Nathan's Final Surgery

Tuesday, March 24, 2015 is exactly 3 months after Nathan's last surgery. It is the soonest he is allowed to have his final surgery. So, we scheduled it for this time so he can be free and clear to enjoy spring baseball and summertime activities.

This is his final surgery to repair the cleft in his aveolar ridge. The doctor will take bone from his left hip and graft it to fill his hole.

He may need surgeries when he is older, but he is finished for now.

We are so thankful to all the doctors and nurses who have taken care of him. We are thankful for everyone who has prayed and supported us during this long and unexpected process. We are thankful to the Lord, Jesus Christ who has blessed and chosen us to be Nathan's parents. We are thankful that we live in a country that has the most extraordinary health care in the world.

Our highest praise to our Lord, Jesus Christ!

Our hearts go out to the children around the world who do not have this opportunity and do not even have their basic health needs met.

They have never heard the gospel and that Jesus loves them.

Everyday 20,000 children die because of preventable health disease or starvation.

We live in the richest country in the world and yet we ignore the cry of these children.

 Easter is approaching and we will celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord. As we read the Scriptures and contemplate our allegiance to our Lord, the question we should ask is the same question Pilate asked the angry mob, "What do you want me to do with Jesus?"

I ask you, "What will you do with Jesus?" What will you do as children die everyday because we ignore their cry.

What will you say when you stand before the Lord one day and he asks "Why didn't you do something? You're an American. I've given you everything!"" What have you done with your life?"

Chinese New Year 2015

Every Chinese New Year we celebrate with other families we traveled with to China. Our daughters are from the same orphanage, so the kids like to celebrate with their "China sisters".

We enjoyed having dinner with our friends and  reminiscing about our trip to China to bring home our beautiful children.

On Sunday we took the kids to see the "Pandas" movie at our science center's Omnimax Theater.
They thoroughly enjoyed watching and learning China's conservation efforts to save the endangered pandas.

Luke's Progress

We prayerfully made the decision last year to have Luke attend public school so he can receive the special services to meet all of his needs.

When we were adopting Luke we never knew there was a hearing impaired school about 30 minutes from our home.

It is one of the best hearing impaired schools in the nation. They are an oral/auditory language school.They do not use sign language.

Last spring we enrolled him in our school district so they could evaluate him and write an IEP.

They determined he should go to the hearing impaired school, but it's in a different school district. Thankfully, our district already had a contract with them and has several students attending there.

The people we worked with from our district and the hearing impaired school were wonderful to us. They went out of their way to make Luke feel safe and happy - from creating a social story about his school day to even visiting his bus and bus driver before the first day of school.

We have seen Luke progress in his speech in only the few months that he's been there. 

Remember Luke didn't receive his first cochlear implant until he was almost 5 years old and the second one was implanted about 3 months later.

When he started kindergarten in the fall he had only been hearing for about a year and he wasn't really saying anything at all.

Until that time he relied on his sight and sign language in order to communicate. We have to constantly remind him to rely on his hearing and communicate using speech. 

Formed habits are not easily broken.

Luke can now say: no, yes, bathroom, ipad, boy, girl, dog, mom, juice, pencil, scissors, glue, on, off, apple, boat, fish, flower, sun, I, the, and that.

He stills needs prompting and he will need many years of speech therapy, but we are so pleased and excited with the progress he has already made.

More Surgeries For Nathan

This is Nathan Guochang. He's 10 years old and a very brave little boy.

Last August he had a bone graft for his cleft palate on his right avelor ridge.

Unfortunately, he has a very large hole. The largest hole his doctor has ever seen (and his doctor travels around the world helping children).

The bone graft became infected because his hole did not close all the way after the surgery. An infection can happen even if there is a tiny opening and that's exactly what happened.
So, we had many doctor visits to removed the infected bone. At least he didn't need to have it surgically removed.

So the plan was to schedule another surgery right before Christmas.

