Love You More- An Adoption Story

Posted at 6:00 am on November 21, 2011 by Farrah

**GIVEAWAY ALERT** In honor of November being National Adoption Month, I not only want to share this review of an amazing book with you but I want to share THIS BOOK with you.

At some point or another in our motherhood journey, I think we all have moments of wondering if we have what it takes to really do this.  At least I have. Probably daily.  Do I have the resources/skills/energy to be the mother these kids need me to be? Am I the only one who struggles with these things? That is one reason mothering in community is so essential to me.

And while the challenges of motherhood are tough enough, I can only imagine the added challenges of becoming Mother to a child through adoption.  I have known several amazing women who have done it and several more who are in the process now/dreaming of it for one day.  I might even put myself in that last category but not because I am amazing, only because I recently read the story of one adoptive mother who really spoke to my heart.

Jennifer Grant, a DupageMama herself, just published the story of how her youngest daughter came home to be with her family.  Love you More: The Divine Surprise of Adopting My Daughter is a love story in its truest form.  She tells the whole story, from having her biological children to the moment she knew they should adopt to the heartache of waiting to the day they meet her to the happy moment they finally got to bring her home.  And then beyond that too.  Following her adoption journey in this book made me feel like I was truly walking it with her and feeling the highs and lows of the process as she did.  Her writing is intimate and vulnerable and real.

But beyond reading about Jennifer’s adoption journey, this is a book about motherhood.  About it being one of the toughest jobs in the world, no matter how you find yourself here.  But also the most rewarding and amazing and divinely miraculous.  I felt like I was reading about myself so many times.  Jennifer talks about using slings with her babies and sometimes loosing her temper and trying to make child #2 fit the mold of child #1 because that is what she knew.  (Oh, and her husband is color blind just like mine so we have that in common too!)  She talks about trying to protect her children from the judgement of others and help each one become fully themselves, no matter what that looks like.

This is a story about Jennifer’s adoption process and how it all came to be for their family.  But really, for me, it was a beautiful story of motherhood and how we all strive to do the best, be the best we can be for our children.  Motherhood is a process of refining our own soul in order to better be able to shape theirs.  And Jennifer captures that perfectly.

I should say, that while reading this revived the spark of my desire to adopt, Jennifer in no way suggests through this book that we ALL should follow her path.  She gives a very balanced perspective on adoption and social justice and how anyone should approach the process of adoption (with much prayer and wise counsel and more prayer!).  She says it is not for everyone, but yet it is an amazing life changing thing that she would never be complete without.

Love You More is a beautiful story of a family becoming complete and of a mother’s journey to discover truth about herself and God and life.

To learn more about Jennifer Grant and Love You More, visit her website or FB page.

**GIVEAWAY: Comment below (making sure I have your e-mail) to enter to win a copy of this book.  Contest will close on Monday Nov 28 at Midnight and the winner will be notified via e-mail. **

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