Prayer Vigil for Lily

I'm writing to inform my readers that we need your help!  A friend of mine from not only the adoption community, but also our years growing up in Chicago needs prayers and support.

My friend Emily and her husband Jacques adopted TWO girls from China just 20 DAYS before I flew to China for our daughter L.  Their new daughter Lily is in the hospital struggling and fighting for her life over complication after complication after complication from her known heart defect.  The story is long and you can read their story by clicking here.

But before you click there, Emily and Jacques' small group have organized a prayer vigil outside their home tomorrow, Friday, January 18, 2013 at 6:30pm EST.

Emily's mom Karol (whom Jay and I worked with for many years at Willow Creek) is opening their Chicagoland home for prayer at the same time tomorrow night -- which is 5:30 CENTRAL time.

I don't have many friends here in Texas yet, but my home would be open as well -- also 5:30pm CST.

No matter where you are in the world, please STOP and PRAY for Lily.  Let's storm heaven for this tiny 3 year old girl who God brought home to these faithful parents who knew that challenges would lay ahead.  Pray as you feel led, but here are some suggestions:

• Pray for Lily's restored health.
• Pray for the doctors, nurses, specialists and the wisdom they need to proceed with Lily's care.
• Pray for the family's strength, and for Emily who has been at the hospital 24/7 for 8 weeks during this most recent hospital stay.
• Pray for Jacques and the 3 girls they have at home, LONGING for Lily to come home.
• Pray for Emily's strength as she pregnant during this stressful time.
• Pray for their mounting medical expenses (tax-free donations are accepted on their blog) 
• Pray for grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and all family members supporting the family.
• Pray for friends and neighbors and the church helping to support the family in their time of need.

Above all...

Pray for a miracle for Lily!

We are confident that we serve a Great God whose miracles have been documented over and over and over again.  We know He is the Mighty Healer, the Great Physician, the Almighty God who loves Lily and her family with more love than we can ever know on this earth.  We know that He is using her story for His glory.

Now all glory to God, who is able, 

through his mighty power at work within us, 

to accomplish infinitely more 

than we might ask or think.  

~ Ephesians 3:20 ~

We're praying for Lily!  Will you?

Reminders of Her Previous Life

Today was L's first visit to the dentist.  I thought I already knew a lot about teeth but I sure learned a lot more!

In a nutshell, after being propped in a crib with a bottle of super sweet Chinese formula (it smells like pudding it's so sweet!) for 2 years of her life, what we thought was decay is NOT decay!  That's a HUGE praise to God because I can't imagine what our bill would have been had she needed 8 fillings with no dental insurance, not to mention the stress that would put her under.

Of course we learned the reason why her teeth are so horribly yellow and that's because of 2 factors.  One is genetics, of course.  But since we have no birth parents' histories to compare, we didn't really discuss that.  Sadly, the biggest factor in L's poor teeth is a result of growing up in an institution - MALNUTRITION.

Due to what our dentist called "extensive malnutrition," L's teeth did not develop normally and she has no enamel on her teeth.  The yellowness we are seeing is dentin, the layer we all have underneath our enamel.

Our dentist told me that many professionals nowadays would tell me to put 8 crowns on her teeth immediately.  Yet he doesn't practice that way.  As long as she doesn't show much sensitivity to hot or cold foods (hot would be worse) we don't have much cause for concern.  I need to practice due diligence to make sure her teeth are brushed with a small amount of fluoride toothpaste twice a day and floss as well.  He told me that he has had plenty of child patients with no enamel have healthy mouths free of decay for years until their adult teeth grow in.

Since the adult teeth start forming at birth, we really won't know how her permanent teeth will look until they are in.  They could be equally affected.  We'll just have to wait and see.  I was told that braces will certainly be in L's future as her teeth are very crooked, but we'll take that when the time comes.

For now I will continue to do what I've been doing.  I will brush with a "smear coating" of fluoride toothpaste (as opposed to a pea-sized drop of toothpaste since she doesn't spit yet) and floss and I will keep limiting sweets for only very special occasions.  L will drink only tap water (with fluoride) and no juices.  Milk does not agree with her digestive system, so she will get her calcium via cheeses and yogurts.

In 6 months we will take her back for another round of fluoride in the dentist's office but she is very unapproachable right now and she screamed the entire time to the hygienist and the doctor.  So until she is 3 or 4 and can tolerate a visit more, she will not have her teeth cleaned and we will not attempt to repair her chipped front tooth.

It was such a bittersweet feeling leaving the dentist's office knowing that we don't have to spend hundreds of dollars on tooth repair.  But knowing that my daughter faced "extreme malnutrition" the first 22 months of her life is just so heartbreaking.  Just heartbreaking.

