A Very Brief Recap

Courtesy of his older (middle) sister

I'm truly sorry to all of you that are still waiting on a response from me about one thing or another. I just couldn't get it together this past week. Not an excuse but just what happened. Sorry. Thank you to each of you who have been asking about my hand and giving me tips on how to care for it. I must say, it looks great and is healing quite nicely. I bet in another week or so you'll never know I was burned.

Our week-


1. Baby went to cardio on Monday. Surgery is tentatively scheduled for mid April. He will go back in March for another check-up, and we'll set the date then.



We are having to move forward with the surgery because the echo Monday showed the defect already causing some changes in his lung pressures. Not good.





2. I have been up to my eyeballs (literally) in consignment sale washing, pricing, tagging, bagging.......I am so glad that tomorrow all of this will find it's way to our church and out of my home. I want my basement back!!





3. Our oldest got her license (not sure why I never posted that). Not only did she receive her license, but she bought a car. It's a super cute navy Honda Civic and suits her to a "t". Do I like her driving alone? NO WAY! Will I have to get over it? Eventually....give me time.:)





4. Hubby and the 2 youngest girls went to help an elderly lady today by removing a downed tree from her backyard. A neighbor had already cut and split most of the wood- they just wanted it gone. So, in the cold they went. They came home with 2 trailers full of nice oak! Now, they DID NOT do this for money but the elderly lady insisted (after both hubby and our youngest kept trying to give it back) and shoved it in our youngest daughter's pocket. Upon inspecting the wad of cash on the car ride home, she found that the sweet lady had paid them $200!! $200 for letting them help her AND free wood. Any ideas how we can now repay her? She has already said she will not take the money back. Think, think, think.





And off to bed I go. Therapy for baby in the morning. Gymnastics in the afternoon, then on to the church to rid myself of too many girl clothes!!


In Him


E

Let's Not Forget

Haiti. "Let's Not Forget".....how shallow are those words?! Really?!! Forget what? That these people are suffering- NOW! The earthquake was 6 weeks ago, and we all knew this would happen. The earthquake is "old" news. You don't hear the stories on every news and radio station like you did for the first couple of weeks, yet Haitians are living it. The despair and chaos is still very real in this country that is literally around the corner from our home.

The children. My heart breaks. Truly I cannot put into words the emotions that fill me when I think about the children. The loss they must be feeling. Yet in the midst of all of this, I hear story after story of people, children PRAISING God. PRAISING HIM!!

And back to the "let's not forget" part. What can be done? What shall we do? What AM I DOING?! This is what fills my heart today.

God is not finished with me yet. Our nice, happy little world was rocked in early December when we made the heart wrenching decision to come home without Ruslana. We have been covered by overwhelming love and support since that time, but I'm not naive in thinking that everyone supports our decision. I feel it. The judgement. Words don't have to be said. And I've had to deal with that.

But above everything else in this world we KNOW that God is with us. He gave us this heart for His children for a reason. And that reason is? Oh geez, I don't know. People have said to me, "E, you cannot save the world." My feelings about those words- tell me why not! Give me one good reason. Not an excuse but a reason. If I give into the "I cannot save the world" mentality, then I feel like I'm throwing in the towel. Our journey to Ruslana last year was hard. Ukraine was hard. But I refuse to just give up and give in to society and the "easiness" that so many think is the right way. God has mighty, mighty plans for me and I cannot wait for those plans to be revealed.

I have prayed about Haiti specifically for several years now. Is Haiti in our future? Only God knows. Of course, my prayer is "YES!! PICK ME! PLEASE, USE ME!"

Sorry for the rambling in this post. My heart is going crazy tonight.

In Him,

E

**Disclaimer- the "us/'s" part of "Let's" is not directed towards any one person, but more towards myself.

In a Funk

I'm in a funk. Knowing God is not finished with us, but wanting to know NOW what His plan is. Ever felt that way?

