Women of Faith

With an Open Heart is one of the titles that will be featured at the upcoming Women of Faith Conference in Kansas City, Missouri on November 2nd and 3rd.

You will find our story in the new BookStub Gallery, where they will give away 50 free downloads of the e-book format.

To me, this is a really big deal. Because this conference is attended by approximately 15,000 women of faith. I'm not sure I could find a more appropriate audience for Daniel's story.

So, if you happen to be traveling to Kansas City for the conference, please stop by and grab a BookStub!  But please hurry...because (hopefully) they'll go quick!

The Bee's Knees

I recently received a message from Suzanne, the owner of The Bee's Knees Learn & Play in Delray Beach.  Suzanne graciously asked if I would like to put some of my books on their shelves.

It was kind of a "God thing," because I haven't seen Suzanne in years. Not since before Madi was in school, and we used to play there on a regular basis.

Her contact stirred up some unexpected and warm memories.

Because I remembered that I used to go there with Madi when we were waiting for Daniel's arrival. And we almost always went with our friend, Vanessa, and her children.

While the kids played, I would bend Vanessa's ear about Daniel, about our excitement of his arrival, and about our plans for his surgery and his life with us. I could hardly wait to see him running around The Bee's Knees with his big sister.

It was a magical time, filled with hope and anticipation.

Like waiting for Jesus.

So three years later, I find it quite ironic that our son is not running around The Bee's Knees. But his story is.

And hopefully he'll open some hearts there...

Email from a friend

I mentioned, in yesterday's post, how it seems like amazing things are happening every day with Daniel and his story.

This is an email that I received last night from a friend. Just the mere possibility that Daniel's story might help people such as these?  Thoroughly warms my heart...

"Just had to let you know that when I was on the cruise last week, I "happened" to be sitting next to a lovely couple at dinner and somehow we got to talking about losing a child.  I honestly don't know why that happened - we were on vacation for goodness sakes, so that's kind of a strange turn of a conversation!  Turns out they had adopted a boy from Germany when he was very little.  He ended up with some emotional problems, and felt the need to return to his homeland when he was 17.  Shortly thereafter he died in a car crash.  

I mentioned your book to them, I thought it might help them.  Turns out they were already aware of it!  Your message - Daniel's message - is spreading!  They weren't from Florida - they were from the mid-West somewhere.  But when I told them the title, they said they thought they had read a review somewhere.  I didn't know how much publicity the book has received, but I wrote the name of it on a napkin for them, and I'm sure they will look it up.

Now what's the likelihood of this happening?  I think you already know the answer!"

The struggle

I feel like, these days, the most amazing things are happening with Daniel's story, and I'm so grateful for it.

Today, as I strolled down the street with Charlie, I ran into a neighbor. Frank is a very insightful and kind man. He has always taken every opportunity to say hello to the kids, Daniel included, and he and his wife even showed up for our fundraiser for Charlie's adoption. They are good people with compassionate hearts. And you can sense that Frank is special after spending only minutes in his presence. I'm sure we all know that type of person.

I handed Frank a card for the book and proudly announced our accomplishment of the book's release. He asked me how much the book costs, and I awkwardly told him the price.

He smiled at me and said, "And now it's time to recoup your investment."

I was stunned. It was as if he could see right through my eyes and straight into my heart.

Without hesitation, Frank whipped out twenty dollars and handed it to me.  And I gave him a great, big hug.

You see, every day, I struggle with the monetary. Because I want so badly to GIVE this book to EVERYONE we know. Even to people that we don't know!

I want everyone to have a chance to know Daniel without a price attached to it. But that isn't the case, because of our choice to self-publish. Should I have waited?  Held Daniel's story in my clutch and chased publishers in pursuit of a good contract?  I think not. All along, I felt a strong desire to get God's message out there. As soon as possible. And that, my friends, unfortunately came with an investment.

And so I realize that I must put the brakes on. Especially if we want to reach our goal of giving to charity in Daniel's memory.

So, while we can't dispense this story as freely as we'd like to, we will continue to trust God's guidance, and pray that Daniel's story gets into the hands that need it.

And we thank you so, so much for your support along the way.

We Have Books!

Have I mentioned that this is all new to me?  At least a couple of times, I know...

Well, I finally set up a Pay Pal account here on the website for those who wish to receive a signed copy (I know...sounds strange to me, too...but some of you silly people have asked for them:)

And I finally ordered a nice, little supply of books. Which arrived over the weekend!

So...all of you local friends, if you have been waiting to buy a copy?

Now I can deliver one to you! Or at least meet you somewhere to get it into your hands!

Just email me: lisa.michelle.murphy@gmail.com with your order.

Thank you so, so much for your continued support! It is so rewarding to see Daniel's reach, and I hope and pray it only gets better!

Oh...I should also mention that we have some exciting opportunities in the works, which I will share as they fall into place:)

Go, Daniel, Go!

All worth it

I know that some of you have ordered the book. But I haven't received much feedback yet.

At this stage of the project, my type-A (and sometimes insecure) mind begins to wander about the impact (or lack thereof) of our story. Then on Friday, a friend and very eloquent writer, happened to share a quite fitting quote on her blog:

"God does not supply grace for our imagination."

(You can read the whole post here: http://www.lorimccary.com/2012/09/the-right-to-choose.html)

Ain't that the truth? I sometimes have to remind myself that this is not about "me," and there is no room for my insecurity here!  But as if to fulfill my "need" for a scrap of validation anyway, the Holy Spirit answered, and we received three beautiful notifications on Friday--all from very special sisters in Christ, that they'd received the book that very day and could hardly wait to dig into it.

News that filled my soul.

But today, I received the most I could ask for. An email from a friend containing these words that totally filled my heart:

"I want to adopt again and I want a closer walk with Jesus everyday." 

Those are two out of my three initial hopes and goals for Daniel's story!  

To know that our son's story has made an impact on at least one person?  

No words, my friends. That's the feedback that makes this project all worth it.

Daniel at work...

Last night the Holy Spirit prompted me to reach out to a couple of Yahoo adoption groups to share Daniel's story.

From one of the group moderators, I received a less-than-warm welcome.  In fact, I was actually denied membership to the group.  Yep, it hurt. Because that's my son you're rejecting.  But I need to accept that not everyone is going to "get" our mission.  Move on.

The second group is comprised of adoptive families from the province where Daniel was from (Jiangxi), and the group moderator greeted me with with open arms and accepted our story with an open heart. I woke up this morning to read the most beautiful comment on the blog that he had written at 4:38 in the morning.

This kind man offered to help spread the word about the book and also divulged the ages of his daughters, who are both adopted from China. Their oldest is from Jiangxi, as Daniel was. He included a link for their blog, so I decided to take a peek. I also intended to find an email address, so I could thank him for his kind words.

While on their blog, I noticed that they are followers of the blog Praying Adam Home. To me that was a fascinating discovery. Because Adam was in Daniel's travel group in 2010! We traveled with Adam's amazing family to bring Daniel home!  What a small world!

I immediately sent the moderator an email of appreciation and acknowledged that he follows our friends blog.  Are you ready for this?  Turns out that these two families traveled together to adopt their daughters in 2006!

Talk about full circle.  I think I can safely say that Daniel made us a wonderful introduction.  What are the chances??  That little angel never stops...