ORPHAN; TEEN PENS; HER LIFE’S JOURNEY
by Katrina Jones

The Gold Coast Bulletin (Australia)
September 2, 2006 Saturday
Main Edition

Words Of Inspiration

MARSHA Nicole Woods has lived a life worth writing about.

At just 17, the high school student decided to do just that, publishing
a book entitled A Hope and a Future.

Nicki’s story begins in Russia when she was left at an Armenian
orphanage as a baby.

After her third birthday, she was adopted by American missionaries
and moved to Japan.

Nicki was immersed in Japanese for six years, and also studied English.

With her parents, she moved to missions in Ethiopia and Hong Kong
before arriving in Sydney on her 10th birthday.

In January last year, Nicki and her family moved to Reedy Creek.

And, while the journey can be summed up in words, life for the Year
10 Hillcrest Christian College student has been far more complex.

"I’ve lived an interesting and different life to most people my age,"
said Nicki.

"And I just wanted to write about it to be encouraging and to tell
people that your life is never boring."

One period she recalls in the book was her time at the orphanage.

"I was worried I would get turned out because most kids were kicked
out of the orphanage at three," she said.

"In my brain it was a scary thought.

"Then I was taken in by a family and it was so nice to have a mum
and a dad teaching me right from wrong and amazing to have a brother."

The teenager said she was glad her parents did not conceal her
adoption.

"I’m so glad they were open and honest.

"Even as a kid, they would tell me again and again how much they
loved me, and were grateful to God for leading them to me.

"To know that my birth mother did the right thing in taking me to an
orphanage rather than just abandoning me somewhere and it makes me
appreciate Mum and Dad all the more as they had to work so hard to
make me their daughter.

"As Dad says, ‘Nicki, you weren’t expected; you were selected’."

Nicki said she was encouraged by family and friends to write her story.

"Friends told my dad he should write a story of my life but he said
it needed to come from me.

"When it was suggested, I thought, ‘Well, yeah, I could do that’.

"So I sat down one day, wrote a bit, showed my parents who encouraged
me to keep at it."

Eighteen months later, Nicki had a finished item.

But it wasn’t all easy.

"Trying to remembering the beginning of my life was hard and I had
to get a lot of information from parents.

"Each week I had to set aside time to write and put it together.

"I really had to make it part of my weekly schedule."

A Hope and a Future is available from Hillcrest Christian College or
online through Amazon for $9.95.