But there was a change in plans.

The week of Thanksgiving his doctor called to tell me that his hole became larger (probably due to the infection) and he will need three separate surgeries now.

So his first surgery was on Dec. 2, 2014. His hole needed to be closed before they filled it with bone again. In order to do this they grafted skin from under his lip and the top of this tongue. "Okay, a skin graft," I thought to myself, "that's not too bad."

But the tissue needs to stay alive and healthy.

This is where Nathan becomes a courageous little soul. Braver than anyone I know.

The doctors sutured his tongue to his palate in order to keep blood flow to the area, to keep the tissue alive and prevent infection. They also attached screws and rubber bands to his teeth in order to keep his mouth closed.

He had to remain like this for 3 WEEKS!

This means NO EATING! NO TALKING! He could only drink from a straw for 3 WEEKS during the Christmas season.

I don't know about you, but I would have gone CRAZY!

Not Nathan! He was a REAL TROOPER through it all! He never complained or cried about anything. He was so very patient!

The Lord really gave him such endurance and patience through it all!

On Dec. 23, 2014 (yes the day before Christmas Eve and 2 days before Christmas Day), he had his second surgery to release his tongue from his palate. HOORAY!!!  He was still on a liquid diet for 3 weeks but at least his tongue was free, he could talk again and he didn't need to drink everything from a straw.

His doctor said the flap they created to close his hole is healthy and healing.Thank you Lord!

So his final surgery is scheduled for March 24, 2015. They will graft bone from his hip again to fill in the hole, however this time his opening is already closed and hopefully will not become infected.

He shouldn't need anymore surgeries for a few years!

Thank you Lord for giving us such a WONDERFUL, PATIENT, and COURAGEOUS little boy!

We are thankful also for all the wonderful nurses in the surgery center and on the hospital floor who were very caring, kind, and helpful to us through all of his surgeries.

A Day at the Rain Forest

Since Luke had a day off of school, we visited the Rain Forest at our Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
We visit the zoo often because we have an annual family pass to our zoo. The kids enjoy the many variety of animals in the zoo and rain forest along with the many other activities to do here. Our adoption agency, European Adoption Consultants, has their annual picnic here as well.

Here are some other pictures from last November ( another day off of school) . We had great weather that day esp for November. It's ironic that we had a huge snow storm just a week later.

Our zoo has a new carousel, Luke always has to ride the coyote. He loves any kind of dogs.

Nathan

Rebekah

Hannah

 The animal in the background is the Red Panda from Asia. 

Luke always has to visit the wolf lodge every time we visit.

Enjoying the unusually nice weather in November.

Change of Plans

The last few weeks have been crazy in our household.

Nathan had cleft palate/lip surgery on Aug. 19 and had to spend the night in the hospital.

His surgeon grafted bone from his hip to fill in the hole in his palate. He also had more repair on the cleft in his palate.

Nathan's plastic surgeon said he had one of the largest holes and clefts he has ever seen.

10 days after surgery Nathan developed an infection and some of his bone graft had to be removed. We're not sure yet how much was lost, but he will need more surgery to replace the bone that became infected.

While all this was happening, Sarah started her first year at Cornerstone Christian Academy as a junior. This is the first time she has ever entered a school.

During all of this, the supervisor from our school system called us with a chang of plans. They were now considering sending Luke to Millridge Center The School For The Hearing Impaired. It's only about 30 minutes from our home and is one of the best schools in the country for hearing impaired students.

We're grateful for everything our school district has done for Luke. Being at Millridge has been wonderful for him and is where God has planned for him to be all along. Just think of how far he travelled from China to come to one of the best schools in the country for the hearing impaired. We only live 30 minutes from the school!

Luke really enjoys school and looks forward to going everyday. He has a very small class of 8 students and that includes first grade. Everyone can tell he is very smart and will someday learn to speak. The former speech therapist developed a program called Phonics in Motion which helps kids learn their phonetic sounds by putting a motion with each sound.

