First Family Picture Feb 26, 2010

2 Corinthians 1 - Passage Lookup - New International Version - BibleGateway.com

2 Corinthians 1 - Passage Lookup - New International Version - BibleGateway.com: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort"

With good news always comes the bad :(

Happy Dogs!!!!

2Corinthians 1:20

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are yes in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the Glory of God.

We just found out yesterday that our insurance will again change and not for the better. I just can't believe it, we already pay $1000 a month and at least we have a secondary. Now our new insurance will have a very high deductible and no secondary. I thought a $2000 deductible was high, but we will see what their version of high is. Now there is absolutely no waiting for Sneha's second ear surgery, we have to do it as soon as possible. It is such a good thing that Elise had her tonsils out, Elijah's surgery this year is done, and hopefully Sneha's left ear surgery will be repaired. The right ear has been a success as far as I can tell. I just can't imagine how some one without insurance can make it with kids with medical needs. God only asks us to get through one day at a time and that is what we must focus on. Luckily I had my EGD done a couple of weeks ago and I no longer have Barrett's esophagus. I don't have to get that expensive test done every couple of years any more. They have been monitoring my esophagus for 5 years and the cells reversed to normal yeah!!!!!That will save at least $1000 or more a year. I really hope that the new insurance has good prescription coverage, this one covers generic at 100% which equally a savings of $140 a month for Elijah's seizure med. Graedy and I take breathing medication that would be that would $270 to purchase and with insurance now only $70. Breathing medications usually have a patent against generics so people pay big bucks to breath and who can go without breathing???? I have tried to take it every other day and it just doesn't cut it. If I can't breath then I have to sleep way too much and that doesn't work with 4 children.

So my goal this week is to get a job. I know that God will pick one out that will work with all of my household responsibilities and taking children to medical appointments. Do not misunderstand me all of this stress is nothing in comparison to the waiting for Elijah and Sneha to come home. All these issues are in God's hands and we are all home. There it is we can not look too far ahead ,let us deal with the day at hand. Thank goodness the weekend is almost here.

She has spoken!!!! Febuary 25, 2010

Our Sneha said the most precious words today for the first time ever MAMA. The ear surgery worked!!! We are so thankful that her lack of speech was partially due to not hearing. I was not hopeful that she would ever speak and I was proven wrong and not to expect any thing short of a miracle that God was working in her. She is progressing so much this month that I am stunned! Highlights of the month:

1. spoken words without prompting
2. starting to run(she had a hard time walking steadily in November from lack of practice)
3. playing with toys(children from orphanages do not know how to play)
4. letting us rub her head
5. sitting on our laps relaxed
6. letting go of control to let us be the parents in charge
7.squealing in delight to get on the bus every morning

Graedy finally has braces and he needed them so bad!!!His eye teeth are coming out way up on his gum and the top midline is very shifted. The bad news it that we kept going round and round to find out about ortho insurance with our dental, well we do not have it. Luckily the Orthodontist will work with us and let us make payments. A very expensive treatment, but it will be well worth it. He looks like a teenager now, and I just want to know where time went!

The brothers!!!

Graedy dressed for wacky day at school.

We finally did find out what the smoke smell was a couple of weeks ago---the furnace blower motor. The ancient furnace needed a blower motor and a new thermostat, but at least the house is much warmer now. So far a very expensive house repair for the last 3 months.:( This old house isn't use to a family of 6 yet. I am just so glad that the motor didn't catch the house on fire.

Each and every day when I wake up I may be so tired and not knowing what the day has to hold, but I am so thankful that two children the least of these are finally HOME and I am not worrying every night that they have enough to eat. Graedy and Elise have learned so much and have embraced two total strangers and have welcomed them home as siblings. The lessons that our birth children have learned could not have been learned from just observing other families. My hope and prayer for Graedy and Elise is that they will step out a way from the world and take God's hand into the unknown to make a difference. God is working in their hearts for the better, but with change comes growth. We all know that growing is painful, but very necessary to our souls. I hope that some day they will venture across the world to see how the rest of the world really lives .

I HAVE CONCLUDED.........

