Helping the woman who saved simon's life...literally.

As Simon's parents we did not "save simon's life", or even "rescue" him as many people often say.

No, God put another person in that role.  A villager found him in the snowy woods and brought him to the police station.  That was the first time our son's life was saved.

Later, simon was sent to the wellfare institute ... not to live, but literally to die.  Simon had no opening for his waste to leave his body.  Normally this would surgically be corrected immediately to save a newborns life.  Not the case for simon... he was sent to the wellfare institute to struggle for a few days and then cease to take breaths.

The woman who was used by God to save MY SON's life is named Joyce Hill.

She is a British doctor, who discovered my simon and his deformity.  Without getting permission, processing paperwork or weighing the risk she took simon from the wellfare institute and with only hours to spare arranged for the surgery that would save his life.

I did not resuce him.... she did.  She literally saved simon's life....

Joyce and her husband Robin have saved countless children.  With a heavy heart i read as they sent our an urgent plea today.  Here is some of it....

I am going to help... but my help will not make a dent.  I need your help also.  If you could honor simon by helping the Hill's we would be very very grateful.  I would also like to ask you to help me spread the word.  I can reach a few hundred... could each of you reach another group as well?

I think of my son and what his fate would have been without this ministry.... I shudder.  Please read and take action.

Click here to see Robin and Joyce Hill's ministry  please go to this link to help...

Dear friends and supporters
 
Over the last few months there has been a big fall in support for the Beijing Center of New Hope Foundation and we have found ourselves in a position that means we have to reduce costs dramatically.
 
This means we have had to relocate 14 of our babies to other of our care centres in Henan. These centres are fully supported by our partners Show Hope so the baby’s long term care is assured, also 4 babies close to adoption back to their CWI.
This allows us to let 30 nannies go this month, we will need to reduce further if more funding does not come in for Beijing Center.
 
The situation today is that we need US$200,000 to pay outstanding bills and this month’s staff salaries Going on to the future we need to see at least 3 months running cost ($150,000) in our account to remain viable.  So totally we needUS$350,000 as soon as possible.
 
 This has been a very difficult decision to make but we are putting the wellbeing of the babies currently in our care, as our top priority. No babies who still need medical or surgical care will be returned to their orphanages. Many will be relocated to our centers in Henan which are located within the orphanages but they will still be in our care. We are hoping that many will be adopted as soon as possible but this is not within our control.
We began this work 15 years ago when we felt called by God to do so. We have trusted Him in everything that we have done and we continue to trust Him at this difficult time. We need to exercise wisdom as we carry on with this work and this is what we have to do now. We see the future as a smaller but financially stable Beijing Center, as this is where we are recognized and registered by the Chinese government. For all our other centers to continue to function, we need to keep our Beijing center open.
We have deeply appreciate all the support and friendship that we have received from you. Perhaps, over the years, we have taken on too much in our desire to help as many babies as possible.
 
Looking forward to seeing what is the next step for New Hope Foundation.
 
Robin & Joyce Hill
Founders New Hope Foundation.

A penny for my thoughts

Tonight for my belated bday present my good friend Joey took me to see "The Drop Box".  Guess my friend knows me :)  She has a special family bursting at the seams, partially grown through adoption as well.  My mind is a whirl with processing and recapping now that i sat through this powerful film.

http://www.thedropboxfilm.com/



Take home ponderings...

My children are beautiful reminders of the sanctity of life, and God has a purpose for each of them through their abilities and their disabilities, even when they are spilling milk and dumping glitter. :)

Watching helps me to get my mind off the daily frustrations and challenges...and  wonder why am i having such a hard time managing all of this...this couple does much more with much less.  Lord give me their stamina and drive.

For our family who is "all filled up, and a bit tapped out" right now...this gives me a boost and encouragement to take on tomorrow with a new joy and perspective

Realization: it's a good thing dan and i are always refreshed on opposite days, because if we were ever refreshed on the same day we might bring another one home!

Powerful quote: in the USA if one family out of every 3 churches in the states adopted a foster child, there would be no more children in the system.

Everyone can do SOMETHING... adopt..if not adoption then support...prayer, financial help, adoptive family support, supplies, advocacy, etc etc... no one is unable to support the orphan crisis...so it really boils down to "do you have a heart for the persecuted child or not?

Made me reflect - the lee's home was more cluttered and chaotic than mine is...and no one cared about that...they cared about their work and their heart...wish i could remember that more often.  And...he certainly had less square footage per person than we do.

Makes me angry- when some one wants to act to bring one of these children into a family there is so much red tape and financial strain required by our governments.  I see red when i think of how many more people might adopt if it didn't take so much courage to just get the child into your arms. stuckdocumentary.com  ( you can stream "stuck" on netflix too)

A new role model - this husband and wife have taken on much more than we have, are much older, with health starting to fail...I will think of them when i feel overwhelmed and try to strive to their level of faith and service.

