Adoption Has a Face

Adoption is special.
It serves a great need.
But not all adoptions work out.
Sometimes those adopted
are prisoners of sorts
imprisoned by questions and doubts.

"I do not belong here.
I'm not quite sure why.
I just know I feel so alone."
Though clothed, fed and sheltered,
Hugh longed to be loved.
He wanted much more than a home.

Like others adopted,
he pondered his past
imagining who gave him birth.
"How could she reject me?"
"Am I damaged goods?"
He struggled embracing his worth.

Unwanted, mistreated
quite tragic, and yet
Hugh's story was not fully told.
The Lord had a purpose
that would not be known
until the young boy had grown old.

A beauty named Norma
would capture his heart.
He'd marry and become a dad.
With four precious children
and one faithful mate,
he thanked God his life wasn't bad.

The wounds of his childhood
began to be healed.
The Father he'd longed for, he found.
A Savior, a Shepherd,
a mother-like Friend
had freed him from memories that bound.

Then Hugh found his calling.
He started to write.
This tall lanky lad had a gift.
He traveled, found stories,
kept journals of notes
and then through his research he'd sift.

The publishers loved him.
One book became two
and soon Hugh had found his career.
The boy once adopted
discovered his voice.
His purpose in life became clear.

"Each life is a novel
and needs to be told.
A story of joy, sweat and pain.
I want to write chapters
that help others see
how grace transforms losses to gains."

His life an example
of that very thing,
Hugh wrote countless books, but what's more.
The best one by far
is the last one he wrote.
It's a book you've been long hoping for.

It's a book about writing.
It's a primer of sorts.
It's the volume you need so you can
put pencil to paper and memories to print
for your children, the good, bad and grand.

* Hugh Steven's success as a writer is validated by the more than 30 books he has written as a missionary biographer with Wycliffe Bible Translators. His most recent book is actually a textbook for those who would like to write their own story. It is called "The Nature of Story and Creativity." In its pages, Hugh shares insights and suggestions for capturing your unique life experiences on paper to be enjoyed by your family, friends and colleagues and for the generations to come. "The Nature of Story and Creativity"  can be ordered on Amazon.com.

As you might have guessed, I know Hugh Steven personally. As a matter of fact, I married his oldest daughter twenty-five years ago.