testimony sent Debbie to prison. Now a grown man, Mr. Love uses his childhood traumas to change lives. Working as a teacher allows him to use the experiences of his life to help children who live in a similar world. His experiences give him a perspective most people do not have and knowledge that cannot be obtained from any textbook. There Is An Urgency explores these experiences in an effort to make others aware that people like him walk among us every day. There Is An Urgency is inimitable in that it juxtaposes Mr. Love's experiences as an adult, working with children in school and juvenile detention settings, with personal accounts of physical and sexual abuse from his childhood. There Is An Urgency to share this story of hard won hope and resilience after years of terrifying abuse by a real life monster.
Make Poverty Personal: Taking the Poor as Seriously as the Bible Does
Ash Barker - 2009
But poverty is not new. And neither is God's deep concern for the poor--it is a theme deeply woven throughout the Bible. Yet sadly, churches and individual Christians have too often been blind to this emphasis, or they have been paralyzed into inaction by feelings of helplessness.In this urgent, provocative book, Ash Barker offers both challenge and hope. Pulling out and reflecting on significant passages from both testaments, he reveals what the Bible says about both the nature of poverty and about how God calls his people to respond. These studies, ideal for either individual or small group use, are interlaced with personal reflections--first-hand accounts from fifteen years of ministry among the poor.
The Single Girl's Guide to Marrying a Man, His Kids, and His Ex-Wife: Becoming a Stepmother with Humor and Grace
Sally Bjornsen - 2005
A funny, honest, and empathetic resource for the novice stepmother on maintaining sanity, solving hair-raising identity issues, regaining a sense of humor, and surviving what you did for love....What happens when the honeymoon comes to a screeching halt and you're faced with a houseful of rambunctious children, an ever-present ex-wife, and a new husband trying to balance the chaos?This helpful guide includes advice on:- The kids: Adjusting to suspicion, resentment, and biological-parent loyalties- The ex-wife: Living calmly alongside her, whether she's a psycho or the perfect mother- The holidays: Accommodating old family traditions and developing new ones- The sex: Keeping love alive through the kids' bed-wettings and nightmares- The finances: Building safety nets and avoiding financial disasters- The urge to be evil: Accepting it, and then stopping yourself from saying something you'll regret--to him, the kids, or her- Plus an invaluable list of resources, websites, publications, and organizations specifically for the new stepmother
The Girl in the Orange Dress
Margot Starbuck - 2009
And when her adoptive parents divorced, her dad moved east, and her mom and dad each got remarried, she told herself that she was extra loved, since she had more than two parents and people in different times zones who cared about her. But the word she really believed about herself was rejected. First by her birthparents. Then by her adoptive father-when he moved away. Then by her stepfather. Then by her birthfather a second time, when she tried to invite him into her life. Most of all, Margot felt rejected by God the Father, who she also suspected could not be trusted. Margot's story begins with a woman looking for her biological father. But it doesn't end when she finds him. Instead, his rejection punctures her soul and sends her on a different search--one that leads to a different Father. This Father did not just "sacrifice a son" like the parents she knew, but instead gave his own life out of love for her. Maybe you've been disappointed and wounded by parents who divorced, left, were abusive, or simply weren't there. Enter into Margot's story. She has been where you are. She knows the pain you carry. And her journey can lead you to the God who nurtures, protects and always says, "I am for you."
The Walk: A Moment in Time When Two Lives Intersect
Michael Card - 2001
Little did he know that he would meet a man who would compel him, by the example of his life, back into the world of people, for Jesus' sake."The Walk" is Michael Card's story of his relationship with Bill Lane, who forever changed his outlook on life. The book is both a journal and a study of the real meaning of discipleship. Card says, "Bill's walk was a parable of his life. Through him, or because of him, it would become the parable of my life as well."
Born from the Heart
Berta Serrano - 2013
. . She couldn't wait to share hugs and giggles.” Every child is born from the heart—whether or not the mother gave birth to that baby. This poetic and magical parable celebrates the richness of family as Rose and Charlie embark on the search for the child they so desperately want. As Rose's dream gets closer to coming true, her heart grows and grows . . . until it bursts with happiness, laughter, and wonder when she finally kisses the beautiful face of her new baby.First time author Berta Serrano and her brother Alfonso Serrano are the author-illustrator team behind this warm and quirky love letter for Berta's adopted son.
