I have been hard at work on my upcoming book in the Eighth Dimension Trilogy, Counterfeit, and I decided to take a break to do a short five-part series for readers. Enjoy this piece. Fond memories returned as I reflected on all that God has done for me and His goodness in my life. I never want to take that for granted. The most important thing is that we must finish the race well for God’s glory.
I share this quote from Paul in 2 Timothy 4:7: (NIV): I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.
And one more Bible verse that I also love, written by Paul, Galatians 6:9 (NV): Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Enjoy!
What Was the Most Difficult Book to Write?
Children of Dreams was the most difficult to write. It was my first full-length book, so I learned the process as I wrote. The tension was that I didn’t want to write the story until my children were older. Parenting is hard, and single parenting is even harder, and I wanted to focus on raising my daughters.
I also knew their stories were so miraculous that I needed to share them and encourage other families to adopt. There are over 150 million orphans worldwide. I can’t even fathom that number.
As time passes, we tend to forget details. So, I asked God to help me remember what was important until I wrote the story, which turned out to be ten years later. I saved every little scrap of paper, from plane tickets to hotel room numbers to records of phone calls, and, in the case of my older daughter, in regard to her medical crisis, all the records from hospital visits, doctor’s notes, the trip to Yale—anything that I might need to write an accurate story of what happened. I wanted God to receive all the glory for His miraculous work.
Many reviewers have said that if it weren’t for God, I would not have been able to adopt my daughters. I am thankful that truth got through because without God, what we achieve will never be what we could have achieved with God. In my case, I would not have my daughters without God’s divine intervention.
What was the Most Difficult Moment?
What was the most difficult moment in all of this? There were so many, but I think in the broader context, it was when the adoption of my first daughter was denied. The country had a law that if you were adopting as a single mother, you needed to be 40 years old. I was 38 at the time. I knew before going to Nepal that it might be an issue, but I went anyway, feeling like this was God’s will for me.
In the end, the adoption went through because we were granted special permission from the Home Minister, but when it was denied initially, I thought that was the end of my dream to become a mother. I share all of this in Children of Dreams. It is raw and gut-wrenching.
Despite all the in-country issues in Nepal (political instability, government bureaucracy, and illness), my confirmation that this little three-year-old would be my daughter came not from government authorities but from the most unlikely of sources. Not knowing a single word of English, as we awaited the judge’s approval of the adoption (which was denied), she looked up at me and said, “I love you.”
There is no way she could have uttered those words without divine intervention. She didn’t know a single word of English. Not one.
Miracle of Pentecost
I am reminded in the Bible of the Miracle of Pentecost, when the followers of Jesus spoke in tongues. Speaking languages known to other people, not the language of angels, they were eyewitnesses to what appeared to be “tongues of fire.” The Holy Spirit filled the Jewish believers who came from 70 nations. After Pentecost, they returned to their own countries to share the Gospel. It was the beginning of the reversal of the Tower of Babel.
My oldest daughter came from a Hindu family that worshiped pagan gods. She had the little red dot on her forehead symbolizing her pagan roots. In her case, God put His Spirit in her, enabling her to speak English. I had gone to the ends of the earth to adopt her. Believe me, as we waited at the outpost high in the Himalayas near Mount Everest to complete the adoption, I knew I was at the ends of the earth.
The Reversal of Babel
God is still reversing Babel today and filling new believers with His Spirit. I believe God made me a mother and gave me these incredible adoption stories to share with others. He knew, before I did, that I would write many books. In Children of Dreams, I compare the adoption of my daughters to God’s adoption of us. I wanted to encourage others to form families through adoption.
As I look back, because of the medical condition my older daughter developed four years after I adopted her, which I talk about in Children of Dreams, she probably would have died if she had remained in Nepal. At that time, no other family wanted to adopt an older child (she was three), so I know God’s Spirit was at work to make it possible. There is no doubt in my mind that God chose both of my daughters for me. I will talk about my other daughter in an upcoming post.
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