This week I'm dealing with loss all over again (another post for another day). In addition to that, we're dealing with strong emotions that come with knowing your sweet angel will soon have open heart surgery. Staying outwardly strong is something I'm good at.....all the while inside my own heart aches. Fear is creeping in. And I know who "fear" belongs to.

For Lent this year I am focusing on prayer. I used to be so disciplined in keeping my prayer journal and what a blessing it was! I loved being able to look back and see the exact prayers that God answered. Truly amazing! I am so ashamed to say that I have allowed other things to take it's place. But NO MORE! I am focusing on prayer this Lenten season, starting a new prayer journal and listening for our Father.

This guy continues to be my steady hand. Thank you, God, for putting him in my life.

Just after sneaking up on the kids with snowballs!

In Him,

E

Ouch!

**I don't know why I couldn't space between paragraphs- sorry!

Wow. I can't imagine being a "real" burn victim. I mean, yes, I was burned last night but to be burned badly enough to require hospitalization has got to be horrific.

Other than being burned by the stove, oven or something else minor, I've never been burned. I have an incredibly high pain threshold, but for a good part of last night I was in agony. After doing what he could for me and making sure I was okay, hubby went running for the computer to look up what the best treatment was. REMEMBER THIS- COLD WATER!!! NO ICE, BUTTER, ETC! I truly couldn't bear not having my hand in the water for more than a few seconds. I even slept on the sofa with my pot of water. If I removed my hand from the water, it almost felt like it was on fire.

Today is much better. Still quite a bit of pain, but I am free from cold water now. My hand is very swollen, so much so that I had to remove my wedding band with vaseline this morning. I am unable to use it very much, but how is that really an excuse when children need me?

We've determined that the burn is 2nd degree and from what we've read is "the most painful type of burn". Very reassuring. I hope we got it in water soon enough for there not to be any permanent damage or pealing. From what we've read, the capillaries expand and rupture trying to get rid of the heat thus causing damage to your skin. If cooled quickly and properly the capillaries "chill out" and don't expand too much.

I will be fine, and no, I didn't go to the ER or the doctor for that matter. Call me stubborn, but they would just drug me up and I refuse. I am tending to my wounds quite nicely here at home.

Oh, I guess I should tell you how this all happened. I was being a very sweet wife (patting myself on the back here) and making sick hubby some homemade chicken noodle soup. The chicken was boiling but had too much water in the pot, so I decided I would drain some. As I lifted the pot over the sink, the pan hit the edge of the counter and splashed back onto me. THANKFULLY no children were around. I can't imagine.

In Him,

E

Boiling Water Burn

It had never happened to me....until tonight. I'll let you know how I am in the morning. I have the feeling not much sleep tonight.
In Him,
E

Just so sad

PLEASE, join me in NOT supporting shows such as Family Guy and those affiliated with them. Let them know your disgust. I just don't get it.

I realize this may be old news to most of you, but I know it's worth a post anyway. Sarah Palin is a HUGE adovocate for people with special needs. Regardless of whether or not you share her political views, this lady is shouting from the rooftops and opening doors for children like her Trig and our angel. She, Trig, her family and the entire population of those with special needs deserve more respect than this. It's disgusting.

**Remember to turn off music at the bottom of the page.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Praising and thanking God today for the LOVE I have in my life!

Disclaimer- no paper was ingested by baby in the taking of this picture.



In Him,

E

A Little Catch Up

So, blogging has been the last thing on my "to do" list for the past week or so. Sorry to all of you waiting in suspense as to what our next move is (yeah, right! I'm sure there are so many waiting in suspense!:) A brief recap of our week and a half....mostly in pictures. Because I'm lazy like that.


Sweet angel boy was baptized January 31st by our dear friend, Laura. It was such a special day shared with our family and many friends. Our family gathered back at our home after the baptism for brunch and air hockey wars. Laura- honestly, I can't imagine not having her in my life. She has been such a solid source of love and encouragement over the past several years, and we are truly honored to be able to call her our friend. She is so genuine and will absolutely drop what she's doing to talk if you need her to. Our children have grown up together. I had the joy of keeping her two kiddos for about 4 years while she worked at our church as a youth pastor. We were blessed by Laura on such a special day.








