Seven

Our beautiful Elisabeth,

You are now seven and growing to be such a sweet, helpful, mature young lady.  You definitely have not lost your spunk though!  It is what makes you Elisabeth!  We joke that we all need to get in touch with our "inner Elisabeth" more often to enjoy life to the fullest!  You are such a precious gift to us and we could not be more thankful for you as our daughter.  Your brother and sister love you so much and look up to you and follow your lead...and oh, how you love to lead!  We are anxious to see how God uses you in this way!

Keep your eyes on Jesus and continue to point them and those around you to Him.  We love to see you growing in the gifts He has given you and cannot wait to see how He uses you as you allow Him to guide you.  Happy birthday, Elisabeth!!  We love you, sweet girl, and are so very proud of you!!

Home

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Coming Home

Brian is now in the states, on his way home.  We are in full preparation of picking him up at the airport tonight.

His trip has been amazing.  He has been stretched in ways he did not expect, been through sickness, operated in conditions he never thought he would, and loved the people and the place God is calling us to.  We are anxious to see every picture and hear every detail of his trip.  We have been able to video chat with him almost everyday, but there are so many stories left to hear.  The ability to talk to him has been each day's highlight.  We are falling more in love with this place, fully aware of the reality of it.  It won't be easy, so many of the comforts of living in America won't be there, and we will be far from friends and family.  But we will be surrounded by people who are genuine, joyful, friendly, and kind.  We will be in a place to love and serve and help.  We will have the privilege of immersing ourselves in another culture, living in another beautiful place of God's creation.  We will be able to spend more time together as a family and share the love of Christ in this new place. 

As we anticipate what awaits us in the next year and a half or so, we are so excited to welcome Daddy home.  We are so thankful for what God is doing in our hearts and for all that He has shown us in Brian's trip.  But right now we are most looking forward to being able to say...

Soddo Christian Hospital

I received an email from Brian this morning saying that he made it safely to the hospital.  He was headed to get some sleep, so he'll share more later.  But he did say that it was beautiful and warm.  We are anxious to hear every detail when we get the chance.  And hopefully he will remember to take a few pictures.  :)

This video shares the heart behind the hospital where Brian will be working until February 28th.  I can't wait to have more to share from his personal experience, but for now this is a great taste of what Soddo Christian Hospital is all about.

And He's Off...

As I type this Brian should be getting ready to land in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  He will spend some time with his driver getting some groceries and taking care of a few other errands before his six hour drive to Soddo Christian Hospital.  We are missing him so much.  We have spent so much time apart over the last few years due to his out of town rotations for residency, but it never gets easier. 

What does give us strength to get through it are the prayers from friends and family.  

Friends came over Sunday evening for a time of prayer, and it left Brian and I feeling so encouraged at what God is doing in our lives right now.  It was such a sweet time, to come together before the Father, and ask for His grace, love, wisdom, and protection over us. 

These friends are our family here.

 Having them share in this with us in this way blessed us beyond words. 

 

The perfect sending off for Brian.  The perfect way to prepare my heart to stay.

Birthday Girl

Dear Abigail,

Today we celebrate four years of life with you!  Happy birthday, sweet girl!  This last year we have learned so much more about your tender, sensitive heart.  It has been so sweet to watch you grow in your understanding and love of Jesus.  You constantly ask the most thought-provoking questions, like "Why does God love us?"   You pray such thoughtful, heartfelt prayers that we are often moved to know such prayers can come from such a little girl.  We have loved hearing your heart for others.  You are so compassionate and full of love for everyone around you.  We are learning how to be delicate with your tender heart, realizing that everything is very personal and intentional for you.  You are very much like your Mommy in that way.  We pray that we can teach you how to be flexible and allow God to orchestrate the details of your days and the ways you can share all of your love with others.  We pray for you to grow more in love with Jesus every day. There will never be anything more rewarding or more fulfilling than to live every moment of every day for Him.  We pray for you to be led by His Spirit, for you to serve Him and honor Him in all that you do.  You are already so precious in the way that you stop when you know you should be making a better decision, and come to tell me that you don't want to keep doing the wrong thing and all the ways you can make a better choice to honor God.  You are so sweet to share and include your brother and sister in all that you do.  You and Elisabeth constantly tell me that you are best friends, and you and John love to pal around together and make each other laugh. 

We love having you in our life.  We praise God for the miracle that you are and the joy you bring to all of us.

We love you, Abigail!!  Happy birthday!!

Getting Ready!

Brian leaves for Ethiopia on Monday!  We have been so preoccupied with sickness, school, work, and everything in between that time since Christmas has flow by.  And here we are!  We have been working to get everything ready for Brian to go, not realizing all that would be involved with international travel to a third world country, especially since he's bringing a lot of medical supplies.  There are so many details that it feels very overwhelming at times.  But God is so good to get us through each one and one more thing checked off of our list.  Oh, how I love lists!  I wouldn't be able to make it without them.  Seriously.  There are too many details to keep up with in life, so lists help me keep my sanity.  With most of the things checked off the list, Brian is nearly ready to go. 

