Summer of the Journey

June 26, 2009

It's been a few days, but I have been really contemplating what to write next. Summer of last year was great, busy, with visitors and family coming and going. My youngest son, Jon went back to Marshfield, Wi. in July of 2008, to visit old friends. He was gone for about a week. I remember leaving really, really, really early in the morning, I think around 3:30 am. He had an early morning flight from Portland. It was a pretty quiet ride down to the airport. We were all sleepy, although my husband being the early morning person that he is, kept everyone awake chattering away!We said our goodbyes at the airport, and headed for home. It was around 6:00 am, when we were on the road again. Tasha, Jon's girlfriend, accompanied us and she was dozing off. During one of her awake times, she randomly stated, "You guys should adopt a little girl from China." I woke up, hearing that, and cleared my throat. Jerry gave me a sideways look, and I shrugged. I had not talked to my children, about any of this!The Lord kept pointing towards China, it was like "Look up Here! Look up Here!" He would not let me forget, in fact, it was starting to get humorous! Of course, I was glued to the television set last summer because the 2008 Summer Olympics were in Bejiing! Actually I was in overload!Nicole came to me during the summer and said, "Mom, I had a dream,". I said "Ok, tell me about it." She said, " I dreamt that I had a little sister, and I was helping her with physical therapy. And Mom, the weird thing is, she was Asian." Let me talk about Nicole for a bit. She is an extremely special young lady, and I feel this way about her brothers and sisters, too. But, Nicole has had many obstacles to overcome during her young life. And she has overcome them all, with the help of God's Grace. She was born at 26 weeks, weighing only 1 pound 10 ounces. She stayed in the neonatal icu for 83 days and came home weighing 4 pounds. Many illnesses and challenges faced her in the days to come, but God is great and healed her through it all. The only thing left to be healed is she has cerebral palsy. This affects her lower extremities, and she has had mulitple corrective surgeries on her legs. Years of physical therapy has been a way of life for her and she has miraculously gone through it all with God's help.It hasn't been easy for her, but her faith in God has amazed me, and I know she has been a source of inspiration, not only for her family but for all the people she has met throughout her life. She is 18 now and has grown into a gracious, mature beautiful young woman. Her dad and I are extremely proud of her and we know that she will make a fantastic big sister to her mei mei (Little sister in Chinese).More is coming, and it just continues to amaze me how personal God is.