I had never heard of the author but it was a Crossings Book Club book, so I decided to give it a try. It was a sweet story and an easy read. Since it was historical, I actually learned something! From 1854 until 1929, 150,000 orphaned or abandoned children were sent from crowded cities in the east to new homes in the west. They traveled in what came to be called Orphan Trains. Telegrams would announce the date of their arrival and families would meet the train to "adopt" the child (or children) of their choice. More often than not, siblings were separated, never to see each other again. It was rare for the children to be legally adopted, so if times got hard, they could be given away, sent to an orphanage, or put out on the streets to fend for themselves.This book is about 3 such children...two sisters and a brother who were orphaned when their parents died in the fire that destroyed their tenement apartment in New York City. They were given to three different families and didn't see each other for 17 years. The book is the story of the working out of God's plan to reunite them....to bring them home.
Reading this made me even more grateful for my wonderful childhood and for the blessing of being able to raise my own children. I, nor my children, have ever known want and there has never been a threat to our being together. God has certainly taken care of us.
I also saw it as a picture of our separation from God and of His wonderful plan to restore us to Himself. We are no longer orphans of this world, but children of the King. I am so very thankful to be home!
"His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave Him much pleasure."
Eph 1:5
Eph 1:5
