Prayer Answered

Yesterday, I mentioned that God recently answered a very specific prayer in a very cool way.  I love when He does this!  Why am I always surprised?

As lots of you know, little Mia is struggling.  Since starting back to school this fall, she has had to go back on nightly sub-cu shots of a medication that she is allergic to.  To handle the allergic reactions, she takes Benadryl, Zertec, and Hydrocortisone.  It reduces her symptoms, but the combination gives her other lovely side effects, like perpetual exhaustion and grumpiness.  Going to school all day long has been very hard.  By the time she comes home, she is positively wilting.

Add to this that she is terrified of itching.  It's a PTSD trigger for her.  From the time she gets home until the shot comes at night, she has been a mess as she anticipates the experience.  She's had several panic attacks and it has dredged up lots of uncomfortable emotions for her.  She's cycling back through many of the issues she dealt with her first year home.  For her privacy, I won't go into those.  Just know, it's been hard for her.  And hard for those who love her to watch.

One of the ways we're helping her is through counseling.  At our counselor's suggestion, we approached the school about shortening Mia's day to give her more time with me and less time of stress in her day.  The principal agreed to five school days.  She wanted a report at that time and then would consider "an iep to draw up paperwork if it's working."

Five days is not enough time to know if something is really going to make a difference long term.  Not in a situation like this.

Now, I meet weekly with a close friend of mine.  We pray for our kids, their school, and their teachers.  We happened to be meeting on a Friday.  THE Friday that marked five days of Mia being home part time.  I just didn't have the desire to face the principal and initiate all the paperwork and mtgs it would take to get Mia an extension on being home.

Because, you know, all principals and teachers LOVE to have IEP Meetings.  Riiiiiight.

And the thing is...I have no idea if being home more is going to help her with what's going on.  It's just something to try.

So, we prayed that God would make it abundantly clear what we should do.  We prayed that if God wanted Mia home, that he would move the principal to look with favor on the situation.  Then we got bolder and asked God for more.

"Actually, God?  Would you just move on Mia's behalf?  Would you orchestrate all of this for her good?  Would you just make it possible for her to go to school part time without all the fuss of meetings and approval and formalities?  Would you just make this EASY?  Because right now, we could use something EASY."

God knows what we need.  Don't be afraid to ask Him for big things!  And crazy good things!

Later that day, I walked into Mia's school and her teacher walked right up to me and said,

"You're not going to believe this!  The principal just came to me and said she's been thinking about Mia.  She thinks we should keep going with Mia leaving school early every day....indefinitely, if we need to.  She says we don't even need to talk about it until after Christmas if it's working for her.  We'll put together a packet of everything she misses in the afternoons, but we trust you to know what's best for her...teach when you think she's in a good place....don't teach if she's not able to learn.  We trust you.  Oh!  And no need for a meeting...we'll just do it this way for now."

Are you kidding me?!  Friends, if you don't work with public school systems you might not know...

this is NOT how it's done.

Because you know, "If you make accomodations for ONE kid, you might have to accomodate EVERYONE."  ;-)

Prayer works!

Thankfulness

Yesterday was my brother's birthday.  To celebrate, we had him over to enjoy his favorite dessert in the world...Bavarian Cream Pie.  This pie is a labor of love.  We're talking double boilers simmering homemade custard.  A velvety chocolate crust studded with coconut.  Whipped cream.  It's light, airy and sinfully good.

With our dinner, I made this awesome acorn squash recipe that I take no credit for.  (Halve the sugar; no one needs it)  As we ate, I was reminded of a humbling blog post I read this week.  This family regularly eats squash and their children love it.  Sometimes when the mom shares the recipe with others, people will say, "My kids would NEVER eat that!"  She smiles and recalls the night they ate it and one of their children shared how THANKFUL they were for such a delicious meal because they REMEMBER SUCKING ON ROCKS before their adoption because they were so hungry.

They remember.

I can't ever remember being that kind of hungry.  Can you?

We're coming into my favorite season of the year and I'm so excited to help our children learn more about blessings and thankfulness.  Last year, we made this Thankful Tree.  This year, I'm excited to use a few new ideas like this cool prayer art activity and this Photo Challenge for our teens.  Because we'll be traveling for the holiday, I'm going to challenge them to find all the objects and shoot them while on the road.  I'm also hoping we can make up a Blessing Bag or two to share with those we might see on the road who need encouragement.

I'm excited to share a special way that you can teach thankfulness to the young children in your home, too!  My mom and I recently published a book all about gratitude called Pray Me a Rainbow.  Using colors and rhyme, it helps little ones find all sorts of things to be thankful for and we've included an extra page in the back of the book featuring creative ways to make the fun last longer!

This book is all about giving glory to God, so all money raised from its sale goes to Christian ministry efforts around the world that are close to our hearts, like orphan care. 

It's fun to have a book to share with people, but it's way more cool to see children praying.  Prayer moves mountains.  Remind me to share how God answered a prayer for Mia in an amazing way using a public school principal!  love it!  :-)

For now, there are several ways to get a copy of the book and I'll share them later this week! 

Once our Eyes are Opened

This week, I'm haunted by two true stories.  When I close my eyes, I can see them.  Sometimes I think I hear their voices.  I'm not crazy.  And I haven't lost it...yet.

The first is the story of a little girl, with eyes as round as mooncakes.

She was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate and so placed in an orphanage in China.  Her lip was repaired, but her palate was left.  Day after day she lay in her crib with a bottle propped up to feed her.  With no palate, the fluid from her meals pooled in her ears.

And she lost her hearing.

At four years old, she still has no palate repair and is surviving on what she can drink through a bottle.

Alone in her silent world, she has pulled into her shell, shutting out the world around her because she has no idea how to cope with such loss.

No one to show her how.

No one to hold her and love her and make things right.

She now has "labels" on her paperwork.  Damning phrases like "Institutional behaviors" and "developmental delays" and "possible autism."

There is a one minute video of an orphanage worker attempting to help her play.  The nanny sits BEHIND her and TELLS her what to do in Mandarin.  She is deaf.  She cannot hear.  She does not understand.  And so her big, round eyes fill with confusion and she does nothing. 

I know two beautiful girls with repaired lips and palates adopted from China.  This story could've been theirs'.  But someone went. 

Orphans no more, they are vibrant, healthy girls.  This little girl could've had the same happy ending.

Maybe she still will.

The second story is of a tiny two year old girl living in an orphanage of more than 500 children.

Just one girl.  In one orphanage.  In one province.  In a vast country full of people and communist leaders.  And she has cancer.

CANCER.

Can you imagine battling cancer?  As a child?  Alone? 

I can't either and it makes me sick to think about.  Look at her face!  Recently left by her parents and facing cancer...she's not old enough to understand what's happening, but she's old enough to know

she.is.alone.

I cannot imagine how the heart of God grieves when He sees His children alone and in pain.

I don't know how to solve world problems.  I don't believe we ever will.  But I know that doing nothing is not an option for any of us.

Proverbs 24:12 tells us that "Once our eyes are opened we cannot pretend we do not know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls knows we know and holds us responsible to act."

Please, please pray for these two girls.  Share their stories.  It's not too late.  They may not ever have physical wholeness again, but they can know the love of a family.  And the love of the Father.  There is still time.  Someone can GO.  Someone can LOVE.  Someone can SERVE.