Proud Wife Moment

I would like to take a moment to tell the world how proud I am of my husband.  I have always been proud of him in his ministry, his commitment to God, and to our family.  He has recently finished his first book.  God called him to write this book several years ago, and it is now finally done - gone to press.  

His book, Illuminating the Darkness: A Fresh andEffective Solution to Depression, Stress, and Anxiety, covers a very controversial topic in our world today - depression, stress, and anxiety.  He has done a masterful job of explaining the biblical way of handling depression.  He has helped many people search the scriptures and to help overcome this struggle in their lives. The truth of God's Word is powerful and effective in all our lives.

If you are interested in the book, it is available or can be ordered at your local bookstore or you can purchase the paperback or Kindle version on Amazon.com.

Here is a little peak at the back cover of his book...

Are You Ready For A Change?

Every day there are new approaches and drugs to help people overcome the emotional pain of depression, stress, and anxiety. More people are being treated for these than ever before. So, one would presume emotional health and happiness would be at an all-time high. But you know that isn’t the case, not even close. In fact, the only thing that seems to be gaining prevalence faster than antidepressants is

depression itself!

Is there a way of escape? Is there a different approach from the failed strategies most often presented in self-help books and the doctor’s office? Is there hope for me? Can I live a life of real peace and joy?

Yes. Lasting joy and peace can be yours!

This is no idle promise from some new-fangled philosophy or rediscovered ancient herb.  This truth has the authority of the Bible, the simplicity of fruit on a vine, and the track-record of many generations who have discovered the real source of mental and emotional health.

This is not another strategy to try, rather it is the genuine truth about why people suffer from depression, stress, and anxiety, and how those pains can be replaced with joy, peace, and patience.

The truths presented here are…

• Easy to understand
• Practical in their everyday application
• Powerfully effective in both the short and long term 
• Proven

This book is both a challenge to everything you have heard about the cause and cure of emotional distress, and a real offer of hope. Learn here what thousands of others have learned and, enjoy an enduring harvest of the fruit of real joy.

What a Way to Start the Day

Our Monday was to start like any other week. We had several appointments, church events, tennis games,and to be capped of at the end with our daughter's drama performance on Friday and Saturday. Here it is Wednesday, and I am sitting in a hospital room with Rae. Monday morning Rae started having a seizure that truly scared us, and we raced off to our local ER. The ER was great and started working on her immediately to get the seizing to stop. They started some testing to get some early results and decide if we were to be transported to Children's. None of the early testing showed anything, but her CT showed something, so we were definitely being sent to Columbus. A ride in the mobile ICU is not a thing any parent wants to experience. Sitting alone praying for your child is about all you can do. We are very thankful for our friend Rochelle who came and picked up our girls. Their family has been a great help these last couple of days.

We have no record of our daughter having seizures before or knowing she had 2 previous strokes. We can only speculate that these happened before she entered the orphanage - we just don't know. There is no one to be angry at, but all we can to is move forward and give her the best medical care we can. God knew all that was going to happen, and we can just trust His plan. While we are scared and very concerned, we are so blessed by our friends and family literally all over the world are praying for us. We are truly thankful for all your messages and emails. She is one blessed little girl.

There are still many questions to be asked and tests to be done to find out the answers. We are thankful for the doctors that are working diligently to take care of her and to help her to find out what is causing this. We are thankful that no infection has shown up in the cultures so far. We pray that we are moving closer to find out what caused this and to even see if it related to her blood disorder. What ever it is, it is all of God's plan and He knows it all. We must trust His wisdom. I will chose to be thankful.

THURSDAY UPDATE - We were able to go home late Wednesday.  She is doing well on her new medicine.  We were told she could possible be mean while taking it, but we think it has given her the giggles which we will definitely take over the other.  We are loving these belly laughs! Pray there are no more seizures, and we can get more answers.

Happy Easter (a couple of days late)

This it the first chance I have had to post a pic from Easter.  It was a nice family day after worshiping our Risen Savior.  We decided to go out for brunch and then Rae to her first big screen movie.  It was just a great day!

Nouns but Still no Verbs

Language is getting better everyday.  We have mastered many nouns and managed to put together a sentence of two.  The elusive verb has failed to make it into her vocabulary.  It is quite funny to hear her sentences or phrases she says.  When there are Mandarin words we know she is using, we stop and tell her the English word for it, and that has been helping.  We use to hear "can-no can-no" all the time which means "look" or "watch".  She is finally saying "look".  There are others words she uses and some others we have no idea what she is saying. 

We still have bouts of sadness for her nanny, but it does not usually last too long.  Today she was very sad and upset with her sisters and was wanting to go back.  I sat her down and asked her if she would like to see a picture of her Chinese mama.  I told her that her Chinese mama still loves her and that we love her, but this is her home now.  She was happy to see the picture, and we talked a little about her previous life.  The funniest thing she remembers about her nanny is the "kong-kong" shoes. If you do not know what "kong-kong" shoes are, they are in our family referred to as high-heels.  When I took her to the store to purchase some shoes, she wanted high-heels and was upset when I told her she was not old enough.  Needless to say, we had some drama over our shoe decisions.  So, she has to settle with wearing my "kong-kong" shoes around the house.

It is both interesting and sad to hear about her life before us.  We just pray that we can help heal wounds, and provide her the best possible life all children deserve.  Our prayer is that God will continue to bind our hearts together and build trust.

Three Months

I am overwhelmed by how many people have viewed our video of our journey. I was going to wait to post it today, but I could not wait.  Please share with any of your friends who may be interested in adopting.

Yesterday proved to be an interesting morning for us with a trip to the emergency room.  Rae has 2 major nose bleeds in less than six hours, and we just wanted to be safe.  We were able to see and ENT and get her blood count.  Now we can add ENT to our list of doctor appointments we will have.

Rae is doing great despite all the doctor visits.  She still likes to hang with mom or dad everywhere we go, but she will stay in her Sunday School class by herself now.  When we go some where she knows people, she is a little social butterfly.  She is starting to play with girls her age. She recognizes letters and numbers she knows whenever we are out. She loves to help around the house especially sweeping and folding(yea for mom). Her new favorite phrase right now - "just a little bit".  She also loves her new bike, and loves riding it around in circles in our garage.

We have more doctor appointments in our future.  They are still trying to nail down what it going on with her blood disorder.  We have seen the ophthalmologist to see what is happening with her strabismus, and she will have surgery at some point to realign her eyes.  As of yesterday we will now need to see an ENT to see if there is anything we can do to curtail her nosebleeds. 

She is truly a brave little girl dealing with all we have put her thru these past months. Please pray for one of the girls that was adopted at the same time - Lily.  She is having her first palette repair Thursday.  The other 2 girls in our group have had their surgeries and seem to be doing well.

our beautiful girl

she loves to dance around

Video Finally Done

I am finally done with our Journey to Rae video.  Had previously done one and sent it to my mom for her church to view, but it was not quite finished.  So, now finally it is done.  I can't believe 3 months ago we were in China getting our girl.  She has come a long way in these few months.  She is speaking more English and more comfortable around our friends.  Looking forward to seeing her making friends with some little girls her age. (warning - the video is long, but the end is worth it)


Our Adoption Journey to Rae from Donna Dear on Vimeo.
This is our family's journey to our new daughter Rae. Please enjoy

Cooking with Emily and Rae

Emily is my budding baker.  She plans to open a bakery one day.  So, we let her work on her cupcakes a couple of times a month.  We were trying out a new recipe and Rae decided she wanted to help.  They made peanut butter cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. They were delicious.