Defying the Odds

Every day Daughter of Purpose defies the odds with every step that she takes, but every Saturday she goes above and beyond that when she plays T-ball. Never in a million years did those in her Russian orphanage ever think she'd being doing something such as this.




I wish I could describe for you what it is like to be the parent of a special needs child. I suppose it's not that much different than that of a "normal" child, but yet it's like taking your parenting and putting it in overdrive. I (and my husband) am my child's best advocate because no one knows her better than we do. In those moments when doctors and physical therapists have basically let us know that this is the best they can do for her, it is us who has to step up to the plate, pushing forward to use whatever resources we have to continue on in what we think is best for her. We've had to use our own "tools" and common sense and not rely on others to do it for us. We are with her day in and day out so it is us who encourages her to press on and knows her limitations--always pushing her a little beyond what she thinks she can do. We are the ones who won't allow her to cop out and take the easy route and when she sets her mind to something it is us who stands beside her and cheers her on to succeed.

I won't kid you though, it can be a mixed bag--we can sometimes be tempted to be discouraged. We've also had moments when we've had to reconcile our hopes with reality. We all have dreams for our children, but sometimes those dreams need to be adjusted and it can be depressing to realize that your child doesn't naturally have the same abilities as her peers. It can be frustrating to deal with people's ignorance and their stares. We will never forget the moment when it dawned on us that our child may never ride a bike. We won't soon forget that after less than a year, the physical therapist basically told us that he didn't know how to help, nor the moment when the doctors basically told us this was the top of the line for her.

But we cannot dwell on these things. That's how we've gotten this far--by thinking outside of the box. Who knows, maybe she will ride a bike, but it just might need some alterations to the bike. Maybe she'll go on to be a top athlete in softball, but it might be in a different league than our other kids. It's just a matter of perspective. While we raise this incredible child that defies the odds simply by walking, we will not settle and we certainly will not dwell on the negative thoughts. We recognize that how Daughter of Purpose views the world will be learned from us. How we respond to peoples stares and questions will be the way she responds. If we accept defeat--so will she.


So we will be forever grateful that God gave us this child to raise that has taught us so much, especially that life is in the eye of the beholder. Maybe she's right (remember when she said this last summer?), I will sit in the crowded Olympic arena one day and scream my head off for my Daughter of Purpose and I know which voices will rise above all the others--the voices of her family that didn't settle, but saw something in her and pushed her on toward greatness.


May these simple Saturdays of T-ball be only the beginning...


1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

Our Family Vacation

Yours

Adopting Daughter of Purpose has been an experience that has changed how Nate and I view the world. We see the statistic that there are 144 million orphans in the world and we continually ask ourselves how we can do more. Yes, we have changed the life of one child and maybe if we were to adopt again in the future we'd change that life too, but it doesn't seem like enough. It bothers us to sit in our comfortable American home knowing that there are people out there who don't even know if they will eat today. Sending off a bit of money for someone else to fix it just doesn't sit right with us. So we have prayed that God will use us to be a part of the solution. No, we don't feel called to be missionaries in the dark jungles of Africa, but we are being called to go to Haiti this summer.

Nate and I have been asked to lead a team to Haiti to help get an orphanage off the ground. We are so excited that we are nearly busting at the seams because this what we've been praying for--an opportunity to be a part of something that will impact the lives of many orphans. On this trip we will also be taking our oldest daughter because we believe that even though she is a child, she has much to contribute. We want to work alongside her in ministry and share our heart for the nations with her. What we hope is that it is a life changing experience for her. Honestly, we hope it will be a life changing experience for all of us. May we think more like Christians than like Americans...

We share all of this with you because we have begun a new blog to journal how God has lead us straight into His heart for the fatherless. Although Daughter of Purpose was the jumping point for the passion God has given us for orphans...this blog--14 degrees--is HER story. This blog will be printed out into a book for her because it is a journal of the first year of her life. We don't feel like it would be fair to take this spot just for her and change it to ours. We will continue to write her story until she has been with us one year (in May).

If you are interested in reading our journal about our passion for orphans, you can visit it at http://www.journeyintohisheart.blogspot.com/. The rub is this though...we haven't fully decided yet if we want want our journal to be public or private. Right now it is private--you have to receive an invitation to read it. For now it will remain that way, but it may change in the future. If you are interested in following our thoughts and our trip to Haiti (and we pray more beyond that) then you will need to send us an e-mail asking for permission to read our blog. If you know us personally then you probably know how to do that. However, if you don't, but would like to read it you can e-mail us at nates5bs@gmail.com. Our new blog is titled "Yours" because our life truly belongs to the Lord and we desire for God to use what we perceive as ours to become His. It is still in the works so you will have to be patient as we develop it. From my graphic art eye, it's a mess right now...nowhere close to how I want it to look visually, but the reality is that "Yours" is not about what it looks like. It's a place to journal our thoughts.

See you in Haiti...

I Have a Dream...

...of a world where no one has to live in extreme poverty...where there is no such word as orphan.

-"Red Lett*rs" by T*m Davis

Fun in the Kitchen

Here's just a few pictures from the last few days. Nothing special going on here, but a whole lotta fun in the kitchen.

First, this is Daughter of Purpose practicing being a chef. We were adding our ingredients in for Friendship Bread. You know the one that keeps on giving and you care for it each day? Then you have to find people who want to take some of your "babies" from your bread? Well anyway, we had a great science lesson about fermentation!

For St. Patrick's Day we did all kinds of green things. Daughter of Purpose certainly knows the color green and the shape of a shamrock now! I didn't wake up this morning with intentions of serving such a green meal for dinner, but as the day progressed, I kept coming up with new ideas! We had Pesto, broccoli, green milk and we even made some very green bread in the bread machine! I topped it off with green butter.

The Talker wasn't feel so great this evening so he humored me with a smile.

In the late afternoon we took a walk to McDonald's by our house and tried to enjoy some Shamrocks shakes in celebration of this fine holiday, but apparently McDonald's wasn't selling them this year. Can you believe that? We were so bummed, but still managed to have a lot of laughs over chocolate milkshakes. We were grateful for the sunshine and exercise we got!

Baffling the Doctors

Daughter of Purpose had her BIG consultation with all of the doctors, residents, physical therapists and people from the orthodic/prosthesis dept at Shr*ners. I'm sure there were more departments represented, but those were the ones I could put my finger on as we sat in the room.

I'm not really sure how to explain to you about today so I will just summarize it with what one of the doctors said to us as they examined her..."We're just trying to figure out how she is doing what she is doing. How is she even walking?" It took some restraint to not respond with, "Because God is in the business of doing the impossible--that's why."

Previous to this, I didn't really realize it, but I had become focused on what she cannot do, how to get it fixed and how to help her come to terms with that. In this light bulb moment, it dawned on me that my focus has been wrong. She is astounding the doctors with what she CAN do. I guess I never realized that her abilities are beyond their medical expectations and that is much to be thankful for. It never occurred to me that she could be in worse shape.

With that in mind and with much rejoicing for her amazing growth, the only thing the doctors could say was that she is doing great and to continue with what we're doing. They did change one of her braces, but beyond that they just want to see her every few months to keep an eye on her.

All of this makes me want to do some more research about Marion*Rudolph who had polio as a child but went on to become an Olympic runner. Who knows what God has in store for Daughter of Purpose...

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

Fun in the Sun

The weather has been wonderful here, but despite that a few of our kids decided to enjoy the souveniers Nana and Papa White brought back from their cruise in a very creative way inside the house. They took the toothpicks with umbrellas on them and instantly knew what to do!