Ok, so my kids are signed up for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library thing, where they get a free book in the mail each month from the time they are born until they turn 5. Henry's book came this week and I really didn't even look at it. Just took the plastic off and handed it to Rollins. The title is "A Mother for Choco." The next day, Rollins says "Can we read that new book about the bird who doesn't have a mommy?" He had picked up on the story line from the pictures and the few words he could read. My first thought when he said that was "oh dear. what kind of book is this?" So I sat down with them to see what it was about. The first page starts with a picture of sad little Choco and says "Choco was a little bird who lived all alone. He wished he had a mother but who could his mother be? One day he set off to find her." For the next few pages, he asks various animals if they can be his mommy. He asks a walrus, penguin and giraffe. They all respond that they don't look like him and he goes away sad as it says "No matter where Choco searched, he couldn't find a mother who looked just like him."
As I read that page, I was anticipating turning the page and seeing choco meet a big bird who is yellow, with a blue beak and striped legs... just like he was... and it was already giving me a sick feeling in my stomach thinking that this will not be the reality for my little girl who will look nothing like me. I remember thinking, "This is one book I will need to trash before our little girl comes home!!" But when I turned the page, I hate to say it but I almost teared up at the sweetness of this little book. There was Mrs. Bear and she came to the rescue to Choco as he cried "I need a mommy!!!" To make a short story even shorter, she hugs him, kisses him and dances with him because that's what he tells her he wants a mommy to do with him...and then she takes him home with her where her other kids are waiting (a pig, alligator, & hippo). the last sentence of the book reads "and choco was very happy that his new mommy looked just the way she did."
The phrase "God is in the details" just rings in my head daily as we embark on this journey. And I just love His timing in our receiving this book... that it was such a sweet story that led to great discussion with the kids... that it was not only an adoption story but also an interracial (or perhaps interanimal?) adoption story. I felt a little funny getting caught up in a board book for my almost 1 year old but I've seriously never been so happy/relieved as I was when I turned that page and didn't see a big old bird standing there! Thank you Jesus for giving Dolly Parton a vision to send out free books and for allowing one book minister so perfectly to my family! I know most of you reading this are believers but if anyone out there is not.... it'll be hard for you to deny the realness of Jesus when this journey is complete!!
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5 comments:
we haven't received that book from old dolly... i'll add it to my growing amazon list!
we haven't received this book from dolly! i'll add it to my ever growing list from amazon...
I bet it only costs a few dollars but very worth it!
Yeah. We have that book. I actually ended up hiding it from Mills because she's obsessed with "Mamas" and making sure that everyone and everything have a mama. If we see a squirrel outside, she'll turn to me and ask me in a sad voice, "Where's squirrels mama?"
She loved the Choco book, but she'd get so worked up by Choco not having a Mama, that by the time the Bear found Choco, she was in tears. sigh. Lot's of opportunities for good chats and tears together.
By the way...been meaning to email ya. It's been a couple of crazy weeks here!
Aww Traci, your sweet little Millie! I've been meaning to tell you that my mom has looked at your blog some and thinks your little girl is the cutest ever! She seriously goes on and on about her and that video of her and the book. From photos she seems to have a similar personality to my little girl. :)
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