Nathan's Upcoming Surgery

Nathan will be having surgery on August 19th. This is his second surgery of this year to repair his cleft palate/lip. He has a large hole in his palate, so they will be taking bone from his hip to repair the hole.

He also needs more work done on the cleft in his palate, so they will be repairing this as well.

Please pray for his surgeon as he skillfully reconstructs Nathan's palate and that the surgical site doesn't become infected. Please pray for the recovery as well. He will be on soft foods for six weeks after the surgery. We thank the Lord for His provision, and we're trusting Him with this surgery.

Duryea Family Update

Well life has been very busy with 7 kids. Just to give you a quick update:

Adam, our oldest, is 21 and he is going  to Kent State University. He is majoring in computer science/ game design and commutes everyday while he is earning his way through college by working at McDonald's where he is a crew trainer.

Ethan graduated from Cornerstone Christian Academy. He was the catcher of their baseball team and was awarded MVP this year. He also achieved many scholar awards. This summer, he is currently playing on the Lake County Captains Baseball Academy. He is very excited about attending Houghton College in New York this fall where he made the baseball team. He will be majoring in computer science.

Sarah will be a Junior this year and will be attending Cornerstone Christian Academy this fall for the first time.While she enjoyed being homeschooled, she is also looking forward to start a new chapter in her life. Sarah is involved in American Heritage Girls. American Heritage Girls is a Christian scouting program that builds women of integrity through service to God, family, community, and country. She is currently working on the highest award in American Heritage Girls which is called The Stars and Stripes Award. It is equivalent to Eagle Scout. Sarah has a huge heart for missions and orphans around the world and plans to go into mission work in the future.

Hannah is 12 years old and continues to be homeschooled. She will be in 7th grade in the fall. She plays the violin and she loves to read and write stories. She is an excellent student and she loves learning new things. She attends Pioneer clubs at our church and she also is in American Heritage Girls.

Rebekah is 9 years old and homeschooled also. She will be in 4th grade this fall. She loves gymnastics and excels in it. She also is a very good student. She attends Pioneer clubs at our church and is in American Heritage Girls as well.

Nathan is 9 years old and homeschooled too. He will be in 3rd grade this fall. He is becoming a very good reader. When Nathan first began kindergarten he could not remember his letters or numbers. We worked very hard on his letters and sounds for 2 years. He has come a long way and we are very proud of him. He loves baseball and attends Brigades at our church.  He is in a new scouting organization called Trail Life USA.

Nathan had plastic surgery on his nose this past March. He was born with a cleft lip/palate, so his nose is very flat.  The doctor removed cartilage from the back of his ear to build up the tip of his nose. It looks beautiful!

Nathan will have another surgery this summer on his palate. The doctor will take bone from his hip and use it to fill in the hole in his palate. He also needs more repair on his cleft palate which will be done at the same time.

God is so good and he provides in miraculous ways!

Luke just turned 6 in June. He had both of his cochlear implant surgeries last year. His hearing is at normal levels. Even though he is not talking yet, he makes lots of sounds. He receives speech therapy from a cochlear implant specialist and can identify all of his 6 ling sounds. He can say 4 of them.

Luke will be attending our local elementary school this fall. They have set up a program for him similar to the special hearing impaired program at a school that is much farther away. The environment at our local elementary school is very warm and our school system has been wonderful and very understanding of Luke's situation.

We thank our Lord Jesus Christ for His care of our family and all of their needs. As this has been a trying year for finances, he is faithful and has proved His faithfulness and goodness countless of times.

Another Surgery for Luke

We have wonderful news about Luke. We just went to see his ENT surgeon last week for his check-up and he says Luke is ready for his next surgery on his other ear.

On August 26, 2013 Luke will have surgery on this right ear to remove the old implant and replace it with a new one.

I didn't expect it to to be so soon, but since Luke is doing so well the doctor would like to do it right away. The goal is to get him hearing in both ears as soon as possible. He is 5 years old now. It is very important to do this while he is young, so that he will learn to talk and be accustomed to sound.

Please pray the insurance company will cover his surgery costs. The cochlear implant will be FREE! It is amazing that the surgeon "went to bat" for us and convinced the manufacture to give us the second one for free. Our God Is AMAZING! God can do more than we ever ask or imagine.

A BIG THANK YOU to Luke's surgeon, Dr. MEGERIAN,at University Hospital's Rainbow Babies and Children for all you have done for us.

Happy 1st "Gotcha Day" Luke

One year ago today we were united with Dang Fengzheng to become a forever family. We were so excited and blessed to have you as our son. We can't imagine how scared you must have been to meet us. We sent pictures of our family to you in order to help you understand, but communicating to a deaf child about what would be happening to him must have been nearly impossible. It is difficult for any child to understand the how and why their world is being turned upside down, but can you imagine what was going through Luke's mind?

By the way, he had already been abandoned when he was 2 years old. He had already adjusted to a new life, and now he would be taken away from everything he was accustomed to and loved.

Thankfully, we have a God who can do more than we could ever ask or imagine. His specialty is changing the impossible into all kinds of possibilities. That is what he did for Luke. At first Luke didn't want anything to do with us but, after a half an hour or so he actually allowed me to pick him up and hold him. That's our God! I believe he whispered in his deaf ears that he was safe and these people loved him.

We are thankful to everyone who prayed, loved and supported us. We thank you and we love you for all you have done for us.

We thank all our family and friends who gave us financial support. We thank you for answering God's call.  

We also would like to thank our adoption agency, European Adoption Consultants, and especially Uncle Zhou, Chris and Karla for all you have done for us. We couldn't have done it with out you. Also, a big thank you to Adoption Family Legacy for the grant and loan you gave us. You are all a blessing and very special to us. We love you.

A huge thank you to the director and all the caretakers of the orphanage, and especially Levi for your wonderful care of Luke. He wouldn't be so well adjusted and bonded to us if it wasn't for your love for him.
May God richly bless you always for your love and kindness.

Today, Luke has become a sibling to his brothers and sisters. They play and have lots of fun together. We can't imagine our lives without him.

Also, we will never forget all of the families we traveled with. We love you and will never forget you. You all have a very special place in our hearts. It was wonderful to see Jim, Beth, Scott, Lisa and their little ones at the EAC picnic this year. We hope that we see all of you again.

Update on Luke's Cochlear Implant

Today Luke had his third mapping session. He'll have one more in August and he'll be finished for awhile. He is doing well with his new processor, keeping it on all the time. It will take some time before he learns to talk because he needs to process language. It's the same way a baby learns to talk. He is receiving speech therapy every week. His wonderful speech therapist is leaving for another position, so next week will be her last week. She is very special to us (she's originally from Hong Kong) and we wish her God's blessings.



Luke will probably have his other surgery this year. I was told the doctors' feel he is progressing nicely and should be ready to have the other implant put in this year. We pray again for the insurance company to approve it. It would be beneficial for us to have it done this year.

Luke's First Cochlear Implant Surgery

                                                        Monday, May 13, 2013

Today begins the start of a brand new life for Luke. Today is the day of his cochlear implant surgery.

We had to be at the University Hospital's Surgical Center at 6:45 am. Luke was the first surgery of the day which I was very thankful for since he was not allowed to eat or drink anything. How do you explain to a deaf child that he is not allowed to eat or drink? Thankfully he was very good the entire drive there.

We knew Luke might become upset when they started to prepare him for surgery because of the way he reacted to the sedation he received for the CAT scan. Well, as soon as they put the ID tag on his wrist and I started dressing him in his gown, he started to throw a temper tantrum. I don't know if he remembers something from his past surgery or if he was just scared. Either way we understand that this is a very natural reaction.So, the anesthesiologist had me carry him up to the restricted area and than he carried him to the operating area kicking and screaming. 

