Written by Amy Eldridge, founder and CEO of Love Without Boundaries, this poignant chronicle of LWB's life-changing work, told through the stories of individual children, offers personal insight into the complex issues surrounding orphan care, abandonment, international aid, and adoption. Both thought-provoking and inspirational, "The Heart of an Orphan" reminds us all that while the needs of vulnerable children around the world may seem overwhelming, the human heart triumphs in believing that every life has value and every child deserves love.

    They were not the best answer, but they were the first attempts at finding a practical system. Many children that would have died, lived to have children and grandchildren. It has been calculated that over two million descendants have come from these children. The trains gave the children a fighting chance to grow up." – D. Bruce Ayler By the middle of the 19th century, New York City’s population surpassed the unfathomable number of 1 million people, despite its obvious lack of space. This was mostly due to the fact that so many immigrants heading to America naturally landed in New York Harbor, well before the federal government set up an official immigration system on Ellis Island. At first, the city itself set up its own immigration registration center in Castle Garden near the site of the original Fort Amsterdam, and naturally, many of these immigrants, who were arriving with little more than the clothes on their back, didn’t travel far and thus remained in New York. Of course, the addition of so many immigrants and others with less money put strains on the quality of life. Between 1862 and 1872, the number of tenements had risen from 12,000 to 20,000; the number of tenement residents grew from 380,000 to 600,000. One notorious tenement on the East River, Gotham Court, housed 700 people on a 20-by-200-foot lot. Another on the West Side was home, incredibly, to 3,000 residents, who made use of hundreds of privies dug into a fifteen-foot-wide inner court. Squalid, dark, crowded, and dangerous, tenement living created dreadful health and social conditions. It would take the efforts of reformers such as Jacob Riis, who documented the hellishness of tenements with shocking photographs in How the Other Half Lives, to change the way such buildings were constructed. While the Melting Pot nature of America is one of its most unique and celebrated aspects, the conditions also created a humanitarian crisis of sorts. In the 19th century, child labor was still the norm, especially for poor families, and no social welfare systems were in place to provide security for people. As a result, if a child was abandoned or orphaned, they were at the mercy of an ad hoc system of barely tolerable orphanages with little to no centralization. Minorities and immigrants were also discriminated against on the basis of ethnicity and religion. Into this issue stepped the Children’s Aid Society, led by Charles Loring Brace, who determined he could improve abandoned kids’ futures by helping relocate them further to the West, which would also help Americans settle the frontier. By coordinating with train companies, Brace was able to transport dozens of children at a time to places in the heartland of America or further out west, where they would end up in new homes, decades before the existence of foster care. Genealogist Roberta Lowrey, a descendant of one of these orphans, noted that the situations for many of those on the Orphan Trains were vastly different, but in all, the system worked: “Many were used as strictly slave farm labor, but there are stories, wonderful stories of children ending up in fine families that loved them, cherished them, [and] educated them. They were so much better off than if they had been left on the streets of New York. ... They were just not going to survive, or if they had, their fate would surely have been awful.

    But these days she barely notices the little daily lies she tells to keep it hidden. She has a new identity now. All she wants is an orderly, predictable life that revolves around her beloved husband and children. Kathryn was once Kelly, a girl who lived on one of the roughest estates in the north and got pregnant as a teen. When she moved away, she left the past behind. Now there's a stranger in her kitchen, and he knows more about her than he is letting on. What does he want? Has he come for help or is he planning to wreck her life?Will Kathryn finally have to admit to her family that she isn't who they think she is?

    What is it like? It is the best gift you can ever imagine, like rain falling on a dry place.This memoir is a great reunion journey, from Paris, to California, to Denmark! A coming together of a mother and son, the only two people who can answer all the questions the other one has.

    How devastatingly and terrifyingly wrong she was.Her entire world was about to be broken apart in more ways than she could ever have imagined.Who could she turn to, and more importantly, who would listen?

    During a trip to Miami to visit her cousin, Shayla, she falls in love right away with the city as well as her cousin’s lavish lifestyle and is set on working hard so she can share in the life of luxury along with her child. When Shayla hints to Emiko that she should try to snag Adair, the infamous leader of the Haitian Murder Mafia, she rejects the advice even though Adair is the sexiest and most thrilling man she’s ever seen. But then her luck takes a tragic turn, yielding one disaster after another and she finds herself in a place where Adair is the only one by her side, literally keeping her alive. In the midst of a drug war with the Dominicans, Adair has some tough decisions to make when Emiko changes into a woman far different from the one she was when they first met. The struggles of a hard life have made her heart cold and turned her into a savage but his addiction to her just won’t allow him to let her go. With the streets calling his name and Emiko pulling at his heart, will Adair be able to maintain control of his empire and be there for the woman he loves? Or will he lose out on one, or both, while struggling to have it all?

