What's a miracle?
Well according to the dictionary:
mir·a·cle [mir-uh-kuhl] noun
1. an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.
2. such an effect or event manifesting or considered as a work of God.
3. a wonder; marvel.
4. a wonderful or surpassing example of some quality: a miracle of modern acoustics.
What's my definition of a miracle? My two daughter's stories of survival.
Just to refresh your memory or those new to my blog. Our first daughter home, Harper Lily, has an atrial septal defect,pulmonary stenosis, severe scoliosis, chiari brain malformation, a benign tumor on her forehead, milk and casein allergies and extensive dental decay. She was referred to us with just a moderate ASD. You can imagine our surprise and struggles last year as our first child, our baby, has medical test after medical test and doctor appointment after doctor appointment. We literally were at some specialist office 2-3 times a week for up to 7 months. Harper now wears a hard scoliosis brace 23/7, will need open heart surgery in the coming year and a valve replacement at some point in her life. In addition the chiari and benign tumor requires a brain MRI every year. She is a candidate for the brain decompression surgery but we are holding off to fix her heart and scoliosis first. She is scheduled to go in for dental surgery at the local children's hospital next Friday. You would think this child would be a sickly, frail little thing but she is anything but...she is truly a miracle! Left abandoned, by the only mother she ever knew on a busy intersection, in the middle of the night, she was found and just look at her here
...she still had a smile on her face! She is our first miracle and is my daily reminder that through life's twists and turns to keep a smile on your face and to be thankful of each and every obstacle because it makes us stronger, more faithful and thankful for the time we all have with one another.
Miracle #2
Well My Talia girl! Everything about her story and this whole journey, in our eyes, has been a miracle. From receiving the file, to the red stamp dates being the same dates as Harper's and the death date of my closest cousin, to Todd's heart being open to accept another child into our home when we were reeling from all of Harper's conditions, to having God financially provide for us during this adoption. We are so blessed to have so many people from around the world support this adoption and we are continually blessed and humbled to know God hand picked us to be Talia's mommy and daddy! There are so many mini miracles that also occurred during this journey to Talia and God has been so faithful in revealing them to us on a day to day basis. Everyday there is another story, another connection, another life whose is made better by my Talia's past. Talia was also left abandoned in the middle of the night but Talia was found with the umbilical cord attached and only weighed 3.2 lbs. and was a blue baby. She was very sick and a few days old. She was left outside a switch plate factory outlet. I have the constant reminder of her few days and moments of life every time I turn a light switch on and off. It is almost haunting what occurs in the factories in China...thousands of children left abandoned outside of factories every year. Some aren't even left outside the factories -- they are left in the street gutters as if they are trash. Talia's mother wanted her to be found. So she was and brought to a police station. She spent her first 6 months in an orphange frequently getting pneumonia. She was barely holding on to life and then she got very sick. A wonderful nanny at the orphanage not only took her once to the hospital but twice for medicine (which itself is nothing short of a miracle in China for an orphan from a poor village)! She spent her first birthday and a whole month in that hospital for what I feel was to be used as a guinea pig since it was a teaching hospital. In China orphans are not typically seen as a high priority among society. They preformed cosmetic type surgeries on her -- things that never needed to be done! One of her referral pictures shows a 4 inch scar on her buttocks from a cute little blemish she had before! They did all this after she suffered a heart attack, turned blue on the table and almost died. They also gave her a drug that caused her whole body to react and realized that she had another condition called G6PD, a rare blood disorder. Talia or how she is known in China "KeKe" must have been so scared and upset to not have any caretakers around her that she knew. However, from this tragic strand of events came something wonderful. A Christian foster care foundation, called Grace & Hope, found her a sponsor in the Unites States. This sponor's monthly donations helped Talia find a loving foster family. Talk about a miracle! She was then released from the hospital and has been there for two years and seems to be thriving! She is still very slow on speech and apprehensive of strangers (I would be too)! As for her heart we don't really know what the condition is, but when we asked for an update they described it as a tumor, then a mass...nothing sounded good but we think much of it got lost in translation from Chinese to English. We hope and pray and feel that she has a hole in her heart like Harper's but we think the extra tissue in heart found on the Echo is just that extra tissue that has closed the hole. We don't know for sure but we know this child is a miracle and we firmly believe God has great things planned for these two little girls!
So tell me, Who or What is your miracle in your life? Maybe it is your mother, wife, sister, friend, teacher, neighbor, grandmother, niece, daughter. Maybe you are your own miracle for taking on something challenging. Who or what is it? Who do you want to honor? Take a moment today and tell them. Seriously -- send a private message on Facebook, an e-mail, a phone call and tell them. Or give yourself a pat on the back for overcoming something challenging in your life. So many times we don't tell people how great they are yet we have no problem telling them where they fall short! Let my girls be an example to live each day to its fullest and never take anyone or anything for granted. We never know what tomorrow will bring but everyday is a new day to brighten someone else's. This past week a friend of mine in the adoption world found out her child waiting in China is passing away from a brain tumor. This lady also lost her husband last year right after she received the referral information of her child. It is a tragic, sad, inconceivable story but out of it there is hope. There is another day. There is light out of darkness and her family's story will without a doubt turn into a miracle. Their strength as a family is nothing short of a miracle!
In the spirit of Mother's Day, year end teacher gifts, adoptive parent gifts, maybe a friend's birthday or a gift for your new child, I have designed with artist Stacey Richards from the amazing blog, http://mycupoverfloweth.blogspot.com/, a beautiful necklace. This might be my favorite tribute to my girl's yet and I am so honored to partner with Stacey on this necklace. I just adore it! So much thought from her and I went into it making it perfect for anyone -- even those outside of the adoption community. There are three different options: A women's necklace, a child's necklace or a mother and daughter set! You can view them all here on her website Jubilee Jewels website below. If you would like to purchase one just add the item to your cart on her site and best of all you can have it engraved for free with a child's name or a friend's name or for a teacher you can leave it blank with just the word "miracle". Maybe you have a friend that is battling a horrible illness what better way then to reach out to them and let them know their life is a miracle? Every child born is a miracle... how cute would it be for each daughter to have one with their name! If this necklace is for you what a better way to shine your light to others with this daily reminder of miracles happen everyday! If you need ideas on how to personalize it just e-mail me I would be more then happy to help. Oh and by the way, 50% of the proceeds of each necklace bring home our sweet 2nd miracle, Talia Mei. These will be offered from now until June 1st!
Ours are listed under "Miracle daughter, Miracle set or Miracle mother" I hope you love them as much as I do! You can even include a note to a special friend or secret pal with the gift! And men, yes, your wife would love one of these for Mother's Day from her children...ha!
"The marvelous richness of human experience
would lose something of rewarding joy if there
were no limitations to overcome." - Helen Keller
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