Shepherd's Field

In the midst of a run down rural part of China, just a ways outside of Beijing, is a little piece of heaven.  It is a haven for the outcast, the least of these, the little ones that have been abandoned.  At Shepherd's Field Children's Village these precious lives find love, care, nourishment, joy, and sometimes they even find forever families.  This special place means the world to our family.  It was here that our Elijah found shelter, love, much needed physical care (heart surgery), and a sparkle in his eyes.

Please watch this interview with Baba Tim, Elijah's China daddy.  He and his wife have incredible hearts for the orphan and love on the children in their care with all they have.  When Elijah left Shepherd's Field to come home with us, he said he wanted to be like Baba Tim when he grows up.  We think that's a pretty awesome goal!

 
Would you consider sponsoring a child through this amazing ministry, or a one time donation to help with a surgery cost?  Visit http://chinaorphans.org/. 

Hiding Out

Look who I found secretly watching a DVD....

Dumplings

A yummy tradition!

The year of the dragon has begun!

Happy Chinese New Year!

We kicked off our Chinese New Year celebration last Friday by attending a performance at Jesse Hall put on by middle school children from Beijing.  It was fascinating to see their skill and poise at such a young age.  We enjoyed the evening with Grandpa Hires and Miss Carolyn, our neighbors.

We plan to make traditional dumplings tonight.  Our celebrations may be a far cry from what happens on the other side of the world, but we enjoy embracing the mixed heritage that our family has.  Xin Nian Kuai Le!

What I Love to See

Another bookworm in our house....

It's taken three years, but we have another kid that loves to read!  Elijah has totally gotten into the Boxcar Children books and is on his tenth book now.  He'll excitedly tell you what's going on in the book, and makes it come alive as if it's true and he's there.

I always love it when I find my kids reading, not because they have to for school time, but because they are engrossed in a book and don't want to put it down.  I still have  Elijah read aloud to me each school day, but he is doing so well.  Really, it's amazing to think that just three years ago we weren't even home from China with him.  We were in Guangzhou, using all sorts of hand gestures and facial expressions, a little handheld electronic translator, our agency guide, and anything else we could to try to communicate the basics of what was necessary.  Compared to then, communication now is so effortless.  Truly amazing!

Crazy Weather

It has been quite an unusual January here.  Just over a week ago we were at the zoo in 70 degree weather.  Last week we had a small snowstorm go through.  Yesterday we were back at 70, then today we didn't even make it up to freezing!

Yesterday Chris had off work, so we took off school and enjoyed some hiking at our local state park in the afternoon.  It's more or less like hiking in our own woods, but it's fun to go somewhere else.  :)  The kids had fun trying to crack the thick ice on the stream and we enjoyed exploring some new and old trails (to us).

The ice was about two inches thick.  I loved the reflection on it.

Under the Rock Bridge, an adventure that the park has disallowed for the last few years.  Fun!

We also stopped at the local grade school on the the way home to play on the equipment.  I guess only home schoolers would enjoy extra time at a school yard.  :)

Brrrr....Snow Day

It's frigid outside, but the kids love snow no matter the temps.  We received just a bit of snow overnight, but between the single digit temps and Benjamin not being able to sled, they didn't last long outside.

Since we enjoy the flexibility of home schooling, the kids got to play some, as well as get some school done in the morning.  One thing that started more as a science project became an art project.  I bought some packages of pipe cleaners for a science experiment, but the kids starting coming up with all sorts of creative  things out of them.  Here are just a few.

Wings for Midnight:

I cute pig nose:

Ratdeer antlers for Ginger:

Hummingbird:

I love their creative ways and imaginations.  They sure didn't get that artsy side from me!

Shower Shot

Did you really think you were going to see a picture of someone in shower?  :) 

This just shows how we were all excited that Benjamin got to take showers again.  Not that he was stinky or anything (!), just that we were so happy for him.  Johanna drew this, though I'm not sure what's with the "hideous shower".  And Ami, still in her mermaid rut, drew "Benjumin" as a boy mermaid?  I love her phonetic spelling, but I guess it's time to teach her how to spell family names and possibly more about the birds and the bees!

Memorial Box Monday - Cancer Free!

Today's Memorial Box story is one that has definitely forever changed our lives.  It has left us humbled, grateful, and amazed at the power of prayers.  It all started over five years ago when our pediatrician noticed a small little bump on the back on Benjamin's knee.  No worries, we would just watch it.  Each subsequent year at check-ups we made note of it, watching it slowly grow.  It appeared to simply be a ganglion cyst.  No worries.

At this year's check-up the pediatrician figured that it might be time to have it checked out by a specialist, just an orthopedic doctor.  No worries.  We'll just get that ganglion cyst taken care of so that cosmetically Benjamin's knee won't have this mass sticking out.

We visited the ortho doc in October  They x-rayed, they tried to aspirate, they decided to have a closer look with an MRI.  No worries, but things didn't seem to be sitting quite right this time. 

The ortho doc decided that we needed to have a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon look at it.  Hmmm, really?  So off we went to another doc.  He said it's definitely not a cyst, even mentioned the terrible "c" word.  BIG worries now.  I called Chris scared, trying not to express my fear in front on Benjamin.

We were sent off for an ultrasound and then a follow up to discuss the results.  This time Chris came with us.  Worries.  Fear.  Lots of unknown.  The doc gave us grave news.  It's one of three kinds of tumors, but the doc felt strongly that it's one that is definitely cancerous.  Hearts broken.  Feeling very afraid, very worried.  Surgery is scheduled for removal.