After only two hours the surgery was completed and is a success! They had two representative from the manufacture at the surgery also. They also turned on the implant to make sure it was working properly. It does work and Luke will be hearing as soon as his incision heals and the audiologist turns it on again on June 13, 2013. This will be a special day for Luke because he will really hear well for the first time.

The surgeon also said that he could see from the CAT scan that his nerves are alive and his cochlear is not deformed. His deafness could be genetic or could have been caused by a drug used to fight infection but can cause deafness. It was once used in the US in the 1940's and 50's.

On a previous post I mentioned the way God had ordained our meeting a young waitress who had cochlear implants at a Steak and Shake restaurant while we were praying about adopting Luke. When we came home from China we had our first visit with the ENT. He told us about his first cochlear implant patient and how she was going to college and is even a waitress at a restaurant. When we told him that we met her he couldn't believe it. We told him that this was God.  We believe that God encourages us by bringing people into our lives. In every step of Luke's adoption we have seen God's hand bringing us through and being with us.

Well, we were telling this story to the post-op nurse after Luke's surgery and some how it quickly was communicated to Luke's surgeon who happened to be preparing for the next surgery. He quickly came out of preparing for surgery to tell us that the young waitress we met was his patient too. He put in her second implant on the other ear. Everyone is so amazed at Luke's story and is in awe of God's hand upon this little boy.

Just to let you know that Luke is doing very well in his recovery. The next day after his surgery he was playing and back to his normal self. You wouldn't even know that he had major surgery the previous day.We are so thankful that God has given our nation such wonderful technology and the best healthcare in the world. We are also thankful that God has led us to use our resources to help a deaf orphan to have the miracle of hearing.

Audio Adrenaline - Kings & Queens/For The Least Of These

http://www.handsandfeetproject.org/

A New Life For Luke

We have exciting news about Luke concerning his cochlear implants.

 In March, we had a appointment with the head surgeon of the audiology department at University's Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital. The team of doctors have been wonderful to us since we brought Luke home. They have been meeting together every month to discuss his case and to decide the best care for him. Unknowing to us, the head surgeon had been discussing Luke's case with the manufacture of the his implant. As I already mentioned in an earlier post, only 5 of the 12 electrodes in the implant are working. We don't think he can hear enough. So, the doctor has asked the manufacture to replace the implant that he already had from China. They have agreed to replace it for free.

On May 13 he will get a new cochlear implant in his left ear. The doctor has decided it would be best to implant the left ear first (the one without an implant) because they cannot turn it on and put on the speech processor until the incision heals. If we started with the right ear than he would be without any hearing (even the little that he has) for awhile and he may become very upset that we took away his hearing. They will replace the right ear 6 months after the first surgery.

The surgery is outpatient surgery. No stay in the hospital is needed. Amazing!

We are in awe of how God has lovingly directed our paths and is taking care of all the details for Luke. The doctor also said we have very good health insurance which covers cochlear implants. He also said he will be our advocate for Luke.

After much discussion about the surgery, he asked me if I knew any family history about Luke. I explained that with all of my children from China, I don't know any of their history. They are all abandoned. He said," What do you mean by abandoned?" I explained where and why children are abandoned in China while being respectful to their culture. (America is not perfect, we have legalized abortion) (An abortion doctor is being tried right now for killing babies who were born alive).

So our wonderful doctor said, "It's like he's getting a new life."  I said, "Yes, you are right he is getting a new life."

Luke is getting a fresh start on life. How wonderful it will be for him to be able to hear. We don't know if it is the first time or if he was born with hearing, but he will be given the gift of hearing. We are so grateful for our wonderful Lord who love us and has led us to a wonderful team of doctors at Rainbow Babies and Children Hospital. To the wonderful team of doctors : We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of your love care and concern for Luke.

