A Bedtime Story for Adopted Children-How Faith Hill Found a Loving New Family and Became a Successful Singer
A little baby girl was born to a mother in a town called Ridgeland in the state of Mississippi. This baby girl was beautiful, like all babies are, with tiny hands and feet and bright eyes that looked with wonder at the teddy bear in her crib and listened to the tinkling wind chime at the window, and the mother believed the baby was God's gift to her. But the mother was ill, and did not think she would be able to give the child the joy it deserved. So she sends the baby to live with a loving family that would be able to take care of her in a town called Star in Mississippi.
The family had two sons, but her new parents had also wanted a daughter to love. They named the baby Audrey Faith Perry. Her new mother called her Faith, because it was faith in God that had brought the baby girl that she wanted into her life. Little Faith was loved by all who met her and her mother would read stories to her every night. One of the stories that her mother read to her was how Noah built the Ark and saved all the animals on the earth, because he had the courage to listen to God, even though it was difficult to build the ark and the other people laughed at him. Faith loved listening to the part about how the animals went into the ark two by two. She imagined the sounds they made as they marched up to the boat: the Clip Clop of the pair of horses, the Hoppity Hop of the rabbit, the Swish Swish of the wings of the flying ravens, the Moo of the cows. Faith imagined their feet would make a lot of music. She had a very vivid imagination.
Even before she had learned to speak, little Faith had begun to hum the songs that she heard around her. She listened to the singing of the wind in the trees and learned to imitate it. She would run around the house and sing, “Whoo-ee, whoo-ee” like the wind. When she heard the mockingbird sing she learned to imitate the mockingbird, singing “Chireep, chireep, rash, rash, tweedle, tweedle.” Because Faith loved music, her mother bought her a guitar and Faith would strum away for hours on the sofa. She also loved baseball, and was a happy, bright child.
When Little Faith learned to speak, she asked her mother questions in a musical voice. “Mummy, what does my name mean?” And her mother answered, “'Faith' is believing that you can be whatever you want!” Faith screwed up her eyes and thought for a while and said, “I have faith that I can be a famous singer when I go up.” Her mother was delighted to hear it and hugged her close. The next morning, she taught Faith how to sing Amazing Grace. That Christmas, Faith sang to the entire family and cousins, uncles, grandma and grandpa said what a wonderful voice she had. From that time on, Faith sang at her local church and sometimes on the stage during a luncheon of her youth group, which is like school, but there are a lot more kids there and they learn by doing things. Faith made friends there and people loved to look at her bright smile and hear her sing, because it made them happy as well.
One day, when she was old enough, her parents came to Faith's bed at night and said to her, “Faith, mummy and daddy have something important to tell you.” Her mother took her up in her lap and smiled with a face full of love. Her father put his arms around them. “What is it, mummy,” Faith asked. Her mother hugged her as her father answered, “We think you are old enough to know that you didn't come from mummy's body, but from another mother.” Faith was confused and she began to cry in confusion. Her parents told her it was okay to cry, but they held her close. When she had calmed down, she asked, “Then who are my parents? Don't you love me?” Her mother kissed her and said, “Of course we love you darling, you are our daughter! Have we ever given you any cause to doubt that?”
And Faith thought to herself, no, there had never been any reason to doubt that her parents loved her. It was still confusing to think about two mothers. But she trusted her parents and knew they would never lie to her. Hadn't they loved her all these years? Didn't they laugh together a lot? Hadn't her brother given her his old radio last week, so that she could listen to her favorite songs of Elvis? She was in no doubt that her family loved her, because, as her mother often told her, they had been a family made by God.
Just before her ninth birthday, her parents gave her a wonderful present. They took her to see Elvis Presley sing when he came to Jackson, and it was on that day that Faith decided what she wanted to do. On the drive back home in the backseat with her brothers, Faith declared, “Mummy, I'm going to work harder at singing. I want to sing on a big stage like Elvis.” Her parents looked back at her and they were proud of their daughter's dream.
So, Faith worked harder, practicing her scales for hours. At church they loved to hear her sing, and every time she stood on stage, she wanted to make the crowd of people down below smile with her singing. Sometimes, she sang Amazing Grace to poor, lonely prisoners in the prison nearby, to ease their loneliness. Sometimes, the prisoners had tears in their eyes when they heard Faith sing, because her singing was so beautiful. It is not easy becoming a singer that everyone knows, but Faith worked hard with the love and support of her family. When she was nineteen, she moved to a town called Nashville, where she paid for her house rent by working at McDonald's while she practiced singing. She also married a man called Daniel Hill, and her name became Faith Hill.
When she was twenty six years old, Faith Hill finally became a successful singer. She made a record that people across the country heard on their music players. People in other parts of the world also came to know about her from newspapers and bought her music. Faith had achieved her dream. Soon after, she visited her parents back home and they shared their joy together sitting in the living room like in the old times. She told them, “I'm happy mummy, daddy that I grew up with you. You let me achieve my dreams.” And her mother, now much older and with graying hair, once again said the same thing she had done years ago, “Of course, my darling, we loved you. We were a family made by God!”