Prayer Request

Please pray for our family as we received some devastating news from our adoption agency yesterday.  Luke became ill on Christmas day and continued to not feel well into the 26th.  On the 26th he  was rushed to a hospital.  His condition did not improve and he died at the hospital of unknown causes.  We are grieving our loss, but we know that he is with Him as I type this, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints" Psalm 116:15.

We know God is sovereign and He has a plan and a purpose for all things.  It is during times like these that we must rely solely on the promises of God's word and not human reasoning.  We will hurt for a time but as I read Psalm 3 this morning I was reminded, "You, O Lord, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head".

Please pray for me as I lead my family during this difficult time.   

Please pray for Luke's foster parents and his foster brothers, they are all grieving his death as well.

God Bless,
Kevin

"And laid Him in a manger" Luke 2:7

In Him,

Lily's Knee: Take 2..."For the good"

This is a post that I am glad I waited to publish.  

Some things just take time to play out.


As I reflected on how things have worked out with Lily's second knee, a verse that I've clung to in some of the hardest circumstances of my life came to mind.


Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.


So many of life's happenings look anything but good when they first take place, but with sifting through the Father's hands of love and faith and patience on my part...my faith becomes eventually becomes sight and I see that things have worked together for the good.  

And once again I can testify that my Father knew what He was doing.


Now, Lily's knee is far from a dire circumstance.  It's a milestone of sorts.  A mile marker on the road of her life.  But, nothing anyone will live or die over, go hungry because of.  It is simply a part of her prosthetic leg.


But God knows and cares about Lily's knee.  And was working what I saw as a mistake, a miscommunication, a possible mess...for her good.


You see this second knee  was not the knee I was expecting her to get.  The short of it is there was a miscommunication somewhere and the knee she received this second time is the one that everyone (prosthetist, physical therapist, me) agreed was not the best choice for Lily.  Matter of fact, it was the last choice.

Lily's second knee.  It is usually locked straight, but can be unlocked...meaning it will bend.  The reason this was not seen as a good option is because as soon as the leg goes straight, it locks straight and then someone has to pull the white ring to get it to unlock again for her.

Upon discovering this, I was both disappointed and confused.


But God.

 A little over a week after receiving the knee, Lily's Physical Therapist came to the house.  As she played with the knee and with Lily, she declared good news.

The white ring is attached to the gray wire going down the leg.When it is pulled, the knee "unlocks", meaning the knee bends.  When the leg is placed in a straight position, the leg locks straight. 

This knee was going to be a blessing to Lily!


Now Lily is able to do strengthening exercises for her left glute, hamstring, and thigh and hip muscles that she hasn't been able to previously.  Because she can now get into a kneeling position she can play on her knees.  She can practice standing from a sitting position.  And possibly most importantly, she can learn how to lock the knee...a necessary skill for walking.

So what looked like a disappointment initially, has totally worked for the good!  No one expected this...but God knew.

Lily demonstrating her kneeling!

Who knows?  Maybe Lily hasn't taken independent steps yet, because the muscles on her left side are noticeably weaker because she hasn't had to use them?

One thing I do know...it has been a wonderful reminder for this mom that God is intimately involved in all of the details of my life and my family's.

Praise Him!

In Him,  

Lily's New Knee: Take 1

A couple of months ago Lily's prosthetist, Mr. Don, requested that we see her orthopedist again with the hopes that he would give the OK to adding a knee to Lily's prosthesis.


Her orthopedist had been pretty set on not putting a knee in Lily's leg until she was walking independently.  And she wasn't then...and isn't now.  


But because Mr. Don had high hopes based on what he was seeing of Lily's walking with her walker, we went to see the orthopedist.


We made sure we brought her walker in case Lily felt brave enough to show off.  And show off she did!  He was so impressed with her walker-walking, that he okayed a knee!


So a few weeks later we returned to Mr. Don to have her new knee put in.


