About the Book

Book: The Orphan Carpenter: Orphaned at birth. Adopted by God. A tale of hope and a future.

Author: Kenneth Ian McQuarrie

Genre: Spiritual Growth/Memoir

Release Date: November 22, 2022

“Ok Lord, I sure hope you have this under control, because from where I sit things aren’t looking so good.”

When I came into this world, there were no baby showers, no celebrations, no father handing out big cigars, or first photo being passed around the office. Grandma, grandpa, aunts, and uncles would not be visiting, pinching my chubby cheeks and saying how cute I was. You see, I was an orphan. Unwanted, cold, hungry, and alone … or was I?

Have you ever wondered where God is? How can this be happening? What did I do to deserve this? Have your circumstances led you to question your faith? Does God care? Does he even exist?

My core beliefs had been shaken. To make sense of what just happened, I went back and examined my own life. So many times, the odds were heavily stacked against me, life and death situations. Yet, somehow, someway, God always showed up.

From orphan to carpenter and beyond, the pages of this book are my life stories. But the book is not about me or my story. It’s about God.

As you read these true stories of my life like parables, may they be a testament that God loves you and has a plan to give you hope and a future.

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About the Author

An orphan from birth with serious medical complications, Kenneth went into foster care at three months old. Eventually adopted by his foster family, he grew up in a small northern Canadian city. Being raised by loving Christian parents and mentored by his carpenter grandfather, he dreamed of becoming a carpenter himself one day. The Lord had different plans for young Kenneth. Plans that would take him on an incredible life journey to the pinnacle of the North American construction industry.

Kenneth has always held firmly to his faith throughout the journey, trials, and tribulations. He’s served in church administration and hosted and led Bible studies throughout his adult life. He lives in Orange County, California, with his wife, Celine.

More from Kenneth

Back in early 2018, following a very harrowing experience, I found my marriage starting to crumble. My wife Celine and I were processing things very differently. I’m a builder, a fixer, and I couldn’t fix it. Jeepers, I didn’t even know what it was.

Suddenly, this random thought flooded into my brain, and I blurted out, “Would you be willing for us to go see a counselor to help us process all this?”

Did I just say that? I thought as Celine said, “OK, yes, let’s do that.”

At one of our counseling sessions, the counselor said, “Your lives together began when you started dating. But, before that, both of you had lived separate lives for many years. So, for this week’s homework assignment, I want you to write each other a story from your life. The life you had before you met. Your memories from when you were growing up.”

“Me, write a story? I barely passed English class in school. I’m no writer,” I responded.

The counselor smiled. “I’m not saying write a novel. It’s more like a letter, just write down some memories of your life you can share. Just like our session today, this will help you to understand each other better.”

“OK, I’ll give it a try,” I said.

That night, Celine fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, exhausted from the emotional roller coaster a few hours before. So, I pulled out a journal and pen and began to write. I scribbled notes down for about an hour then fell asleep.

In the morning, I handed Celine my journal. As she began to read, her brow wrinkled, followed by her face contorting as if in pain. Finally, after a couple of long minutes, she looked up.

“Is it that bad?” I asked.

“No, it’s not that it’s bad. It’s … you should write this.”

“I just did.”

“No, I mean you should write your story, your whole story.”

“You mean like a book? I can’t write a book. I barely passed English class.

“No, you can’t spell, and yes, your grammar is terrible, but you tell stories all the time, and people like your stories. People remember your stories.”

Celine was right about one thing, the fact that I tell a lot of stories. When I was young, Mom would tell me stories repeatedly of how I came to be a McQuarrie. I loved Bible stories about Moses, Joseph, and King David as a little guy. I guess not being good at English, I often used stories of my life to explain myself or try to relate to others.

“Stories are one thing, but to write a book, you have to have a point or a purpose, not just a bunch of stories,” I said to Celine.

“Well, you should pray about it,” Celine responded.

After almost a year of praying about it and three years of writing, in November 2022, The Orphan Carpenter was published. I know the Lord had his hand in writing this book because there is no way I could have pulled this off on my own.

I pray the Lord takes these stories to those they were meant to encourage.

“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” Acts 20:24

Author Interview

1. If you had to describe your main character(s) in just three words, what would they be?

“Humbled by God.” I think we all struggle to find that balance between pride and humility. It seems human nature is always fighting for control. The problem is so much in this world is out of our control. The more we fight to control all aspects of our lives, the more we take our focus off God. Jesus said, “In this world, you will have trouble.” God doesn’t cause all the trouble, but he does allow it. He uses all the trials and tribulations in life to draw our focus on him. God didn’t promise us happiness in this world, but he did promise hope and a future when we give up control and humble ourselves to rely on God.

2. What was the most challenging part of bringing this story to life? 

To write this book, I had to go back through my entire life and relive the good, the bad, and the ugly. There is a fair amount of spiritual warfare in the book, and I had many sleepless nights reliving the stories in it. The book is to glorify God and bring hope to people. I needed the Lord’s constant guidance to strike the proper tone with the writing. If it were too light-hearted, it would diminish the seriousness of some circumstances. At the same time, if it were too heavy, it would distract from our victory in Jesus.

3. What was the most rewarding?

A rewarding aspect of any book is hearing from readers who are emotionally and spiritually touched by the stories. I know that’s what every author hopes from their readers. But, just a simple emotional experience is not why I wrote the book. My hope is that emotional and spiritual experience leads to a strengthening of faith in Jesus Christ. Or even better, through this book, someone is led to Christ.

4. What do you hope readers will take away from the book?

Many statistics today state that people are losing faith in God. Many of the younger generations don’t believe God exists. The entire purpose of this book is to present the gospel message in an easy and relatable way. The stories in this book are like modern-day parables, proving that God not only exists but also loves you and is working in your life to bring you hope and a future. All the stories are true; they really happened. But my life stories are secondary and are used only to show how God works today in our lives, just like he has been for centuries in the lives of those who came before us. I pray the stories in this book bring encouragement and renewed faith in how much God loves you and is working in your life.

5. Where can readers follow along to see what’s coming next? 

I have to admit I’m not the best at social media and am just getting started at writing, but here are a few locations you can check-in: