Birthday Hugs from My Baby

Today is my birthday, and here is my little munchkin, with his morning hair and in his pajamas, giving me a hug :-) I love it!

One Cool Dude . . .

Our little guy had his eyes examined by Dr. David Silbert, a pediatric ophthalmologist, today. He doesn't have cataracts like we had been told, but instead needs cornea replacements. We are now looking for a doctor who is willing to do eye surgery for our little man. Check out the cool glasses he had to wear after his examination.

How great is Our God?

"He has caused His wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate . . . He has shown His people the power of His works . . . from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised." Psalm 111: 4-7, 113:3

UPDATE:

THE LATEST & GREATEST
A note from Joy . . .

After five months of working with Hershey Medical Center to get things in place for Little B's medical care, everything fell through just before the holidays. In one week, however, between Christmas and New Year's, Lancaster General Hospital "contacted us" and offered to cover any surgeries Little B needs pro bono! Praise be to God! He had everything planned in His way and in His time. Glory be to Him! I call this whole endeavor my "faith adventure" and an adventure it certainly is. This is my" miracle" (although I know many would say it is not a miracle) but that's how I feel about it!

We are trying to renew his visa which runs out this month in order to get the medical treatment he needs and are in the process of completing the paperwork. With this endorsement from LGH as well as local doctors who are on board, we hope to receive a year's extension.

Thank you so much for your interest and prayers! Please continue to pray!

A note from Abigail . . .

Surrendered people obey God's Word even when it doesn't make sense." -Rick Warren

Recently, we received the disheartening news that the medical facility where we had hoped baby B would go for eye surgery fell through. Although this struck a chord of fear within some of our hearts, we know that we can trust God with anything that doesn't make sense as His thoughts are far higher than ours. Only when we reach our last resource and when it feels like all else has been stripped from us that the fog from our eyes can clear so that we will have a heart and mind of greater faith. For is not the Christian life all about surrender to the will and heart and mind of God? Are we not called to pursue him, yearn for him, to cry out, and to trust Him to be glorified? Should His glory not be the pinnacle of our life, our heartbeat and the very reason for which we live?

If God did not work in His way by closing doors we wanted open, I think we would remain spiritually immature and would not grow in faith and trust that all things in life come from the hand of God, and we would never see the doors that God may open in response to the ones He shuts. God desires to be the source of our highest hope and greatest measure of strength, yet how many times we run from this!

Recently, I have been convicted that I have taken for granted that Baby B is in the States. I have not been praying and seeking the face of God as I am called and commanded to, so why do I expect God to do for us what we want when I have not been persistent and bold in asking Him to work out His will? There is an urgency to trust the character and love of God even more than ever and to call upon his Name and believe with a faith that is beyond our ability.

As our family is learning that strength is found in surrender, we are resting in the everlasting knowledge that whatever the outcome, it will be for our good and God's greatest glory. In this journey we are finding our strength comes from God as we daily surrender all to Him who is able to do above and beyond what we in our weakeness would want or ask and therein lies the power!

"The greatness of a man's power is in the measure of his surrender." -William Booth

"But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it and take it in hand, you are a helper to the fatherless. The Lord is king forever and ever . . . O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear, defending the fatherless."
Psalm 10 : 14, 16-18, NIV &ESV

The Art of Brushing Teeth . . .

Never underestimate the art of brushing a child's teeth . . . especially a child who doesn't want his teeth to be brushed :-) And as much as our little peanut tries to keep his mouth closed, we've found his weak spot lies in either singing or laughing . . . and then it's hard to keep your mouth closed.

A note from Abigail . . .

"One thing I ask of the Lord. This is what I seek. That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple. "

As we daily help Baby B with his physical needs, it reminds me of how incapable and weak we are to do anything apart from God. Though our love for Baby B is tainted with sin and selfishness God has loved us with a perfect love that covers us, and His grace in our lives makes us creatures of beauty, purpose and worth.

When I see God's intense love for us and careful watch over our lives, I am reminded that the home that I long for is the one to come. Our heavenly home is what we are being made for and each day of our life should be lived as one that will draw us closer to that day!

As we offer our love to Baby B, I pray that he would feel, know, and believe the love of God himself, so that he too will long to live and love God and yearn for the day when he will see Christ face to face! For when our vision is set on Christ then all else will fade away in light of the great God we serve and the great homeland for which we are bound!

" Your identity is in eternity and your homeland is in heaven. When you grasp this truth, you will stop worrying about having it all on earth." -Rick Warren