True You

Lisa Wingate’s novel Before We Were Yoursis based on the true story of the Memphis-based Tennessee Children’s Home Society. From the 1930’s to the 1950’s, a woman named Georgia Tann stole or purchased children from the poor or from single mothers and then placed them in an orphanage where they were neglected and mistreated. She then sold the children to wealthy families.

Wingate tells the story through the eyes of a fictional woman named Avery Stafford. The Staffords are a wealthy and influential family in South Carolina. Avery has been groomed to serve in high society and to carry on the family legacy. But when her grandmother’s health fails, Avery discovers that her family has a forgotten connection to the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. Her grandmother was one of those children stolen from a loving family and adopted by another. This new information about her past changes the way Avery sees herself. As she learns this revelation about her past, it alters her perspective on herself and her life in significant ways.

A lot of people these days are digging up information about their past. Many of them are doing this intentionally, not accidentally. We seem to be hungry for more of our story.Read More »The True You: Creation (Gen. 1:27-28, 31) Chris Altrock – 4/29/18