Haiti and My Part

With over a month having passed since the horrific earthquake in Haiti, much remains unchanged. On one hand, things are much worse for the children of Haiti as you will learn from the video clip below. I hope you are surprised and motivated by what you learn...I was!

On the other hand, hope rises! Friends of ours oversee sponsorship and mission projects for orphans in Haiti through their organization Servants for Haiti. Tremendous news reached them about revival in Haiti. A portion of this letter is pasted below. Please pray and consider the big picture presented below and ask God to show you what He wants you to do...

Special Field Report: Haiti's Orphans Held Hostage from Douglas Phillips on Vimeo.

News of hope rises from the rubble: part of an email received from Haiti dated 14 February

"Hello from joyous Haiti:

We have been hearing rumors that President Preval said on the radio on Friday that he has become a Christian. W-- told me he heard the president say this on the radio. Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!!!

In Haiti that means to accept Jesus as his Savior and turn away from Voodoo which in Haiti may mean turning away from the Catholic Church. The reason for this is that Voodoo and Catholic are so deeply entwined in Haiti that it is hard to separate one from the other. Even one of the Catholic popes refused to accept Haitian Catholics because of their involvement in Voodoo.

90% of Haitians are fasting and praying and seeking the Lord for 3 days. Everything is closed. churches are so full you can't get everyone inside. People are singing and praying all day long. Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!

Haiti is having REVIVAL!!!!!!"

A Call to Action from the CEO of our adoption agency AWAA:

"Dear Friends:

On January 12 in the course of only 2 minutes thousands of Haitian children became orphans. Without a say in the matter, these children became part of a global crisis – an estimated 30 million children growing up without parents – vulnerable to slavery, prostitution, gangs, exploitation, and trafficking. These children need loving, permanent families, yet our government has no focus on permanent family care for children worldwide. We must create change now to help children worldwide grow up with parents!

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee have before them The Families for Orphans Act; a bi-partisan bill that would create a State Department office and more importantly an “Orphan Champion/Advocate” specifically to speak up for these children. This Champion and the Office would build capacity in countries to enable families to raise their children at home instead of putting them in orphanages, and reunite kids currently living in orphanages with a safe family member or adopted by loving parents in their own country. The bill also includes inter-country adoption as part of the solution when it is determined to be in the best interest of the child and a permanent family is not available domestically.

What can you do?

1. Call, write a letter or e-mail to your Members of Congress asking them to become Co-Sponsors of the Families for Orphans Act. You can find your Representative at www.house.gov and your Senators at www.senate.gov. Feel free to use the following text as a guideline:

“As one of your constituents I am requesting that you support the “Families for Orphans Act” and become a Co-Sponsor of the legislation now. Many of the tragedies involving Haitian orphans would not have happened if we had had better global support for permanent family care for orphans in countries in need. We hope you will consider standing up for the millions of children around the world growing up in orphanages without the love and support of a permanent family. For information on becoming a Co-Sponsor, please contact Senators Landrieu or Inhofe or Representatives Watson or Boozman.”

2. Sign the Families for Orphans Act petition on the Kidsave website, www.kidsave.org.

Please help us move this bill NOW and give children worldwide a greater chance to grow up with a mom and dad. On behalf of America World Adoption, the Families for Orphans Coalition and most importantly, the children, we thank you for helping.

Sincerely,

Brian Luwis CEO & Founder America World Adoption"

Big Snow!

For Chesapeake, this is an historic snow!! We had about 8 inches at last check, but the snow was still falling about 5 pm! When olivia woke up I told her there was a surprise outside---when she saw it she made the sign for cold and just grinned.

After breakfast, Olivia and I began layering on the clothing for our outdoor adventure. Tom wasn't feeling well at all today so it was just Olivia and I out in the snow for about an hour and a half. She "helped " shovel the driveway and slid down the front steps. I think the only reason she wanted to go in was the wind blowing stingy sleet on her face. Finally she had enough of the cold...me too! Here are a few pics plus some of Dutch and Gus romping in the snow!

"As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

Isaiah 55:10-11

Adoption?

Came across this from another blog and thought it so very perfect! When others ask us why we adopted when our nest was almost empty with the finish line in sight? This is the answer...........Why wouldn't I? Although the process is arduous at best and we are unsure where the money will come from and the fears must be squashed over and over by my tiny measure of faith, God may not be finished with us yet!....

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

Two Months is Too Long...

We've just celebrated Olivia's 6 month mark being home with us. The time has certainly flown by and much has happened. She healed very well from her surgery and the soft diet didn't seem too hard for her, thankfully. Thanksgiving was very memorable! Time at Granddaddy and Nomi's house in SC---Tyler, aunts, uncles, nephew, niece, Nana--so wonderful! Little did we know that in two weeks my father would be home with the Lord. Those memories are all the more precious. I very much wanted Olivia's grandfather to have more time with her. Yet it is amazing that in the two nice visits she had with him, he made such a lasting impression on her. She just last week carried his photograph around --kissing it over and over.

You know the Third Day song "I Wish You Merry Christmas"? Well, I so looked forward to this Christmas with Olivia finally home! It was wonderful but also difficult for all of us with Granddaddy gone. How do folks do it without the hope of life everlasting and full of glory?! First Christmas with Olivia, first Christmas without my dad. Bittersweet!

We were honored to have my mom with us for the holidays. I have seen a strength in my mom that I only wish I had---she is humble, trusting, and so brave. Christmas Eve would have been my parents 59th anniversary! What a legacy!

The new year came on strong. Olivia has speech therapy every Wednesday in our home---courtesy of Chesapeake County and we are so happy. Stephanie is great with Olivia, and Olivia looks forward to her visits.

I'll finish with a huge thank you to the Lord for all of His rich blessings!

Recovery and Get Well Wishes!!

Thank you to all the folks at JFCOM who have so richly blessed us! Olivia loves her giraffe and all of the wonderful things she received earlier in her "Welcome Home" box!


Olivia is doing great! Her nights are off still, but she is eating as well as can be expected with liquids only. She plays hard and expects us to as well! She left the hospital on Friday around noon with much pomp and circumstance. Waving and blowing kisses, she walked from her ward 4B all the way to the parking circle outside the entrance of PNH, I believe she was glad to go! We cannot say enough good things about the staff at Portsmouth and the quality of care was outstanding! We are so very grateful to our Heavenly Father for His provision and care! We truly believe that He chose Dr. Lim and Dr. Gessler to treat Olivia! We appreciate all of the prayers on her behalf and know that our merciful God hears and answers them! Thank you!

Happy Birthday times Three!!

With the celebration of Olivia's second birthday, we take this opportunity to also honor Alexa and Kayla! Alexa turned 20 in September and Kayla turned 25 last week! Our girls are growing up and so very beautiful! We were able to visit Alexa in October for Parent Weekend at Campbell...lots of fun! Kayla is far from us right now serving in the Middle East, but we get to talk often which is great! And Miss Olivia is on the road to recovery from her surgery last week and doing great! Enjoy a few pics! Sweet daughters, you are all so precious to us! Sorry we are still playing catch-up on the birthdays....


Parent Weekend with Alexa!

Alexa and Kayla this past summer!
Olivia's pre-birthday , pre-surgery celebration...more B-day pics coming from tonight's celebration! No cake though but plenty of ice cream...per Dr. Lim!

Operation Day

It is done...it went amazingly well...she is tired, sore, confused and resting with some very strong pain killers--but her pallet is now closed, tubes are in her ears and now she is on her way to recovery in the ICU tonight, and probably at least another night on the regular ward. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PRAYERS--God's amazing fingerprints have been all over this adoption journey and this chapter has been no exception.













Since we have been going on about 3.5 hours of sleep since 3:45 am...I will be brief. Showtime was 0500 at Portsmouth Naval Hospital... after paperwork, changing into her cute hospital gown and some waiting, we moved over the Recovery Ward where we met the surgical team at 0715--what a wonderful group of folks--she had a plastic surgeon for the Pallet work, an ENT surgeon for the ear tubes, two Anesthetists, a surgical nurse, and a resident. They started work around 0745 by doing the ear tubes first (20-30 mins) followed by the Pallet surgery (3 hours) and then an audiology test (1 hour). We were blessed by having the Nurse call us about every 90 mins or after each phase for an update. We were able to join her in the Pediatric ICU at about 1:30 pm. She was basically asleep until 4:00 pm although you could tell she was somewhat uncomfortable. Even when she was awake she appeared quite groggy and confused but definitely recognized her mother and appeared much more comfortable in her arms. From the pictures you might be able to tell that she has enough cables coming out of her to be a computer. She has a full-time dedicate nurse in the ICU, so they were able to convince Susie to come home for a few hours sleep...she will return at 0730. By tomorrow they hope for Olivia to start drinking fluids and have some soft foods.

ENT said that her ears were quite clogged up with a very thick fluid and based on her hearing test her hearing we be quite improved and will help her in her speech. So this wonderful journey continues and thank you for your love and support.

God Bless you all.