Miracles Do Happen..........03/27/2010

Where do I start? Elijah has been a broken hearted little boy that misses his foster mother in China. She was a wonderful mother, and I know that she has missed him so much. I know that they had such a special connection. She taught him almost everything that I would have and more. He has had such a void that we could not fill for him. I know that God placed him in our family under our care and God answers the most difficult prayers. I have prayed for a woman who has a empty spot for a little boy that now lives with us. I have prayed that Elijah's void would be filled and that he mother would come to know Jesus in the future.

It has been a hard week to say the least. Sneha had her left ear surgery on Wednesday in Fort Collins. She wasn't scared and did not throw up at all. This was such a praise because she was so fearful and angry last time, and very sick afterwards. Then Saturday we were rear ended in my car. It snapped our necks quite vigorously, but we are not feeling it near as much as we thought we would.

So after all this busyness I hadn't checked my yahoo groups and the email. So last night I was going through the email deleting most like I do until I came on a post looking for a little boy.  It turns out that a girl name XiFan just adopted from Kunming China, the same town where Elijah came from was looking for her brother.  The post I opened and it said looking for daughter's foster brother from China Wu, Chongli.  I almost deleted this email.  Elijah foster sister that was adopted one day before her 14th birthday and aging out for China adoption was living in the USA.  Xifan-now Hope made a promise to her Chinese foster mother that when she got to America she would look for and find her brother.  What are the chances of finding someone out of millions of people???Am I reading this right, Wu, Chongli ......his sister from China is in America and is looking for him?????  Well to make a long story short Elijah's sister lives in Michigan with her adoptive family.  Visit their blog at http://www.fathman6.blogspot.com/.  We are so thankful that they heard God's calling to adopt an older child.  Xifan-Hope is not only a blessing to the Fathman family, but a true blessing from God for our family.  She holds the key to Elijah's past, we are so excited for her to learn English so she and Elijah can talk.  We talked to their family last night and her adoption is also a miracle, but a true miracle is that these two will have each other in the future.  God works in mysterious ways, beyond what we can see or comprehend.  Our God will move mountains for the orphans of the world.  I can only pray that our families can meet one day and possibly go back to China together.  Our God is concerned about our heart break and he answers our prayers.  PRAISE BE TO GOD!!!!

March 19, 2010

This sums up our week at home.Uhm........How can a child regress so much in just one week????I thought the love of a family was enough. Clearly issues of heart cannot be solved in just a few months time, if ever. Abuse, neglect, and the unknown scar the innocent for life, locked within the chambers of their own heart. I wish I could find the key to her mysteries, but she has to be willing to unlock the truth. Last week she was saying a lot more sounds and her spirits were up, but this week no words not even sound. I suppose it is a way to control when she was not in control of her situation for so long. Little does she know that we will take control and walk down life's path with her at her side every step of the way. Breaking her arm and the isolation of no school brings back to many memories of 5 years watching everyone else participate in life, but her. I wish she could comprehend this is temporary and life will resume as soon as her arm heals. Anger devours our soul and Sneha is so angry at the person who in her mind took everything away, me her mom. This to shall pass in due time.

Poem by Emily Dickenson:

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune with the words
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That keep so many warm

I've heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest sea;
yet never in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.


John 12:27

"Now my heart is troubled, what shall I say? "Father save me from this hour. No, it was for this very reason that I came to this hour."

Some days before I open my eyes and before I am fully awake I can't even remember where I live and what room I am in. Sleeping in a twin bed trying not to touch a broken arm doesn't lend to a good nights sleep. I guess that means that I have moved way tooooo much. Am I late to go to the hospital getting people ready for surgery--- 5am rolls around quickly or am I burning the 350 cinnamon rolls for the kids at Bacon Elementary. Thoughts spin and turn all about. Dreams are places of security the same room, the same bed, and the same old streets to drive down, the same people as your neighbors, and the same friends calling on the phone. I open my eyes and remember oh yeah this is where I live and the silence, but for the trains whistle closes in. Thank goodness our Savior is the true CONSTANT in our lives. This life is but a breath in the passages of eternity. We asked to follow the road less traveled, we said we would give up everything to do so, but sometimes a bit of earthly comfort and security could ease our doubts. I never doubt eternity it is just doubting the path to travel there. Sometimes the road seems so long and dusty, and the wind stings my eyes. I wish the wind could stop blowing and I could just comfortably walk and enjoy the flowers on the side of the road.

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." 1Peter 3:15

Well our Sneha fell out of her bed Thursday evening about 10pm. We heard a thump and a loud scream over the monitor. We ran upstairs and she was standing in the corner of her room very dazed. She had a bump on her eye brow and an abrasion. Brent said look at her arm, it is all floppy and bending the WRONG way. She is so tough she was trying to roll over and go back to sleep. We quickly threw on our clothes and took her to the ER. Thank goodness it is only about 7 minutes away. A very busy night in a small town ER. They didn't realize it was so bad because she wasn't crying or screaming, poor baby just laying in her dad's arms. I said to the admit person it is very bad even though she isn't crying. Orphanage kids are so tough beyond what they should be. They are so used to carrying their pain alone that they don't even cry. I am so thankful that she no longer has that burden to carry alone. It is so heart breaking to think of all the children around the world that carry life's burdens all alone. Sneha broke her humorous between the elbow and shoulder. It is too high on the arm to have a hard cast, so she has a soft cast . The surgeon thought her bones did not look too bad from her malnutrition.

As far as the left ear surgery, I just got off the phone with Dr. Runyan's office and she will have her pre-op on the 16th of March and surgery on March 24th. If the insurance weren't changing I would wait a month, but he thought it would be OK, but he wants the surgery to be done in Fort Collins, since she has so many things going on right now.

Last week I was working on getting a job and prayed, "God if I am to get a job please make it happen and if I am not supposed please prevent it and make it impossible." When we were considering China adoption Brent prayed " God give me a clear sign that we cannot ignore." Do you know what our sign was???? We were waiting to eat at Perkins with my parents and couple that had adopted FIVE Chinese children walked in. (Thank you LeeAnn!!!) If that is not a clear answer I don't know what is. Later we got to know them through Timberline Church and Welcome Child Adoption Ministry. God has the answers we just have to listen and be willing to act, even if it doesn't make sense to us.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Praise be to the Lord and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all of our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.