PROFILE IN LOVE: Talented musician, best-selling author, adoption activist and Mom— Deanna Jones’ story is one you’ll never forget

November 23, 2010 By 1 Comment

Late one Saturday evening last Spring, my husband and I had already settled in for the night.  He was watching TV and I was aimlessly web-surfing, reading Facebook status updates, when one photo caught my attention.  There, smiling on my screen, was a photo of a beautiful blonde woman cuddling with several African-American children.  She was my FB friend, sure enough, but who was she and how had we met?

Curious, I read Deanna Jones’ profile for the first time.  I checked her websites—two of them—and I ordered her book.  I was hooked on this wonderful story!

By any measure, Deanna Jones is a successful woman.

  • As a vocalist and bandleader, Deanna has been the highlighted performer at Presidential Inaugurals, Hollywood parties, and at thousands of society weddings, galas, and private and public events.  Deanna and her orchestra (the Deanna Jones Orchestra) performed at the weddings of Michael Douglas/Catherine Zeta Jones, Donald Trump/Marla Maples, and Kenneth Cole/Maria Cuomo.  She was the bandleader for events with Jimmy Buffet, Julie Andrews, John McEnroe, Bette Midler, Matt Lauer and many others.
  • Deanna is an author.  Her book, To Be a Mother: Adopting God’s Heart, reached #1 on the Amazon best-seller list in its category.
  • But most remarkably, Deanna Jones is an adoption advocate who has overcome personal struggles and has reached out in love to help HIV orphans around the world.  Her own family—including two children born naturally, three adopted from Ethiopia and one from Guatemala—is the locus of her life.

The story could go on.   To my amazement, I came to realize that our paths may have crossed once before.  When our children were small, we took them to Disney World– and through Deanna’s book I came to realize that she may very well have been the “Cinderella” who sang and danced in front of the castle on our trip.  But enough of that….

November 24, I just learned, has been declared Michigan Adoption Day.  Over 30 Michigan courts will participate in this event, and over 100 children will find new homes in Michigan tomorrow. Participating courts finalize adoptions, hold parties for adoptive families, and have other activities aimed at educating the public about the adoption process.

The need is great.  If you’ve EVER considered whether you might want to adopt, if you feel you can make room for one more, if you have an abundance of love to give a to child, let Deanna’s message encourage you to take the next step to inquire.

For more information: www.mothertheworld.org;  www.deannajones.com

Filed Under: Adoption, Family, People Tagged With: , , , 1 Comment

HEARTSONGS: The Story of Matti Stepanek Will Knock Your Socks Off

November 15, 2010 By 3 Comments

Requiem in Sea

Oh, to call the conch my home . . .

Stormy-smoothed tunnels of

Kaleidoscope walls spiraling into

Pearl-shimmered dyes,

Ever-changing with the light

Of the sun, of the moon,

Of the tide, and the gloaming,

And surging, and sighing,

Of the sea . . .

Of that space

That calls to me

Beyond the Polished Pier,

Beyond the now, and here.

Echo of ocean breath,

Silhouette of Light,

Indescribable description

Passing, mortal fathoming.

Passion, ebbing into solace,

Upon realizing the sanctum

Of our perpetual Home

Along the shores of paradise,

No longer a distant horizon.

Oh, to call the conch my home . . .

Such a lovely dwelling space

For the here, and the now.

Or perhaps,

A dove, an ark, a whelk, or

Any some-other lovely shell,

To be left on the shore

Like the hollows of driftwood

Or the gentle leavings of flower petal

Remains

When requiem passage calls.

–Mattie Stepanek, age 13

Today I write to tell you that you MUST read this book.

Jeni Stepanek, a mother who is herself afflicted with the genetic disease which took her four children, wrote Messenger: The Legacy of Mattie J.T. Stepanek and Heartsongs as a tribute to her beloved son, who died just before his fourteenth birthday.

Perhaps you saw Mattie on television during his all too brief fourteen years, or heard him speak or recite his poetry.

Mattie, and his three siblings before him, died of a rare disease called dysautonomic mitochondrial myopathy. But Mattie Stepanek was more than a sick child. Mattie J.T. Stepanek was a bestselling author who publishing six collections of his Heartsong poetry and one collection of peace essays that all became New York Times bestsellers and eventually sold more than 2 million copies. But his legacy lives strongest in his choice—his decision to celebrate life and perceive it as a blessing even during the most painful moments.

Oprah Winfrey called him “an inspiration”; Maya Angelou saw him as a kindred spirit and fellow poet; and Jimmy Carter described Mattie Stepanek as “the most remarkable person I have ever known.”

I’d like to add one more accolade: Mattie Stepanek is a saint. It is the miracle of this young boy’s cheerful holiness in the face of grave illness that stands out on the pages of this book.

Messenger is a story to make you laugh and make you cry, and then make you want to be somehow bigger, more alive, more fully present than you are today.

Filed Under: Books, Death, Faith, People, Pro-Life Tagged With: , , , , , 3 Comments
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