So those are my thoughts and i'm stickin' to em.  take them or leave them...hopefully a few will be picked up and ran with.  Hopefully in a couple of days when i'm frazzled i will think back on this and remember the peace i have tonight...( as my children lay in bed sleeping, and painted green by their dad for st patty's day)

Here are a couple that are near and dear to me... would you consider helping?  no pressure...well yeah...lots of pressure actually :)  Thank you...

1) this is a family in our neck of the woods working diligently on bringing home an older hard to place child...they need our help.

http://www.gofundme.com/jerrysarahadoption


2) friend request Joanna Penny on facebook, https://www.facebook.com/joanna.penny1?fref=ts&ref=br_tf

Ask her how you can support her adoption,  and tell her pesky liz sent you.  This warrior mamma raised big big money advocating for shea, and making it possible for us to bring him home...help us pay her back!


3) this link has a handful of children who don't have much time before they age out and will be unadoptable forever.  they need a loving family and all have grants of over 20,000 $ !!!.  advocate for them please...pray for them... bring them home...

http://reecesrainbow.org/category/movingmountains/sizeable-grants-20000

4) look over pastor and mrs lee's work and read how you can help...

http://www.thedropboxfilm.com

Pretty Please?????

wishing the groundhog could have a do over...

There are so many things to write about, that it's all a mish mash of spahgetti like thoughts twirling around in my head.  I really have no idea how to get it all down in blog form in an interesting way.   Writers block has been my companion recently.  I've had the urge to write...but the words have not flowed. So to encourage you to read, the bribery photos are at the end of the post today...

I think the writing cells in my brain have frozen because of our long, cold, shivery, you've got to be kidding me more snow, type of winter we've had here.

This mom is praying for the thaw, praying for the spring breeze, for the green to pop up through the white, to see my first spring buds...   This mom can't wait for the back yard to be open for service!

Many things are in that stage for us right now... about to happen, almost here, but not quite yet. Dan's book is almost published.  The artist previously known as shirtless Santa / bouncer / butler will be getting a moment of face time on GMA.  I have to be creative and find a way to ensure my monday morning patient just happens to be watching TV at that moment... hint hint if anyone can record this.

CSE meetings are about to happen...nervous, and relaxed about this all at the same time.  Shea's nearing the end of second grade and will be moving to a new building next year.  I'm especially anxious for Spring to come for my danielle...she has decided movies are her favorite past time and turning the television off as we strive to do can send her into quite the tizzy.  She wanders the house like our shadow when the boob tube is banished.  I would love to find her a hobby that she would spend time attending to.... whoever suggests the winning idea will be rewarded well.

Simon has adopted a practice of sneaking into our bed almost every night...he is sprouting up... and continues to be sneaky about how much intelligence he has in that noggin of his.  He is my lover boy, unexpectedly planting a wet one on my face, or patting my head and and cuddling up.  Actually all of my children are cuddlers.... that's a bonus i can always look forward to at the end of a cold, exhausting day.

It's been a year now since Dan's father passed away as well.  Not too many days ever pass without little miss emily talking about "my grandpa in heaven".  Our emily is growing quickly, learning words and concepts that leave me forgetting she's only 3 old!  This little lady is certainly her father's daughter. She currently composes musical numbers and choreographs dance routines on a daily basis. Emily also makes sure she doesn't get lost in the shuffle in many endearing ways and also in some "not so endearing" ways too.  She is a 3 year old curly headed joy, and a practice in patience each day.

Also with the positive type of anticipation of spring time comes a nervous / "lets get this done and over with" kind of anticipation for Shea's immediate future.  Soon we will be assigned his surgery date.  A few more lab tests are to be run this week to make sure his nutrician is in tip top shape so that his bones can heal well after the surgery is completed.  We unexpectedly and suddenly discovered a severe spinal curvature and kyphosis that is causing him some discomfort.  The bigger problem is that we found a handful of his thoracic vertebrae are deformed, and one in particular is causing big issues. This problematic vertebrae had been "holding it's own" so to speak when shea was smaller, but now that he's growing this section can't do it's job anymore and is allowing a collapse of sorts above it.  We need to protect the spinal cord which is currently herniating out of the spinal canal.

 His spinal cord is not "sick" up in this region yet, but it would be risky not to take care of this issue.  He does have quite a bit of hip movement that helps him to be mobile and function... if the spinal cord began to "get sick" in this higher region, shea could loose those abilities.  This problematic vertebrae will be removed, and then the segments above and below will be fused.  In the long run he shouldn't have any permanent loss of function or restrictions... but he will need to wear a
back brace for 3 months post op and will have lots of restriction during this time frame.  Prayers would be appreciated for our guy.  Not just prayers for the surgery and the recovery and his protection...but prayers for his spirit, his attitude and his outlook on life.  This kid has faced more in his 8 years than many full grown adults will face in their whole life.. he's a fighter, but you can see lately it's all taking a toll on his spirit.  Shea needs spring to come too!

Signing off for now.  We appreciate you taking the time to read our updates... and hope that spring will come for all of you very soon as well.