11 Today!

 Happy Birthday Elizabeth!!

Today is the day we celebrate Elizabeth's 11 years on this earth, since the day she was born!  What an amazing 11 years it has been.  Full of many days of laughter and joy but also with so many scarey and prayerful days as well. 

She came to us as a medically fragile foster placement. 

She had a trach, g-tube and so many life sustaining tubes and wires attached to her.  I prayed so hard because the responsibility of her care was so intense and overwhelming.  She was so much work.  Caring for a baby is a full time job but add in all the machines and their upkeep and cleaning.  The settings, the feeding pump, the suctioning machines, the oxygen settings, breathing treatments,.  She was around the clock care to keep her healthy and alive...But God helped us and helped her survive and grow.

So many times we were told by doctors bad things about her prognosis.  We were told she would never talk, eat by mouth, walk or be normal cognitively.  So many times she was so very sick or unhealthy we prayed fervently for her life.  So many life threatening surgeries we sat thru in prayer and tears and God carried her and us thru. 

Her case was one of the hardest and most serious we had ever had to go thru.  It was so hard to function every day in faith that God had her in the palm of His hand, with all the awful and scarey things DFCS kept telling us about the family and her case.  I had to keep reminding myself that God was in total control.  I had a very good friend at that time going thru a hard case as well and we tried very hard to keep each other encouraged.  We prayed and fasted for each other on our court days. (Thank you so much L. Love you always!)  Every court day was draining and emotionally exhausting.  But Gods plan was for her to be our daughter.

She has been the hardest child we have ever raised medically and behaviorally.  She has been a challenge on every front with her high activity and strong will....But...she has also brought us equally as much joy and laughter.  Raising her has brought us much closer to God.  We have seen literal miracles and had regular answers to prayer on her behalf.  Raising her has taught me so much about myself and what love really is.  I mean, unconditional love for another, no matter how they treat you or what they say to you.   I learned the lesson that we need to treat everyone with the love we show to the ones in our life we cherish the most, no matter how we feel.  I have learned that love is an action and a choice.  That, is the love of our God.

Elizabeth has grown, changed and matured so much over the years.  She had such a ruff start.  She has used her tenacity to push herself to do the things in life that were hard for her to do, but she wanted to do.  She is spunky and funny.  She is very social and loves to be right in the middle of gatherings and whatever is going on.  She loves ballet, wearing jewelry and dressing up nice every day.  She happily hums when doing dishes or is doing yard work.  She loves being in the kitchen cleaning or helping prepare a meal. She likes to be outside doing yard work or swinging on our playground swings.  I have seen her in just the last year playing with toys less and leaving childhood behind and embracing things like knitting, cooking, recreational reading and bead work.  She primps before going to town and spends time with her sister doing each others hair...trying out new styles.  She is really becoming a young lady now.

For her birthday we surprised her with letting her get a parakeet.  Here is Charlie!

She has wanted one for a long time.  I was very glad we took her to pick it out early yesterday as after ballet last night,  she flipped her ankle and we were in the ER till 11:00 getting it x-rayed.  They do not think it is broken, only sprained but are sending her to the ortho doc to make sure.  She can not stand to put any weight on it, it hurts so badly...and is splinted and using her wheel chair and crutches for now.  (Not a good way to end being 10! and your first day to be 11!)

Tim brought home pizza for a special supper and my sister made one of her delicious and beautiful cakes for her! 

Thank you so much sister for all the special effort and love!

We love you so much dear Elizabeth!  You are a blessing to our home and life.  We give glory to God today for you and your life! Gods blessings be upon you now and always!

Romans 8:35-39  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Love, Dad, mom, Stephen, Antonio, William, Carolyn, Zeke and two little toddlers!