I have concluded that the accumulation of wealth, even if I could achieve it, is an insufficient reason for living. When I reach the end of my days, a moment or two from now, I must look backward on something more meaningful that the pursuit of houses, land, stocks, and bonds-nor is fame any lasting benefit. I will consider my earthly existence to have been wasted unless I can recall a loving family, a consistent investment in the lives of people, and an earnest attempt to serve God who made me. Nothing else makes much sense.

Author: James Dobson

Any one considering the idea of adoption ,my advice is don't wait a moment longer!!!!If we would have even waited a couple weeks later than we started Elijah may not have been in our family. If we would have waited for more words from God we would have missed out. Little did we know that while processing two adoptions that in the midst of it all Brent would be laid off TWO times in twelve months. I am just so glad that God does ask to know the future it would scare us to death. We are given knowledge when we need it. We would have doubted, and God knew the out come. Through trials we are able to see beyond the today with God's help. We as humans do not need all the answer now, we just need to be obedient. God will open the flood gates to bless those who step out in obedience even when the numbers and facts on earth do not make sense. Step out and welcome a child without a family home. Many eastern block countries allow adoptions up to 60 years old, so search your heart and is God calling you to adopt the fatherless and orphaned? Only 2% of Christians adopt, could Emmanuel Baptist and other Church's come together and embrace God's plan for humanity. Each family can make a difference, a difference to one is the world to that one. Adoption is God's plan and it is not second best, it is the perfect plan.

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon me, and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart."

Jeremiah 29 11-13

Second Gotcha Day!!! Two Years with Our Family!!!

JOHN 14:18

I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you!!!



WU, CHONG LI AKA ELIJAH CHONGLI ARNOLD. The pictures that stole our hearts and took us on a very exciting journey across the world to KunMing, Yunnan, China.
The kung fu fighter that he is.

The smile that sealed the deal.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE TWO YEARS MAKES:

2008

Major reconstructive skull surgery to the right parietal area.

A brace to make his foot and leg walk normally for the first time

Kindergarten in America am and pm to get a double dose of learning with repetition.

Learning that he has a seizure disorder -learning to adjust to the medication

Learning what it means to be part of a forever family never to be forsaken

Met other children at Welcome Child adopted from around the world

Learning to adjust to a new family with new rules and ways unlike his own

Getting to know his brother and sister

2009

First grade in America-even though he was in level four in China

Cleared to play sports for the first time ever-soccer and basketball

He no longer has to wear a helmet while out side to play

A seizure free year-yeah!!!!!!

Learning to read even though he could already read in China

Moved from 1st home in America to a small rural town-a very big adjustments-it took his mind to China and loosing his foster family and his culture :(

Learning more responsibility and to be responsible for his own actions

He can go to friends house with out mom being there to watch so he does not get hurt
Mom is learning to loosen her grip to give privileges

Thank goodness for Tuesday!!!!!!

Saturday Feb 13, 2010

What a weekend, our family could use a little less excitement. Saturday evening something smelled like it was burning in the house. I woke up and Brent was still awake. We couldn't find where the smell was coming from, but something smelled like burning wood. We called the fire department and they could smell it, and they did a heat scan of the entire house and checked common causes. We still do not what it was and they didn't figure it out, but they said we definitely did the right thing to call.

Sunday Feb 14, 2010

I feel very well rested and get up before the alarm, a very rare occurrence. Everything seems to be going very smooth for an early Sunday morning. Graedy is even helping get Sneha ready he combs her hair and brushes her teeth.(It is usually Elise that helps little sis.) I was getting my makeup on and Graedy comes running to the bathroom, "Mom something is wrong with Sneha, I think she just had a seizure." I run to the dining room and our little Sneha is laying on the floor pale and limp. Her jaw is gritted and she is awake,but not responsive. Thank goodness that Graedy knew what seizures look like, he witness Elijah having a seizure some time ago in Fort Collins. I took Sneha to the ER she had a CT scan, urine culture, and blood drawn. She does-- NOT-- have a brain tumor-the CT looks normal. The ER doctor said this wasn't probably the first seizure and we are to follow up with a pediatric neurologist. Good and bad news all at the same time, but we do have time. She is here and we have services to help.