An Affair with My Mother: A Story of Adoption, Secrecy and Love
Caitriona Palmer - 2016
But when she was in her late twenties, she realized that she had a strong need to know the woman who had given birth to her. She was able to locate her birth mother, Sarah, and they developed a strong attachment.But Sarah set one painful condition to this joyous new relationship: she wished to keep it - to keep Caitriona - secret from her family, from her friends, from everyone.Who was Sarah, and why did she want to preserve a decades-old secret? An Affair with My Mother tells the story of Caitriona's quest to answer these questions, and of the intense, furtive 'affair' she and her mother conducted in carefully chosen locations around Dublin. By turns heartwarming and heartbreaking, An Affair with My Mother is a searing portrait of the social and familial forces that left Sarah - and so many other unwed Irish mothers of her generation - frightened, traumatized and bereft. It is also a beautifully written account of a remarkable relationship.'Caitriona Palmer has called out the false shame of her origins, with a kind of anguished courage that is incredibly moving. An Affair With My Mother is a forensic account of how it feels to be - in the interests of Catholic "respectability" - excluded from the facts of your own life. In its commitment to family love, to joy and truth, it is a gift.' Anne Enright, winner of the Man Booker Prize
Toddler Adoption: The Weaver's Craft
Mary Hopkins-Best - 1997
When a child aged is adopted between the ages of 12 to 36 months, they often show signs of cognitive and emotional immaturity, which can cause behavioral and relational issues. This book offers support and practical tools to help parents prepare for and support the toddler's transition between the familiar environment of their biological parent's home or foster home to a new and unfamiliar one, and considers the issues that arise at different developmental stages. It highlights the challenges that parents are likely to encounter, but also gives positive guidance on how to overcome them. Written by a specialist in children's development who is also an adoptive parent herself, this fully revised and updated edition of the go-to-source on adopting toddlers is essential reading for both parents and professionals working with adoptive families.
Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born
Jamie Lee Curtis - 1996
Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born is a special celebration of the love and joy an adopted child creates for a family.In asking her parents to tell her again about the night of her birth, a young girl relives a cherished tale she knows by heart. Focusing on the significance of family and love, this a unique and beautiful story about adoption and the importance of a loving family.A beautiful adoption story, Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born also speaks to the universal childhood desire to know more about the excitement, awe, love, and sleeplessness that a new baby brings to a family.Tell me again about the night I was born.Tell me again how you would adopt me and be my parents.Tell me again about the first time you held me in your arms.
Red Butterfly
A.L. Sonnichsen - 2015
Abandoned as an infant, she was taken in by an American woman living in China. Now eleven, Kara spends most of her time in their apartment, wondering why she and Mama cannot leave the city of Tianjin and go live with Daddy in Montana. Mama tells Kara to be content with what she has…but what if Kara secretly wants more? Told in lyrical, moving verse, Red Butterfly is the story of a girl learning to trust her own voice, discovering that love and family are limitless, and finding the wings she needs to reach new heights.
The Package Deal: My (not-so) Glamorous Transition from Single Gal to Instant Mom
Izzy Rose - 2009
A single “middle-class socialite” living in San Francisco, Izzy loved her career as a successful, Emmy Award-winning TV producer and she was fine with the fact that she was unmarried and kid-less at thirty-five. But, then she fell in love with an irresistible Southern man named Hank and her Izzy-centric lifestyle turned upside down. In short order, Izzy finds herself saying I DO to becoming a wife and “instant mom” to Hank’s two sons and packing her bags for a new life in Austin, Texas. There, Izzy struggles to hold on to a bit of her professional identity while reinventing the stepmother role in her sassy, stylish, but also loving and vulnerable way. Honest and daring, The Package Deal is a toast to the richness of her new life and a tribute to any woman whose ever fallen in love and then asked, What exactly did I get myself into?
Adoption is a Family Affair!: What Relatives and Friends Must Know
Patricia Irwin Johnston - 2001
After all, unless you have personally experienced adoption, you may know very little about how adoption works and what it means. Are you worried that your loved one may face disappointment? Do you find yourself wondering exactly what your role is going to be in the child's life? Does the term "open adoption" confuse and concern you? Just what are the privacy boundaries for families built by adoption: what is okay to ask about? "Adoption Is a Family Affair!" will answer all of these questions and more, offering you information about who can adopt, why people consider adopting, how kids understand adoption as they grow up, and more. This short book is crammed full of the 'need to know' information for friends and families that will help to encourage informed, happy and healthy family relationships.
Rich in Love: When God Rescues Messy People
Irene García - 2014
Their first ten years together included Domingo’s alcoholism and abuse, and Irene’s desperate prayers for answers. Then a miracle happened: Domingo pleaded for forgiveness. As God healed their marriage, Irene and Domingo adopted a little girl. And a new season began for an imperfect couple who were willing to say yes to each other and to God. Over the past forty-five years, the Garcias have birthed, fostered, or adopted thirty-two children. Their story holds difficult endings as well as promising new beginnings. Above all, their story reminds us what can happen when ordinary people submit to God’s call. Rich in Love is about a family cemented in hope. About a need to love the orphan. And about a God who never, ever gives up.
A Faith Worth Sharing: A Lifetime of Conversations about Christ
C. John Miller - 1999
In these warm reflections on his own growth as a witness to the faith, written in the final weeks of his life, Jack Miller tells how he learned to share Good News with others--and how you can too.