JOY--TRUE JOY

JOY

We would like to share some joy with our family and friends:

Joy that expresses itself thru the many faces of our family: This year has been a glorious year in lives of our children. Joy as we watch all of them gain the confidence to overcome, the ability to strive for their heart's desire, and the love to welcome 5 new Briggs children into our ever expanding family. Some of the more significant happenings this year were: In Feb. our dossier was submitted to the country of Ukraine for us to be able to adopt 5 children. In March Jeane's mom passed away from a long battle with Alzheimer’s; we have a peace and a joy knowing that she is now with Jesus. In May we traveled to Ukraine for 4 weeks to complete the adoption of Olivia- age 16, Rachel-age 14 and Tia-age 11 ( our first sibling adoption) , Jonas- age 13 and Caleb-age 9. All 5 were from the same orphanage. We have been the only family we have known who have been able to adopt 3 unrelated children and Ukraine has allowed us this honor 2 different times. The mother and granddad of the 3 new girls died of TB. They are latent carriers and have begun the treatment to prevent the disease of TB in them. Jonas lost his left eye from cancer; he was also a smoker since the age of 5. Praise God he has no desire for smoking now. They have been home 5 months and all are thriving, healthy and very happy kids. Luke has had 3 surgeries this year. The first was in April to remove a spinal myloceal (hernia). He had a knee surgery to help his leg to grow straight and he had a second palate surgery. All have been successful and he has done remarkably well; he definitely enjoys being able to walk now! There has been joy in seeing Luke be able to talk clearly, continue to walk and have a normal healthy spine. Mya was scheduled to have her left leg in an external fixator to grow her femur 5 cm but, she got sick and it is postponed until 2009. She now wears a leg brace and shoe lift; these do help her to walk better..

All the kids are doing well in our home school. Each one is meeting their challenges head on and overcoming issues like ADHD, FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome), speech and developmental delays common in children from an orphanage. It is amazing to see how far these kids have come. What joy to watch Joseph (19), home just 3 years, succeed at his job at Sam's Club. This is especially rewarding since he was basically forgotten and written off in Ukraine; he was sent to an insane asylum during the summer months while the other "normal" kids were sent to the beach. Watching the older kids mature and discover positive things about themselves has been very fulfilling for us. We have joy in seeing Ben, Mary Kate and Molly open their hearts to even more brothers and sisters and loving them unconditionally.

All 5 of our "grand" children are doing well. Laura Jeane and Brian's boys, Tyler and Drew have started school and enjoy it. Ava, Mary Kate's little one, is almost 2 and talking up a storm. We rejoice with Mary Kate and Ava as the Lord has brought Keith into their lives. He loves them both dearly and we expect a wedding in the future. Jenn and Jeremiah's Ella and Ezra are expecting a baby brother or sister in July. They still live in NC where he is a pastor. Molly is still living in Hagerstown and we now have a "grand" puppy- Leyla, who in reality is loved by all and we can return her to Molly after she gets off her 24 hr shifts... the kids and us get the benefit but she has the responsibility. There has been so much joy in watching our children have their own children. I wonder how many "grand" ones we will have?

There is joy because in October we completed a very large addition that gives us a "dorm" room, 2 more full baths, a laundry room, a gathering room and a new 2 car garage. Winter won't be so cramped this year because of the extra space. Once again we have seen the Lord's provision as He has met all our need; this has opened our hearts to these dear children and we have been blessed. We pray that our story, our testimony to the love the Lord has placed in our hearts, has given you some joy as well as an encouragement to perhaps open your heart to a child, an orphan or a need in someone's life. We are often asked, "How do you do what you do?" Our answer is simple and it comes from 2 Corinthians 5:14….. For Christ's love compels us….. To be compelled by a love outside of our understanding, deeper than our own love for ourselves and a love that desires to change lives, brings so much fulfillment and joy. We hope that some of you can experience the joy of watching the life of a child be given to them, the ability to live and be who they were created to be and to experience the joy of a full stomach, loving arms around them and a family who is there for them.

Our gifts to you are the faces of joy from our own blessings. Our hope is that some of you will adopt, support adoption or the cause of a child. It is our heart and deeply felt passion to love children and to share what a blessing a child truly is... for in the beginning we were all blessed by a child, the baby in a manager, Jesus.

Our email is mommajeaneb@aol.com and our blog link is http://blessedbyachild.blogspot.com/

Blessings for peace and joy this Christmas,