I'm so glad she's home and not facing those issues anymore!  So glad!

Please take a moment to pray for the millions of orphans worldwide who are facing sub-standard living arrangements and who lack basic care, like my daughter did.  As we like to say in the adoption world...

"Praying until they all come home!"

Determination

Well, my daughter is a one-handed-wonder!  Enjoy a few random tales.

When we were in province in China, L tried to get a toddler puff snack out of a bag about the size of an individual sized bag of Goldfish crackers.  She went to use her little hand and my guide immediately told her [in Chinese] not to use that hand but to use her full hand.  She pulled L's little hand away and put her full hand inside the bag of snacks.  L wasn't even my daughter for a week yet and the mama bear in me wanted to snap at my guide and tell her, "Let her figure it out on her own.  She can do it.  She'll find a way."  I kept my mouth shut out though.

Later in Guangzhou, my new guide there noticed L's hand as she was playing with a travel sized pouch of Kleenex (L loved things that crinkled and made sounds).  My guide said in a very sad voice, "Oh, that little hand doesn't work so well, does it?"  I wanted to say, "It works very well, thank you kindly."

When my mom visited us this summer, we watched L play with one of those Oriental Trading kids bracelets with the plastic clasp - the kind where one side of the clasp slides into the other side and clicks shut.  L tried and tried and tried to get the clasp together.  She sat way longer than any 2-handed 2 year old would with such a task.  She didn't get frustrated, she didn't get upset.  She was just determined to do it on her own.

In the new house while she was exploring new toys that came from our home in Nebraska, she somehow managed to get the battery compartment of a toy completely dismantled.  This would typically require the use of a small screwdriver.  I have no idea how she did it!  She just walked over to me with the battery compartment and 3 AA batteries, showing me what she had done.

And then on Thanksgiving, we were driving up to my mother-in-law's condo for a holiday dinner and I looked back at L in her carseat and I was horrified to see she had figured out how to get our of her 5-point car seatbelt harness.  Jay was driving, so at a red light I jumped back and re-buckled her and scolded her, "Danger!  Danger!"  for taking off her belt while the car was in motion.  Turns out that she pushes the chest clip down with "2 hands" and then wiggles her arms out of the shoulder straps.  The buckle is still clipped by her belly button.  I've caught her in the act of this since then and tightening the straps does not deter her in the slightest.

Her little hand doesn't slow her down in the slightest!  For Christmas Santa brought her a stuffed Nemo toy (thanks Lucky Fin friends for posting that on Facebook) that says, "I may have a little fin, but I swim just fine!"

Yes you do, sweet girl.  Yes you do!

And now, instead of getting a chuckle out of my daughter and her daily antics, let's turn the tables.  This time you get to laugh at ME!  I was trimming my kids' nails the other day, boys first and L last.  When it was L's turn, I did both sets of toes and the fingernails on her left hand.  Then I said to her, "Ok, let me see your other hand."  She gave me a funny little look and showed me her right hand.  I immediately laughed at myself for completely forgetting that she doesn't have a right hand and thus had no nails to trim on that hand!  DUH, mommy!!!

Thought you'd enjoy that one.  :)

I wonder what tales we'll have to tell in the future.  I'll be certain to continue posting as we have more to share.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

What comes to your mind when you think of "special needs?"  Do you feel sorry for those with special needs?  Do you avoid eye contact with someone in a wheelchair?  Do you pity the parent of an autistic child who is struggling in the department store?  Are you overwhelmed at the sight of someone with Cerebral Palsy?  Do you think God made a mistake when a child is born with Downs Syndrome?  Do you pity the soldier who lost a limb serving our country?

What do you think God thinks of special needs?  Well, I happen to know the answer to that question after an adoption friend pointed it out to me (thanks Annie, for sharing what you found in the Bible!).  And it has flooded books I've been recently too, so I want to share this with you.

John 9:2-3

His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, 

this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

"Neither this man or his parents sinned," said Jesus, 

"but this happened so that the work of God 

might be displayed in his life."

This is how God sees those with special needs - a chance for Him to shine through their lives!

I'm so thankful for this verse!  I hope you don't feel sorry for my daughter, or your neighbor, or the guy wheeling down the sidewalk in his chair or the developmentally delayed gal bagging your groceries.  They are not broken.  They are not imperfect.  God created them just they way they are.   They are fearfully and wonderfully made so that God may work through them wherever they may go!

I can't wait to see how God uses our Quiet Tiger!  For more info on L's hands, here is a great website a friend posted (her son has a very similar hand).

10 fingers are overrated!

Could this hand be any cuter?  I love her little "fingers."
And when she waves this little hand "hello or goodbye" my heart just absolutely melts.