Sharing true inspirational stories has been my passion and vision since I first launched my blog, InspirationalLee.com in August of 2020. My desire is to share stories based on Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
In 2021, I began volunteering at Care Net Pregnancy Center of Central New York (now Willow Network). I was interviewed for my volunteer position by Sarah DePass. Her story, “Sarah DePass: From Teen Mom to Director,” appeared on my blog. Then I met Amy Myers who trained me as a parenting instructor. Her inspiring story, “Amy Myers: Finding Hope in Infertility and Pregnancy Loss”* showed up on my blog as well. Soon after, I met Paul Marshall, the President and Executive Director, while helping clean and set up the new center in Ilion before it opened. He shared his story with me which was published on my blog with the title, “Paul Marshall: Allowing God to Redeem Your Pain.”
I met Nancy Gaiser at Care Net's Walk for Life in July of 2022 and later interviewed her and featured her story, “Nancy Gaiser: Fulfilling Her Daughter's Legacy” on both my blog and in my book. She was compassionate about my miscarriage story and encouraged me share it to add hope women grieving the loss of their infants in the early stages of pregnancy. “Nancy Lee: Finding Healing in an Unexpected blessing" became a part of the book.
I began reaching out to people I knew who had similar inspiring stories, like my cousin's daughter (Debbie Allen: Finding Peace by Surrendering to God), and my college roommate (Colleen Thomas: Embracing Down Syndrome). Then something interesting happened. People who had read my blog posts began to contact me from around the country (and one from Canada) with other inspiring stories all linked to the theme, “The Gift of Life.” I felt amazed and blessed at how many people, some total strangers, were willing to share their stories with me. They endured emotional interviews, edits, and rewrites so they could share their stories and encourage others going through similar circumstances.
After I completed ten stories, I thought I was done. I consulted with a professional writing coach, Jenny Kochert, from Flourish Writers Ministries. After reviewing samples of my book, she suggested I try to double the number of stories and add photographs.
Adding nine more stories took over a year. I invited my son-in-law, Matt Johnson, to feature his landscape photography in the book. My motivation in sharing his magnificent nature photos was to focus on the Creator, the Author of Life, the Ultimate Healer, and the Giver of Hope. I hope this book will honor those willing to share their stories and serve as a memorial to each of the precious lives mentioned in the book. My prayer is that God will use these stories to bless and encourage many lives.
When I completed seventeen stories total and the photographs to go with them, again, I thought I was done. But then Aunt Joan, whose adoption story appears in the book, called and gave me a contact that I just had to interview for the book. I called her friend, and I agreed her adoption story was inspiring, so “Peggy Smith: Adopted at Last” was included in the book.
Around the same time, a board member from Willow Network (then Care Net) where I was working met me at the center on a Saturday to help me clean out the boutique. I hit it off with her right away, and she told me her adoption story as we worked side by side. We set up an interview, and “Emilie: Blessed by an Open Adoption” was added to the book. A few weeks after meeting Emilie, I was thumbing through my journal and found an entry from a year before when I had specifically prayed about interviewing someone who had made a plan of adoption for their child.
Now that the stories were written, I was not sure how to proceed with the next steps. My sister Cyndi, a retired teacher and former graphic artist, told me she believed in what I was doing and wanted to help. She spent countless hours helping me add Bible verses to the photographs, helping me complete two full edits of the book, formatting, proofreading, and uploading the manuscripts to Amazon. It was a challenging process, and sometimes we had to redo the same tasks multiple times before we succeeded. I am so grateful for her support. (She has more than made up for every time she picked on me when we were kids!)
I would also like to share that adoption is a topic near to my heart. I have two precious nieces who joined our family through adoption. I am grateful to the anonymous young women who made the difficult choice of sacrificing nine months of their lives to carry and give birth to their babies. And who had the love, courage, and foresight to make an adoption plan to give their daughters the best possible life. I am indebted to these young women for giving my brother and sister-in-law, who were struggling with infertility, the joy of parenthood.
What a blessing it has been for me to interview each person named in my table of contents! Each one has inspired me so much, and I know their stories will inspire you as well.
The Gift of LIfe: True Inspirational Stories of Hope and Healing amid Adoption, Infant Loss, and Unexpected Pregnancies is available on Amazon in three editions: Black and white paperback, full color paperback, and full color gift edition in hardcover . The book will also be available on Kindle soon. (Quantity discounts are available by emailing me at whateverislovelee@gmail.com.)
Click HERE to order BLACK AND WHITE EDITION (PAPERBACK).
Click HERE to order FULL COLOR EDITION (PAPERBACK).
Click HERE to order GIFT EDITION (FULL COLOR HARDCOVER).
*Title was changed to “Amy Myers: Expecting a Miracle.”
**Nature photos by Matt Johnson
***Designs by Lestie May Zachary and Denise Wallnofer