We just have some packing to do...trying to figure out how to fit this...

and this...

along with food, clothes, and other supplies still to be delivered, into this...

Should be an interesting challenge!

We have several prayer requests as Brian gets ready to leave and as he is on his trip, serving at Soddo Christian Hospital. 

1. Please pray for us to be able to take care of all of the last minute details quickly and easily.
2. Please pray for safety as we take Brian to the airport Monday and for every leg of his journey.
3. Please pray for him to be able to easily pass through customs and that there would be no hold up due to the medical supplies he carries.
4. Please pray for peace and strength for the kids and I here without Brian for three weeks.
5. Please pray for many amazing ministry opportunities during his time at Soddo.
6. Please pray for Brian to gain greater skill and knowledge in Orthopaedic Surgery while he is there.  He will be working with the only Orthopaedic Surgeon in a region of about 2.5 million people.  He has seen and done amazing things and can teach Brian so much.
7. Please pray that Brian's time away would be restful and that he would come back with a renewed strength to persevere through the last 16 months of residency.
8.  Please pray that this trip would give our family solid confirmation that this is where God is calling us to serve after residency.

We are so thankful for the prayers, love, support, and encouragement from friends and family.  God has been so faithful in His provision and His peace over us.

We are enjoying the few days before Brian leaves with some rare snow.  Snow is so peaceful to me and I'm so thankful for it right now, for the peacefulness, for the beauty, for the delight it brings.

God knows just what we need, right when we need it.  I love all of His sweet blessings for us.  Praying for many more in the weeks to come.

Merry Christmas

May your Christmas be filled with the joy of the Lord!

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.  My soul shall make it's boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad.  Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.

Psalm 34:1-3

A Day Worth Celebrating

We spent today in Portland visiting the Ronald McDonald House, the place we stayed two years ago when John was having his open heart surgery.  It is a day we celebrate God's healing over his body.  There is so much I could write about all that happened, but sometimes pictures say more than I ever could. 

John and Brian just before John was taken to surgery.  He was only two months and three weeks old.  He was so happy that morning, so sweet and trusting.  We praise God for the amazing surgical hands that took care of our little guy.

This was in the Pediatric ICU after surgery.  It was so hard to see him like this, but at the same time there was so much peace in knowing that the life threatening complication  in his heart (coarctation of aorta) had been successfully fixed.

This was just after John's breathing tubes were removed.  We were so glad to see him improving so steadily.

With my brave boy!  He was so amazing through this whole process.

His first bottle feed after surgery.

Such gratitude to God for saving John's life.

Brian was the first to hold John as more wires and tubes were removed.  It was also his first time to feed John since he was still nursing.

Christmas morning 2011.  The best Christmas present we could have ever been given.  John was moved from the PICU to a regular room.

Gramma and Pepa.  We could not have gone through this without such amazing support from both sets of parents.

Nanna and Poppa.  We were so blessed by our parents making a trip to be with us at such short notice.  We all had a days notice to get to the hospital, and both sets of parents were able to find flights from Texas in order to be with us.  It meant the world to have them all there.

John's recovery was so amazing.  He spent his days after the PICU smiling nonstop as if nothing had ever happened.

After five days in the hospital we were given the go ahead to go home.

So happy to be leaving.  We still had a couple of months of regulating blood pressure and three doctors appointments a week, but God got us through it all.

John's recovery went so well and he continues to be strong and healthy with each checkup with his cardiologist.  After two years of visiting every few months, we were just recently given the clear to wait a year before his next visit.  He still has two issues with his heart that are being monitored, but as of now his heart continues to function just as it should.  We are so thankful to remember what God has done for our son.

We have made it a tradition to visit Portland each year on or around the day of his surgery, December 23rd.  The children's hospital has moved from where we were when we are there, so it is all very different now.  But the Ronald McDonald House is just as it was when we were there, and we have loved being able to visit and bring some things for the other families that are having to be there because their child is in the hospital.  It is an amazing organization to care for families during their time of need to allow the families to solely focus on their child.  This was the first time that John was old enough to really be a part of going back to visit.

The girls remember our time at the Ronald McDonald House and enjoy going back each year.

Statue in front of the RMH.

Our healthy boy in the coveted spot in the RMH dining room: the remote to the train overhead.

Unending enjoyment of the remote control train.

Our hearts have been made more full because of all that we have gone through with John.  We are so grateful to all who walked and prayed with us throughout this journey.  We are so thankful for the excellent care he received at the hospital, as well as the hospitality of the volunteers and staff of the Ronald McDonald House.  But mostly, we praise God, the ultimate Physician, the ultimate Healer.  We praise Him for our son.  We celebrate this day that He saved John's life, and we look forward with anticipation to the day He saves his life for all eternity.