Excellent Book

Grab a box of tissues before reading this....maybe two boxes....

Every adoptive parent with a child from China should read this book. Kay Bratt volunteered at an orphanage in China for several years. Her experiences made me cringe and hug my children tighter. I so want to believe that while my daughters were in the orphanage that they were loved and cared for. I want to believe that when they cried somebody held them close and dried their tears. I want to believe that when they were hungry they were fed. I want to believe that when they needed a diaper change somebody was there to gently change their diapers. I want to believe that they were held and rocked and loved. I know God was watching over them. I know God watches over all the children, but I often wonder why so many children continue to suffer. I know that we are God's hands. This book makes me want to move to China and do something. I need to be a better instrument in God's hands and do something to help these children.

Here is a poem from her book:

Blessings

Sometimes at night I think of you,
Lying silent in your bed.
I recall your last imploring look
As I stroked your tiny head.

Did I stop to smile or hug you,
Or did I somehow pass you by?
As my attention was diverted
By another baby's cry?

I wonder what you're thinking
As you lie there every day.
Do you wonder where your mother is
And why she's gone away?

Do you understand the words I say
In my foreign English tongue?
Can you hear me say "I love you,"
And know it's my heart you've won?

Or perhaps as you are dreaming
You recall I sang a song;
Though you do not know its meaning,
Its love helps to make you strong.

I cannot stop the memories
That prevent my restful sleep.
So instead they shall be blessings,
That God's given me to keep.

--Kay Bratt, 2007