A day later we got a phone call from the doc.  After consulting with others, he felt it best to send us on to a pediatric orthopedic oncologist in STL.  An oncologist?  The tumor is on a major nerve, could be encasing it, could lead to other losses.  Feeling very afraid.  Sick to my stomach.  Aching with grief.

But in the midst of this all, I thought of our Memorial Box.  I thought of the many, many times God had been faithful to us, providing for us in ways we never imagined, caring for us in big and small ways, always, always wanting the best for us.  We shared our fears with family and friends and were so very overwhelmed with the expressions of love, concern, support, offers of help.  More than anything we knew that many were praying, begging God on our behalf for complete healing for Benjamin.  Our specific prayer was that the tumor be completely removed as a whole, that no damage be done to the sciatic nerve that it was sitting on, and that the tumor would turn out to be benign.  Prayers being raised, worries turning to peace, fears laid at His feet.

We met with the oncologist, scheduled surgery and continued praying.  The day of surgery arrived.  We were being uplifted by so many that we didn't even know.  Benjamin was on prayer chains literally around the world.  We are still awed by the outpouring of love!

Surgery was not the expected two hours.  Prayers answered!

Tumor was completely removed, as a whole.  Prayers answered!

Tumor was not encasing the nerve, it peeled right off of the nerve.  Prayers answered!

Benjamin recovered quickly and we were on our way home that same morning.  Prayers answered!

We celebrated that incredible day, feeling very confident that regardless of the tumor being cancerous or not, it was gone.  Follow-up would be minimal.  That bad boy was out and on it's way to the pathologist and we were on our way home.  Worries greatly relieved.  Fears subsided.  I think I cried more after the surgery than in the intense weeks before.  The emotional relief was incredible.  

Last Friday we went for the first surgical follow-up, and to received the awaited news from the pathology report.   The first thing the doctor told us was that he still didn't have a final report.  Huh?  A little bit of worry creeping in.  He checked and the local pathologist had sent it on to a world-renown pathologist who had even written THE text book on tumors.  Um, scary.  He called to try to get us some news before leaving STL.  He returned with a big smile on his face saying, "Good news!"  The tumor was definitely benign, but the pathologists were splitting hairs over exactly which of two names to give it.  Blah....noma or blah....noma.  We don't care, it's BENIGN...NOMA!!!!!

PRAYERS ANSWERED!!!

(Benjamin, so glad to have the brace off!)

Thank you Lord, thank you Lord, thank you Lord.  You heard our cries, you graciously answered our requests.  Our son is healed.  No worries.  No fear.  Abba Father is on our side and we give Him all the glory for answering the prayers of so many.  May He be greatly praised!

We placed Benjamin's ID band from surgery day in our Memorial Box as yet another standing stone representing His hand in our lives.  God is good.  Praise Him!

For Benjamin, we have great hopes.  "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 hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)  His hand in Benjamin's life.....can't wait to see those plans of His!

Gotcha Day for Elijah

Today we celebrate that three years ago we met our long awaited treasure, Elijah.  We started out innocently enough sponsoring him while he lived at Shepherd's Field.  Little did we know that God was planting in our hearts the desire for him to be more than a sponsored child, but to be a member of our family.  A year and a half after starting our sponsorship and after much, much prayer God granted the desires of our hearts.  He opened doors, leveled mountains, broke down gates of bronze, and cut through bars of iron to give us this treasure (Isaiah 45:1-3).

It was an exciting day.  We flew from Osaka (after spending Christmas with my family) to Beijing and within a very short time we were watching this brave young boy walk across the courtyard of Shepherd's Field with his teacher and his ayi.  We could hardly contain ourselves, wanting to rush out the doors and swarm him with our hugs.  We weren't sure how he would react to our family of then six, but he greeted us with huge smiles that have never faded away. 

 

Elijah is the bravest, most resilient person I know.  I can't begin to fathom the heartache he has experienced in his young life, being literally abandoned on the streets at the age of eight, left to fend for himself.  Elijah faces each day with that same huge smile we were greeted with on that very first cold day in Tianjin.  He embraces new experiences.  He loves to learn, being so inquisitive and always asking questions.  He is technically minded, yet has a heart of gold.  He shares his belongings with joy, looks out for his younger sisters, and joyfully obeys when asked to accomplish a task.  For experiencing such traumatic things, his heart is tender, not cold or empty.  What a treasure indeed!

We celebrated today at our favorite Chinese restaurant.  Yummy.....obviously our eyes were bigger than our stomachs because we came home with a LOT.  :)

We love you, Elijah, and are so glad that God saw fit to allow us the privilege of having you in our family.  Happy Gotcha Day!

The Zoo

After Benjamin's appointment and our good news yesterday we headed to the zoo.  Yes we went to the zoo on January 6th and it was 70 degrees!!  I'm sure that's some kind of a record.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day.  Benjamin limped along a bit with his stiff leg, still getting used to no brace, but he refused a wheelchair.  He wasn't in any pain, just not feeling quite confident in his newly regained ability to bend his knee. 

We enjoyed lots of exotic animals, and Johanna was especially in her element.  It's amazing to see such a variety of creatures, big and small. 

As we've learned from Grandpa and Grandma Clark's trips to Mongolia, the 2-humped camel is only native to Mongolia.  One humpers are African.  :)

Happily exhausted: