Life at the Beach

Keith is such a goof ball...He kept us laughing all week

Leah caught this fish with her hands- then of course the rest of the week everyone tried to.

Even momma and daddy to 6 can boogie

Lots of digging in the sand box

Lots of memories made and a wonderful week shared...So grateful for this week....

Meet Shadrach- the baby we are adopting

I could not have shared Shadrach's story any better than this family who are missionaries in Ghana. It is a sad story but now Shadrach has a family who already loves and prays for him. God is awesome and we can't wait to share this journey with you.

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"This child is cursed!"  

"He is talking to demons!"  

"Don't go near him or touch him - he is of the devil!"  

"His mother is cursed.  Someone performed magic on her while she was pregnant to give her a child that is not a human being!"

"The thing needs to be killed!  Look at his head - it's deformed!  Kill it!  Kill it!  Kill it!"

These were actual words spoken over this little boy.  The villagers were making plans to end his life because his head is misshapen.  People did not believe he was human, but did believe he was possessed.   He would sit alone without being fed or even touched because everyone was so afraid of him.  His mother was shamed within her own village, ostracized from the others because of her strange looking baby.

Now, meet Shadrach.  This child doomed for death was rescued by Daddy Paul.  Daddy Paul runs two orphanages here in Ghana.  When Daddy Paul heard about the situation from one of his Aunties, he made the 18 hour trip to the village to stop the madness.  He volunteered to take care of the child to save him from  his certain future if he remained in the village.  The people were relieved to be rid of the cursed "thing."  Paul's strongly stated to the people, "This child IS a human being.  He is a child of God.  You can not kill him!"  Daddy Paul brought Shadrach into Nyame Dua in Bolgatanga and Auntie Juliana has been diligently caring for him ever since.

Our family met Shadach about a month ago, and we all fell in love with him.  He is such a precious child.  However, because of his fused skull, his brain is not growing properly so he has some continual struggles to survive.  Breathing is laborious for him.  The first day I held him, I could not contain my tears listening to the child gasp for air.  It was heartbreaking.  

That day Daddy Paul had taken Shadrach to see some of the finest doctors in Ghana to see what could be done to help the poor baby.  The doctor's answered, "Nothing can be done for him here.  He needs surgery, but he will need to go to another country for this to happen."

We are now praying for a miracle.  We are praying for a family to step forward in faith to adopt this precious child of God.  He was rescued from death for the future God has planned for him, but a family must faithfully be willing to help find him the medical help he so desperately needs.

Our son, Mason, recently spent three weeks in the orphanage where Shadrach is living now.  Over the 21 days, Mason fell in love with little Shadrach.  He kissed him on the head several times a day, and on the day we made crafts, Mason made one for him knowing he would not be able to do it.   While our family stayed at the orphanage, Shadrach melted into a special place in each of our hearts.  Shadrach is one who deeply stirs something within.  You look into his face and wonder, "How could anyone ever want to kill this child?  The Lord has created him perfectly for His purposes.  He has been knit together by God. Oh, how could people view his life as one not worth living?"

We now daily pray for little Shadrach.  We are praying for God to lead someone to rescue him again.  Without adoption, nothing can be done to help him here in Ghana.  The medical facilities and expertise simply are not found here.  Daddy Paul has spoken with the Social Welfare Director and Shadrach should be granted a medical visa to help expedite his potential for medical help.  Honestly, he needs it soon.  The longer he waits for someone, the longer his brain growth is stunted.  

Friends, we are praying for a miracle in this little boy's life.  There are people on both sides of the ocean praying for this precious child.  We truly believe he has been saved for God's incredible purposes.  Nothing about him is a mistake.  Everything about him cries out, "I have been created by a Heavenly Father whose ways are not always understood, but whose ways are always good."  (Isaiah 55:9)

Please pray for baby Shadrach.  Please pray for a family to be led to adopt him  Please pray for him to receive the medical help he needs in the time he needs it.  Please pray for him to know the love of his Heavenly Father.   Until God provides the miracle of needed medical care, please pray for Auntie Juliana as she cares for him daily nurturing him in the love of Christ.

It's horrible what Shadrach endured as a baby in this culture.  It's atrocious that people would believe he is cursed because his head is misshapen.  It's unbelievable that people would actually make plans to kill this poor child.  But, in our country, if a woman is pregnant with a child testing positive for Downs Syndrome or perhaps a misshapen head, and a doctor suggests an abortion, it is equally as horrific - perhaps more so.    But there is no outcry.  There is no longer shock.  We are desensitized to the value of a human life.  To think that a child created in the womb in the image of God is something to dispose of grieves my heart beyond belief.

As you pray for Baby Shadrach, please join us in praying for all of the babies who are "formed differently."  Please pray for people to have an understanding like Daddy Paul's.  May God give people the courage to say, "No, this child is a human being.  He/she is a child of God formed in the image of our Creator.  He/she does not deserve to die."   

Please, please, please pray.

We are stepping into the waters of adoption once again

The adoption journey for a special baby has begun

This baby will have our last name and call me momma....

God has called us to adopt again. I will share more about this special blessing in a later blog post but, we all could not be happier or filled with joy that the Lord has chosen us once again to be apart of redeeming the life of a child. This child from birth was doomed to death by those around him all because of his special needs. Thankfully someone cared enough to rescue this child from certain death and now the Lord has moved in our hearts to adopt this special little one.

Just in case you are wondering about our present adoption journey of Papaye and Emmanuel...we are almost to the end and praise God for getting us there. Soon we hope to share that they are home.

Sadly we closed our pools but not before one last swim ( in our clothes - because we felt like it )

 We love our pool time from May thru Sept. and it is always sad when we close them up for Winter. So one evening a week before after dinner we let the kids just jump in with their clothes on ( not planned except my energy level for giving baths that nite was low :) . This spontaneous moment turned into one of our best swimming memories. Ana was here and even she jumped right in with the kids. They made a whirl pool, Joseph was throwing the kids in and everyone had a great evening. Fortunately we have the beach week starting tomorrow so until then we have the excitement of vacation. Then we will move into the Fall.

A View into Our Week thru Pictures

Looking at themselves thru Paw Paw's shiny bumper

Grandbabies -Milo and Abby home now 5 plus months and adding so many smiles to our family.

Celebrating Leah's 20th birthday

A cool picture she took with her "new " camera

Baby Caleah adding her smiles and joy to everyone

Our last swimming of the season in our pools :( Always makes me sad because we love swimming so much...but it is getting colder. 

Part of our family decided to cash in our Chick fila coupons on Friday nite . Actually 23 of us were there early. We then went to Target and the Dollar Tree to finish the evening. We had a great week of home school, we swam some, closed our pool , played outside in this beautiful weather and we are getting ready for our vacation to the beach :) 

Some have asked , " How is Gracie doing ?" She is being taught at home now.

This was Gracie on her first day of public school...she was a bit apprehensive but seemed to enjoy it.

Today being taught by Leah at home

To be honest we fully expected her to finish this school year of 5th grade in public school. She went last year in a special ed class and she did fine. We loved her teacher and felt like the experience was very positive for her and us. So when she started back in August we were not at all expecting for us to change our minds but, we did. She came home the Tuesday after Labor wknd.. If you are a friend of mine on fb you would have seen my post and questions about , What is a code orange at public school ? Because Friday, August 30th changed all of that. We had gotten a call from her teacher at school telling us that Gracie was not feeling well and that her ear hurt her. So I sent Cate down to pick her up. As Cate was driving into the school police were following her and they went inside the school. Cate parked and went to the front door to get Gracie and she was told the school was on lock down . That was all the info. she was given. She called me and was very scared and upset. I called the school and the sec. told me , " It is a code orange. " When I asked what a code orange was she replied alls I can tell you is it is a code orange. I told her that I had just gotten a call from Gracie's teacher that she was feeling ill and my daughter was there to pick her up. She repeated, " Alls I can tell you is it is a code orange." Cate said a police officer validated that they had followed her in to the school and she was legit...but they would not let Gracie out. After an hour I sent Cate back up with the pain meds. she had taken so that she could give it to Gracie in the car on the way home to help relieve her ear pain...I said if they won't let Gracie out maybe they will give her the pain medicine. If not I was coming down...Finally they let Gracie out . Now I am not at all against the lock down and think it was the right thing to do...but , we are not comfortable with how they handled our particular situation and not making an exception to the protocol for a code orange is not the place we want our daughter to be in. We don't feel comfortable that the "next time" the adults in charge would make the right decisions about the safety or well being of our daughter....

Also just minutes before the teacher called I had a not so pleasant conversation with the head of the bus transportation office for Berkeley County Schools. Grace was out of school at 3:10 but not getting home until 4:25 or 4:30. This long bus ride was not making her or us happy. I had spoken with the bus driver and aide ( both were very understanding and nice) about it as well. This head person was not so nice. His first comment to me was, " Well you know she is not in her school district?" I said I would love for her to be in the school in our area but this is where Berkeley Co. has sent her...so it should not be my problem but yours. Last year she was home at 3:50 . I also explained that her meds had been adjusted and the lastest I could give her the last dose was 4. He was not at all understanding and made us feel like he really did not care about our situation.

Now some parents are comfortable with all of this ...some friends have even shared their thoughts but for Paul and I it matters most how Gracie and our family feel about all of this. We just are not convinced or comfortable that others who make decisions about our child will make them in the best interest of our child. So we decided to keep her home. We had been teaching her the past 3 yrs and doing very well. If you ask Gracie she would tell you she wants to be home. Life is tough out there for sure and diff. families have to make their own decisions based on their own needs as did we. A peace has settled into our Faith Works Homeschool that was not quite completely there when she was away from us. We are all glad to have her home .