Asian American spirituality, adoption, a big announcement, and a sketch
A long one but hopefully a good one?
My first publications
When I started becoming more serious about writing for public consumption last summer, Sojourners and Christianity Today were two publications that I dreamed of writing for someday: Sojourners because of its longstanding commitment to faith and social justice, and CT because it remains the most influential media outlet in the evangelical community. While my relationship to said evangelical community is complicated, I hold deep optimism that the pen contains power, and my roots are still a part of me.
Last week, two articles I’ve been working on were published. The first, for Sojourners, is an exploration of Asian American Christianity inspired by Jonathan Tran’s book, Asian Americans and the Spirit of Racial Capitalism. If you’re interested in reading it, you can find it here, entitled, “Searching for a Faithful Response to My ‘Privileged Otherness’”.
I was floored to see that the article was accompanied both in the print magazine and online by these gorgeous illustrations from the incredibly talented Julia Kuo, who really captured the spirit and setting of the piece. If you’re not familiar with Kuo, please check out her work! She illustrated RISE: A POP HISTORY OF ASIAN AMERICA FROM THE NINETIES TILL NOW, among many other books. What a gift!
The other article that came out last week in Christianity Today is the most vulnerable piece I’ve ever written. It’s about adoptive parenting, and I’m thankful that both adoptees and adoptive parents have reached out to let me know they resonate with it, because I’m still feeling very raw about sharing the depths of my monstrous soul with the world. My hope with writing honestly about this is to rip away the curtain of silence and shame that comes from parenting struggles. We need a more nuanced conversation about adoption, especially in Christian spaces, and I hope this moves the needle a bit on that. You can find the essay here, entitled “Adoption Was Beautiful, Precious, and God-Ordained. Then I Adopted.”
If you know anyone who has adopted, please feel free to share. It can be a lonely journey.
A writing announcement
The other major news to share is that I signed with an agent, the indomitable Jevon Bolden of Embolden Media Group, to represent my book, We Mend With Gold: An Asian American Spiritual Manifesto. Jevon is a champion for underheard voices in faith spaces, and I’m thrilled to work with her and become part of the Embolden family. Writing a book is a long road, but I’m so glad to now have a partner along the way.
A little sketch
Those of you who are on IG have already seen this, but I’ve included it here for everyone else. Enjoy!
May we make room for the laughter.
May we make room for the crying.
May there be abundance in our spirits.
May there be expansiveness in our days.
Breathe in: I am present in this moment.
Breathe out: I have time to feel deeply.
Until next time,
Kristin
On the adoption article: Wow, Kristin. What a powerful piece. Thank you for your honesty in this. You mention here how difficult this was for you to write. I hear that, and want you to know that even as someone who has no experience with adoption myself, the personal way you voiced this experience struck a cord for me even in the ways I feel like I've fallen short as a parent of my biological children, and my hope for God's grace.
Hi Kristen....
My Mom forwarded me your article from Christianity Today and I really appreciated your vulnerability and willingness to speak truth. My husband and I became certified foster parents right before the world shut down with the pandemic in 2020. We've had several placements although most of them have been respite for other foster parents. Last January, we took on a four and five year old sibling group and we suddenly realized how very old we were. (smile). Our youngest biological son was 10 at the time and our oldest was 18. Long story short, the four year old ended up in the hosptial for a week with a severe asthma attack and infection. She was steps away from being put on a ventilator. I found myself fighting for a little girl's life that I barely knew. I fought for her when DHS demanded that her drug addicted mother have a three hour visit. Thankfully after a quick call to her Dr., that visit was changed to 15 minutes. We had the children for about a month but it seemed like an eternity. Our entire home was turned upside down. When we debriefed after the kiddos left, my middle schooler could only cry. My youngest said he was traumatized. The only folks who reached out to us during the placement was another foster family that we barely knew. They even took the kiddos one afternoon and gave me the chance for a nap. At that time, they had three foster kids of their own who they are now adopting. Our other "friends" from church were suddenly gone. I didn't need a meal; I needed presence. I just needed someone to show up. Thanks again for writing this article and sharing your heart. I look forward to reading more. Gratefully, Christy