Acknowledgments

Ilike to joke that I’m an “accidental author.” Although writing has long been a passion of mine, I always thought of book writing as a far-o% dream, as in, “In another life, I’d like to be an author.” But God had other plans, and He used a lot of good people along the way to get me to this place of being a published writer. "ank you, Mrs. Rouse, my 12th grade AP English teacher, for drilling those !ve-paragraph essays like it was your job (wait— it was your job!), and encouraging my willingness to think deeply about rich literature. "ank you, Dad, for seeing something special in my writing from an early age, and paying ridiculous amounts in international postage to send me really heavy writing books because you wanted to push me to pursue my dreams. "ank you for editing and praising my work, while also being willing to say, “"is isn’t quite right; you can do better.” "ank you, Mom, for supporting me like only a mama can. "ank you, Faithful Fifty, who were the selected readers of my !rst blog—a blog I kept “invitation only” because I was too scared to let too many people see my heart. "ank you for reading when I really didn’t know what I was doing. "anks for telling me that my words impacted your life. "ank you, readers of my Bringing Lucy Home blog, now jenniferphillipsblog.com. "ank you for hanging on my every word during our adoption immigration crisis and for asking me to keep writing, long after the drama had passed. "ank you to all who have read and championed my book, Bringing Lucy Home. Your kind, generous words and !ve-star reviews helped me to realize, “Wait a minute. I think writing is actually what I was made to do. "is brings me so much life.” "ank you, New Hope Publishers, for reaching out to me and giving me such an incredible opportunity to do, on a large scale,

something that I love to do in day-to-day life: encourage adoptive families with truth from God’s Word. "is book has been an honor to write, and you have taken such good care of me in the process. "ank you, Lifeline Children’s Services, for not only walking with us in our journey to Lucy, but for advocating for orphans worldwide and uniting so many with forever families. "ank you, Brian, for being incredibly patient as I spent all my nights and all of Lucy’s naptimes writing, writing, writing. It means so much that you value my gifts and passions, even if they cause me to drop a lot of other balls. "ank you Joshua, Andrew, Sarah Kate, and Lucy, for being the best kids ever. I love our messy, imperfect life, and I love that we all know that it’s OK to be messy and imperfect. I could not be more proud of each of you. "ank you, Jesus, for the hope of the gospel, without which I would be utterly lost. I pray that my words bring You much honor and glory.