As it had been explained to us, there were 2 types of knees available to someone so little.  One knee that could be unlocked to bend for cosmetic purposes only (like sitting, so the leg doesn't stick straight out) but would then lock as soon as it went straight.  Or a knee that never locked straight.  


At this stage in the game, I could care less about a cosmetic prosthetic for her (2 year olds really don't care what their peers think!).  And the fact that it would lock as soon as it went straight and have to be manually unlocked (by me!) in order to bend again sounded pointless.  Mr. Don was in total agreement.


So that left the knee that bent freely, but could not be locked straight if desired (remember a straight let is what she's used to).  That's what was ordered.  That's what was put in.

Lily posing with the bendy knee

Within about, oh, a minute of putting the prosthetic with the bendy knee on Lily, I had a sinking feeling. It was obvious she didn't trust it at all.  She discovered it gave out when she put weight on it and once she learned that...she wouldn't put any weight on it at all.  Instead, she used her "leg-not-on technique"...hopping.


No worries...the Physical Therapist can show me how to teach Lily to do this.  Right?

Looks like her prosthetic foot might need to be replaced soon, too...looking a
 little smaller than her other foot!

By the next day, I was on the phone with our sweet PT begging her to come ASAP and tell me what she thought.  All the work we'd done, progress Lily had made...had instantly vanished.  Lily would not put any weight on her prosthesis.  I needed her professional opinion...was I unduly concerned or was I assessing things accurately?


She came, she saw, and within 2 minutes wanted to know how quickly I could get back to Mr. Don and have the old leg put back on.  


Lily just wasn't ready yet.


Mr. Don however had another trick up his sleeve...Lily's knee: Take 2.


In Him,

Kevin Shares

Kevin and I and another couple were permitted to share with our church body about God's call on the church to Orphan Care through financial support, foster care and adoption for 3 consecutive Sundays in November.  

It was decided by the 4 of us that Kevin would share on adoption for 2 reasons...We only had 10 minutes & I'd never stop talking  AND men are often the ones who are slower to warm up to the idea of adoption...not always, but often.

Since Kevin is also the sound man at church, I asked him to record his sharing so I could put it here on the blog!

I have taken the audio recording of what he shared, including the Depraved Indifference video by Eric Ludy, and added pictures of our Luke.

I think he did an awesome job!

In Him,

Orphan Sunday

Last Sunday was Orphan Sunday.  A day to bring attention to the cries of orphans across the world and in our own communities.  A day to educate and remind Christ's body of our call "to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need" (James 1:27, Amplified).





Kevin and I had the privilege of being a voice for the voiceless.  Last Sunday, we were given 10 minutes (which turned into 15!) to introduce Orphan Sunday and talk about ways in which we can support orphans.


So many people think that the only way in which you can help an orphan is to adopt them.  That is absolutely an amazing, most impactful way...but it is not the only way.  


Believers who are not at the place of adopting...are still called to help orphans.  And there are MANY ways...


We shared about becoming what I call a "prayer mama or papa."  Selecting an orphan to pray for as though they were your own child.


We shared about orphan sponsorship...giving a monthly donation to an orphan ministry to meet the daily living needs of a particular orphan.


We shared about contributing to the surgery of an orphan with a medical need.


We shared about giving financially to families who are adopting and how we have been blessed by our own church body by their assistance...cash, running a snack bar between church services with the proceeds going to Luke's adoption, a  large yard sale, home parties.


But there are sooooo many other ways, too.  Contributing to the needs of specific orphanages, nutrition programs, mission trips, supporting missionaries who serve orphans, etc.


Over the next couple of weeks, we and a fellow adoptive family will share about foster care and adoption.  Please pray that the Lord will stir in the hearts of His people, break them for these precious children, and move them to obedience to whatever...whomever...He is calling them to.


Pray, also, that He would speak through us and that it would be His heart that is seen...not just ours (as passionate as they are).


In Him,

Adoption means...

In Him,