Don't Get Lost in the Daily...

Yesterday I attended the funeral of a sweet little two year old boy, Braxton Guy.  His mom and I know each other through the world of adoption.  Through the world of "heart" adoption. 

Braxton was a single ventricle heart hero like our three youngest girls.  Immediately following his open-heart surgery, this week, he experienced  complications and went home to be with the Lord.

Braxton came home to the Guy family 3 1/2 months ago, but as the pastor so accurately reminded everyone at the service yesterday, he was ordained to be a Guy since before the foundation of the earth. 

As I sat in the service and watched the sweet photos of Braxton flash across the screen...

As I watched Jerry and Angie lift up their hands in praise to Jesus, even in the midst of their deep grief, because they understood this is not the end of the story for Braxton it's just the beginning...

As I sobbed almost uncontrollably as I thought about the six open-heart surgeries we have already been through and the one most likely to be scheduled this fall for Savannah Faith...

The Lord whispered to me the reminder..."Don't Get Lost in the Daily."

I'm a list maker.  A production oriented person.  I want to produce to feel accomplished. 

It's hard for me to just sit with my children and listen.  I'm not proud of that...I'm just being honest.

It's hard for me sit in a rocking chair and just relax. 

It's hard for me to sip a glass of lemonade and swing in a hammock. (Okay who I am kidding...if I was sipping anything it would definitely be a Starbucks.)  But you get the idea.

So, I HAVE to be intentional if I am not going to "Get Lost in the Daily"....

The To Do List
The bills to be paid. 
The insurance company to fight. 
The Dr.'s and therapy visits to attend. 
The home school to complete
The laundry to wade through
The house cleaning (okay that one just isn't a high priority anymore...just sayin'...23 years of parenting has taught me something!
The e-mails to check. 
The business website to update...check it out at www.fullquiverfarmnc.com   I'm shameless I know:)  The FB to check....this one can be a time sucker can't it!!
And the list goes on and on...

So after Braxton Guy's service yesterday...
After hearing the pastor's testimony that when he entered little Braxton's hospital room and saw Angie rocking her little boy for the last time and hearing Angie say, "I'd do it all again."

She'd go through the 1 1/2 year process of fundraising, tedious adoption paperwork, explaining "why" to well-meaning but sometimes clueless people, and then of course the waiting, and waiting, and waiting to hold her son who was half way around the world...
to only "lose" him, on this earth,  3 1/2 short months later.

After hearing all of that, I listened to the Lord, and at least yesterday, I didn't get "Lost in the Daily".

I came home and sat on the porch and rocked Savannah.

I pushed the girls on the swings.

I watched Michaela jump a new pony she is training for our business, and then even snapped a cute picture of her in in her riding helmet when she dismounted.

I watched Izzy and Lily Rose being silly and giggling and even tried to avoid our billy goats legs as he blocked my view when I was trying to shoot a picture.

And finally I got a shot of Izzy and Lily giggling...

and giggling....

and giggling some more!

And I felt a nudge from the Lord to refocus.  In John Piper's book, "Don't Waste Your Life" he says,

 

"God calls us to pray and think and dream

and plan and work not to be made much of,

but to make much of Him in every part of our lives." 

 

and he goes on to say...

 

"But whatever you do, find the God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated passion of your life, and find your way to say it and live for it and die for it.  And you will make a difference that lasts.  You will not waste your life."

 

Jerry and Angie Guy made a difference in Braxton's life.  They showed him the love of Christ!  They glorified the Lord in their parenting of Braxton, in their worshiping of the Lord in the midst of their grief yesterday, in their statement..."I'd do it all again."

 

 

My passion has long been orphan care and adoption ministry.  However, that passion has waned in recent months as I've been  "Lost in the Daily."  But Jerry and Angie and the Lord reminded me not to waste my life!  I want to bring glory to Him as I pursue the passion of my life...loving the children the Lord has blessed Phil and I with and advocating for the children who wait!

 

So what's the passion of your life? 

 

 

Therapy...Definitely Takes a Family.

Therapies fill Savannah Faith's weeks.

Occupational Therapy

 

Speech Therapy

 

Pre-school Therapy 

 

Physical Therapy

 

and soon,

 

  Feeding Therapy will be added to the list.

Thankfully she LOVES her therapists.

One of her favorites is Nikki Degner at Move and Grow in Huntersville, NC.  Nikki has stuck with our family through our last four adoptions.  Not sure what we would have done without her expertise. 

Nikki knows the perfect combination to use with our girls...push, plead and just plain old demand.  And she has my FULL support.

When Savannah makes it to top of the ladder, she's sure she should be Queen of the Day!  That's before the terror of descent down the slide.

But everything is better when she gets her "prize time" in the ball pit.  What is it about brightly covered balls in a pit with possible unknown matter lurking at the bottom that so intrigues children?  The allure always baffles me.

Thankfully many of Savannah's therapy sessions take place at home.  However, Lily Rose still needs speech therapy two days a week, outside the home, along with Savannah Faith's PT and upcoming feeding therapy.


Torie

Michaela and

Phil

all help with transporting, as their schedules allow.  It truly takes the entire family to meet the demands of our girls with their multiple medical appointments and therapies.  The Lord knew exactly what He was doing when He called ALL of us to this crazy family of nine!

Field Trip

At the end of a week of homeschooling..

and after a flurry of new Dr.'s appointments for Savannah Faith including the neurologist recommending she get an MRI and a visit to the geneticist,

we took a "Friday Field Trip", as we like to call them in our home school, to one of our local parks.

Seeing the girls helping Savannah Faith play on the equipment always blesses me!

And Lily Rose begged to swing on the baby swing.  She thought it was hilarious!  Of course, Lily finds pretty much all of life hilarious.

Probably my favorite memory of the day was the look on Savannah Faith's face when Michaela hung upside down from the monkey bars.  She just couldn't figure that out??

Sarah Mei was amazed too, and after observing Michaela, promptly tried it herself.

Noticing the little things.  That's one of the benefits I'm finding of my new photography "habit." 
That's good for me...given my Type A, distracted, driven personality.

 

I want to capture these moments. 

 

Enjoy them. 

 

Remember them. 

 

Thank God for them.

 

When we returned from the park, another gift was awaiting me.  The first signs of spring were sprouting near my back door...

 

 

Another gift from the Lord!

 

 

 



 

 

"Shout with joy to God, all the earth!

Sing the glory of His name;

make His praise glorious!

Psalm 66:1,2

Back to Blogging

After a 10 month hiatus, I am back to blogging.  Seeing the little girls curled up on the floor looking at our past blog books, put a fire under me. 

 

Since bringing home Savannah Faith from China, almost a year ago, life has been a blur.

 

A blur of Dr.'s appointments, diagnoses, therapies, what ifs, lost dreams, lost insurance, medical bills...

 

Well you get the picture.

 

And yet, it has also been a season of

 

Great

 

Inexplicable

 

Joy

 

The Lord has also given me a gift of a new found love for photography!

 

I pray that this newly relocated blog will be a blessing to our seven daughters and anyone else who stops by to read.  And I pray it will be a testament to God's unfathomable, never-ending love.

 

Savannah Faith is a testament to His love.

 

Although at 3 1/2 she still only drinks from a bottle.

Has no speech.

Has the gross motor skills of a 10 month old,

and we have no idea of her future,

 

She reminds us that, in a society who places value on production, beauty and accomplishments, we are valued because we are made in the image of our Creator and because He loves us!

 

I'm seeing God's creation anew through Miss Savannah's Faith's eyes.  What a blessing