    Called to Adoption offers tips, and up-to-date, relevant information every parent considering adoption should know. Readers will identify with author Mardie Caldwell s personal and professional experiences, making this resource a vital handbook as parents take steps to adopt. This book allows hopeful adoptive parents to discover: -The single most important decision to make before beginning any path to adoption. -How to select the right adoption professional. -Creative ideas to fund your adoption. -The proven formula for adoption success. -The shocking need for Christian Adoption. -Encouragement from God s word throughout the adoption process. -How to quickly get started toward adoption. Called to Adoption also outlines the differences between types of adoption and offers step-by-step guidance to adopt safely and successfully. Featuring stories from Caldwell s own adoption experience, as well as from other adoptive parents, this book will prepare adopting parents for the logistic and emotional sides of adoption. This book is recommended for Christians interested in becoming adoptive parents, or who may support those facing an adoption journey, as well as for those who want to understand the need for Christian adoption. As founder and CEO of Lifetime Adoption Center, Caldwell has assisted thousands of families find answers to questions regarding the decision to adopt. This book also includes a special section for families considering the decision about moving from fertility treatments to adoption."

    Witnessing savage killings at the hands of the prison's sadistic and psychotic Warden, Sullivan decides that in order to survive he must match the brutality occurring in the prison.But as he fights to escape his fate, Sullivan is forced to question his sanity and confront his own horrific past. This Special Edition has a limited print run of 750 copies and includes the upcoming film's screenplay, a pencils to inks gallery, and a behind the scenes featurette on the making of the death row film set.

    Those are lessons he shares, often unknowingly, with his mom, Lauren Casper.For Lauren, living with Mareto is a lot like playing the telephone game. He blurts out little phrases that have their origin in something he saw or heard, but by the time they make their way through his mind and back out of his mouth, they’ve transformed—often into beautiful truths about living a simple, authentic, love- and joy-filled life.From “it’s okay about it,” a simple reminder that even when life is painful or difficult, things will be okay because God promises never to leave or forsake his children, to “you’re making me feelings,” which teaches the importance of leaning into one’s emotions and, in doing so, sharing a piece of oneself with loved ones—Mareto’s simple yet profound wisdom is a reminder to embrace the broken beauty of life, to believe in a God bigger than human comprehension, and to love others even when it doesn’t make sense.For all those looking to recapture the faith, simplicity, wonder, hope, courage, and joy of life, It’s Okay About It provides a guide to look inward and live outward, to discover the most wide open and beautiful life possible.

    they're earned.  . Page Count: around 450 pagesLily Dyer needs to get away from her husband.  Not tomorrow, not tonight, but now.He's hurt her for the last time.  . But when she finally finds her courage, it's not her life he threatens.She has two choices:1- Stay and her family lives,2- leave and they all die.Her mother, her sister, her nieces and nephews...Lily has no choice.  . Then Edward comes into her life.He's her boss' son, and he's all the things her husband isn't.She shouldn't care about him, but she does.He shouldn't want her, but he does.Edward offers to help Lily escape her life... and give her a new one.There's a secret she's been keeping though.When Edward finds out, will he still want her?  . Soon things go wrong, and Lily will do whatever it takes to set them right again.Even if that means murder.  . Lily might be able to escape from her husband, but she will never escape her past.Is it ever too late for redemption?  . Page Count: around 450 pages

    But, in the months and years that followed, she discovered that there was more than one way to build a family – and that there is a lot of joy to be found in life’s unexpected detours.In a raw and inspiring story of one woman’s journey through motherhood, family life and self-discovery, Lisa explores the many forms that family can take, and discovers the power of embracing your Plan B. For anyone who has ever found themselves facing the unexpected in life – whether that’s infertility, adoption, grief or any other personal challenge – this is an uplifting and honest account of finding love in unexpected places, and building your life on your own terms.

    

    Step-by-step, you'll see how the best strategies from cognitive behavioral therapy are adapted for children.

    The story is not only engaging and inspiring but also informs readers of the struggles many people face with international adoptions. The Marvelous Journey Home is the perfect blend of realism and invention. The reader is given unique insight into the perspectives of several players in the adoption process including adoptive parents, the children and adoption officials and supervisors. The story also carefully touches on another journey elusive to many, the journey of death. The author makes an enlightening association between the two journeys to help the reader better understand and accept death.

    Among the stories is the remarkable transformation of nine year old Sarah, who comes into Becky’s life when she is beaten half to death by her mother’s violent boyfriend. Then there’s Liam, a tall and gangly young teen who has cut himself off from the world after being thrown out of home by his drug-addicted mother when he was just ten years old. Becky also tells the story of Jade and Jasmine, toddler twins who had been locked in a freezing, bare room for weeks on end, with just one filthy blanket to share. Sometimes these children are so vulnerable it becomes a situation of life and death, and Becky has been there and taken them to a place of safety. Although some of the stories are at times heartbreaking, Becky’s determination that no child should be forgotten makes this remarkable book an unforgettable and inspiring read.