Our hope and prayer for Luke is that he will one day know and love our wonderful Savior, Jesus Christ, who deserves all of the glory. That will be A Brand New Life for all of eternity!

I know it's been quite a long time since we wrote anything. So let me give you an update on Luke.

We met with the team of doctors at University Rainbow and Babies Children Hospital to discuss Luke's options and cochlear implant.  Once the doctors were able to determine which type of cochlear implant Luke had, they contacted the manufacture to see if we could get an outside processor for it so we would know if it works and if he can hear.

A representative from the manufacture was very helpful and glad tocome to visit us at the office with the software. Once they hooked up the processor they were able to program it in order to give him sound. Now every month we visit the audiologist in order for her to program the implant. This is called mapping. We want to reach a level that is comfortable for Luke.

The only problem we discovered with his implant is that only 5 of the 12 electrodes are working. Now we have to determine if  that will be enough for him to hear and discern speech sounds.

In December Luke received a hearing aid. The hearing aid is on loan from the manufacture. Just like the implant we need to decide if he is receiving enough sound in order for him to discern speech sounds in order to talk. Also, our insurance company requires a trial period of hearing aids before allowing implant surgery.

We have the hearing aid on loan to us until April 30. Then the doctors will need to make a decision if they should put an implant in the other ear. From what I have read about people who are profoundly deaf (which is Luke), they can not hear enough with a hearing aid in order to learn language. We're quite certain that we will need to put a cochlear implant in the other ear.

Luke is doing very well with bonding and attaching to us and the other children. It seems like he has always been part of our family. He fits right in with all the kids. He loves to play outside even when it's cold or gloomy. He is very good at letting us know what he wants.

He is also very smart and is learning his colors, shapes, and numbers. He is also learning how to write and recognize his name. We are teaching him new signs, but he sees a speech therapist who specializes in cochlear implant patients. We all want him to start learning to rely on his hearing and training his brain to recognize sounds.

1+ Month Home

Sorry it's been so long since I have posted. We have been crazy busy!

So I guess I'll just start where we end last. 

We started school on September 4th.

Adam is a freshmen in college. Ethan is a Junior and going to a Christian school. Sarah is a freshmen and is my oldest I'm homeschooling. Hannah is in 5th, Bekah in 2nd, Nathan is in 1st, and Luke is in pre-school.

So, I have my hands full homeschooling 5 kids.

Luke is adjusting so well to this family.

He loves the beach! It's so nice to live 10 minutes away from Lake Erie.

For Labor Day weekend we decided to go to the fair. Luke sure loved seeing all the animals. The firemen even let him sit in the fire truck while we talked to them about Luke's adoption. It was fun seeing friends there too.

Hannah is learning about Ohio History in school.  Since we live close to the beautiful Cuyahoga Valley National Park, we decided to take a field trip to visit the Ohio Erie Canal. We often bike ride on the tow path on weekends, however our younger kids haven't had the opportunity to visit the the history of the area.

It has been really cold and rainy here in Northeast Ohio, so the first time it was slightly warm and sunny we decided to take advantage of it and go to the zoo.
It was Luke's first time going to the zoo. He was amazed at seeing all the different animals. He especially loved the elephants. I don't think he has ever seen anything so enormous.

He has had several doctor appointments. When we first got him, we noticed there was a scar behind his right ear. The orphanage said the scar was already there when he came to them. They thought that maybe his parents tried to open up his hearing. We took him to the audiologist and the ENT. We discovered that he has a cochlear implant behind  his right ear. They took an x-ray of the implant to determine which company it came from. They are bringing in a representative from the company with the outside apparatus equipment to test the implant to see if it really works. He also has severe to profound hearing loss in his left ear. We are going to try a hearing aid first. If that doesn't work than we will go with a cochlear implant.