God knew that we could handle this special need even if we didn't. Epilepsy was not on our check list of needs that we would be ok with. God places children with their specific families we do not pick the children. He has all this planned out in advance and we are to obey. These children who look just like a diagnosis too hard to bear are real, they are more than their special need, they are valuable children of the King. God blinded us to all the negative possibilities for Elijah and Sneha, their lives have a purpose. We are not to question "why????", we are just to be obedient. I cried many tears of fear about raising a delayed child, physical disabilities I felt more comfortable with for some reason. Now we have two special needs children one with a traumatic brain injury with seizures and one with a lot of unknowns. The bottom line is thank goodness they are home and we can help them. I am so glad they are not having to cope all alone.

1 John 3:11 This is the message that you heard from the beginning: " We should love one another."

Everyday Life

Elise the big sister that is always willing to help her little sis.

Graedy and Elise
Graedy and Elijah best brothers

Elijah and Sneha the 8 year olds

Sneha the Indian Princess

Our Sneha rides the bus to and from school daily and is loving it. A little independence goes along away, when she didn't have any just a couple of months ago. The differences in her life now are as different as our school bus and theirs in India.

New Delhi India aerial view 16 million people. Once she was just a face in the crowd, now a daughter in a family. She just couldn't keep up and compete with the millions of people, survival of the fittest. She would have never been able to go to school where the competition was so real. .

One type of school bus in India every bit of space is maximized.

Thank you Emmanuel Baptist Church!!!!!!

Ezekiel 34:26 I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.



I can say we truly feel loved!!!!! A "Welcome" shower for Sneha and Elijah was such a blessing. These two children were not celebrated at their births, but we celebrate those who's lives have touched so many. God had big plans for these two orphans. He placed them in a grateful family. People say they are blessed ,but I am blessed to have these children in my home. Born a world away in circumstances only known to God, but they were not forgotten. If God is whispering to your heart to adopt, don't wait. These children cannot wait for our timing to be right, they need families now. Elijah and Sneha will now grow up with hope for a future. The future for orphans is bleak they are viewed as cursed in their native lands-bound for a life full of disappointment and suffering. Birth children need to see and know the plight of the orphan so they can grow up to change the world. Change can only happen when we truly step out of our comfort zone for the greater good. God equips families with the tools that they need to take care of those who have been through trauma, illness, hunger, and tremendous sadness.


Leviticus 19:34 The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
My eyes were seeing stars from all of your thoughtfulness.

A new life, a new family, and the love from a church family.

Goodies for the party.

Many thanks to Marcie and Stephanie for caring for the least of these and making their mother feel very blessed. Thank you for caring about us!

The only photo of my dear friend Debbie at the shower. She is a woman that loves God and has stepped out of her comfort zone to welcome the blessings from our Father from China, Guatemala, and Ecuador. Days are often long and hard, but she keeps putting one foot in front of the other-a true inspiration to me. May God bless you richly!!!!!

Two treasures that have forever changed me.

A beautiful quilt for Sneha made by loving hands from the EBC quilt ladies.

Sneha's first new stuffed animal for her room

Greatful for gifts for Elijah.

Beautiful clothes for the little girl that two months ago han nothing to call her own.

Look at all the gift cards to buy things for future needs!!!!!

XIE XIE -DANKE-THANK YOU-GRASCE-MUDO-MERCI-THANKS-DAARIM-BARKA-TAVTAPUCH-SITKOMO-GA'-CHEERS-TODA-SIPAS-ASHI-NANDI-AIO

Thursday Februaury 4, 2010

Time is ticking, our time is but a mist in the wind the disappers in the corridoors of time. Eternity is the forever and what are we waiting for. .............

Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Are we perched in our tiny houses watching the world go by, just minding our own business, just doing our own thing????

What will your foot print be on this life and this earth. We are but a blink of the eye.

Exodus 15:2
The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.

Are we just looking out life window, help us to be bold and step outside.

We are never all alone.

Psalm 26:2
Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind;

Numbers 6:26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." '

Peace like the cows grazing in the field just out my back door.

Eternity is ours to behold, just be patient....

My mind sometimes feel like a nest of tumble weeds, why are we here, and what are we doing?Then I turn my focus back to the ONE who has drawn us to HIM. It is not about us