Our youngest daughter turned 9 last Tuesday. Our "baby" is becoming quite the young lady whether I want to admit it or not. Birthday breakfast consisted of the traditional sausage balls. Still don't know how that tradition started but our kids look forward to it nonetheless. We had a fun day taking some friends of hers to the bowling alley, to Dairy Queen for icecream and then heading back home for a spend the night party. And what a wonderful Mimi and Papa our kiddos have!! They blessed the birthday girl with a treasure- doesn't every girl need an Asian parasol?





And today, well today our oldest turns 17!! Crazy to think that 17 years ago I was giving birth to our fiery redhead. And though she can be outspoken and a little bit stubborn (can't we all?!), her heart is soft and full of love for the Lord. She is the only one of our kids (and hubby) who'd rather have monkey bread for breakfast on her birthday. So, monkey bread it was- served on my Grandma's china . We then headed to her favorite restaurant for lunch- a quaint, "reborn" southern home filled with delish southern cuisine. The china doesn't match nor do the chairs, but it adds to the charm of one of our favorite places. I'll share those pictures tomorrow....maybe.:) They are on a different camera, it's late and I am too tired to load them right now.


Pictured here with her "friend"- yes, that's what I call him. A sweet boy, but still. S...l...o...w...l...y.....we are coming to the realization that she is indeed growing up. Tomorrow hubby is taking her to (hopefully) get her drivers license. Eeekkk!!

I decided to take some Valentine's pics of the kids today. Most were taken inside because it's blistery cold out. But, we did venture out onto the front porch for a total of 32 seconds. I took about 53 shots during those few seconds- can you tell they are cold?! Baby is okay. He got many, many snuggles as soon as we got in....smiling the entire time!

And well....just 'cause he's so terribly cute I am sharing these. He began eating "real" food a few weeks ago. From the very first bite, it's been love- no spitting, gagging, nothing. To date, he's eating avocado, sweet potatoes (what he has on his face in the picture below), bananas and apples. We'll be venturing out and trying cauliflower and peas next week. I am making all of his food just because it creeps me out a bit to think about what might be in the store bought baby food. But I drink Coke- does that make any sense?

Not sure what he was thinking here, but this picture cracks me up! I think he was sad he couldn't have icecream at DQ.:( Sorry, buddy.

Hope y'all have a blessed week!

In Him,

E

URGENT- HOME NEEDED FOR BABY GIRL!!!

I just received this from Shepherd's Crook - a wonderful orphan ministry for children with special needs. Read through and pray for this sweet little one.
In Him,
E

Hello everyone:
We have just learned of a situation involving a little girl here in Ohio who has not yet been born and who is in need of a family. She was supposed to have been delivered via Cesarean section in early March, but it looks like her birth is imminent. The birth mother is currently in the hospital and has been given steroids to aid the development of the child's lungs as the end of the pregnancy draws near. In addition to being born somewhat premature, a neonatal neurologist believes that this baby girl is going to be blind and will have MRDD, hydrocephalus, seizures, and cerebal palsy. A final diagnosis will be made after the delivery, but this is what is expected at this point. The baby will be transferred to Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus once she is born so that she can be evaluated for a shunt that will relieve the pressure caused by her hydrocephalus.
The reason that this precious little girl is being put up for adoption is that the birth mother is currently incarcerated. Because of her inability to parent the infant after she is born, we really need to find a family for her soon, lest she be placed into the foster care system. Up to this point, the birth mother has been calling the baby Annabelle, and hopes that the name can stay with the baby in some form. She would also like to receive annual updates on this girl via photos and a letter. The agency that is working to place her—Caring for Kids—is not charging any fees for their services. That means that the only fees that the adoptive family will face are the attorneys' fees, although there might be minimal fees for post-placement visits, as well.
Anyone who is interested in adopting this baby girl, please write to annabelle@theshepherdscrook.org for more information. And please join us in praying for this tiny one's future.
In Him,
Greg
Administrative Assistant