God is in the details of our lives.
A year ago after we accepted our referral of Luke, we went to Steak n Shake one night. At first I didn't even notice, but our wonderful young waitress had cochlear implants. She spoke beautifully. David was the first to notice and said it must be wonderful to have the miracle of hearing everyday. Now, that we have Luke home we had to make a decision about which hospital and team of doctors we should visit for Luke. We have two wonderful top-rated hospitals in our area. We decided on the one our son Nathan has seen for his cleft lip/palate, especially since I love his ENT. He is wonderful with children. Well, when we went to his appointment with the ENT, he started to tell us about a wonderful young lady he treated with cochlear implants and was a waitress at Steak n Shake. We were so excited and he couldn't believe that we had already met her.
God is in the details of our lives.
God has been encouraging us with this adoption every step of the way. I have never met anyone with cochlear implants in my entire life. There have been many moments of God encouraging us by putting someone in our path that was either deaf, had deaf parents, was a sign language teacher or had connections with the hearing and speech center. Also, for the first time, our Christian Home Educators Conference had vendors from Signing Time there. I've been going to the convention for 15 years and have never seen them there. That is not a coincidence. I don't believe in coincidences. When God calls us to do something He is going to equip us, encourage us and walk that road with us.
Praise to Our Awesome God!

He loves our dogs.

From the Heart

I want to share with all of you what God has put on my heart since I became a Christian. When I was in college I learned of the abortion video "The Silent Scream", the truth about abortion, and the lies of the abortion industry (please be courteous, open minded and continue reading.) Once David and I knew the truth, we would stand for life by going on pro-life walks, life chains and standing outside abortion clinics. We experienced their abuse first hand from being cursed at to having things thrown at us.

Have you ever met someone who had an abortion? I have a friend who did when she was very young and I don't think it is something one ever completely gets over,
except by the healing power of Jesus. In her testimony she cried that she killed her baby. Now do you really believe the lies of the enemy, that  having an abortion is a women's right to choose and it won't have any lasting effects on anyone? Anti-life people say "it's not a baby, it's a fetus". Well did you know that the word fetus is Latin for little person? Did you know that a baby's heart begins to beat at 3 weeks old? The Bible calls Satan a murder,a liar and the father of lies, John 8:43-45.If you had an abortion please know that Jesus loves you and forgives you. He does not condemn you and either do we. We live in a fallen world and we all make mistakes, sometimes without even knowing or understanding the truth. But, Jesus gives you real freedom and truth, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free, John 8:31-33.

Anyone can see that our family is very pro-life. God is the Creator of all life and all things under heaven. He has made everything beautiful in it's time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end, Ecclesiastes 3: 10-12. Just look at the world around you. Life is His and His only to give and take away. He is Sovereign and Holy. We cannot create life.  Now I'm not saying there is anything wrong with invetro, etc. I think it is wonderful that God has given doctors the ability to help struggling couples conceive, but what I am saying is that He still is the Giver of Life. All life is beautiful, who are we to judge the quality of life? The child with down's syndrome to the child who is deaf is precious to God. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17.

This brings me to the point I want to say. When you vote this November, I would appreciate it if you would remember my adopted children. Their birth mothers had the courage to give them life and not end their lives in an abortion. It took enormous courage and strength to go through giving birth to them and then abandoning them in a place where they could be found. I know their hearts still ache with the pain of having to let go of their precious treasures. Please don't judge them! That is why I say they had the courage and the love to give them life and do what they know is right. So, when you look in the faces of Hannah Min, Rebekah Lu, Nathan Gouchang and Luke Feng Zheng remember that they would not be here if their birth mother chose to abort them.

Remember them when you vote in November. Stand for ALL LIFE, all over the world.

All Christians, no matter what your denomination, need to stand with the Catholic Church in this fight for Life.

Mother Theresa said that "there is never too many children" and "give the children to me, I'll take them". I feel the same way. There are many childless couples who so desperately want children. Give a child life.

A book I would highly recommend is "Message From An Unknown Chinese Mother: Stories of Love and Loss" by Xinran. I pray after reading this book you will understand.

Another book I would highly recommend is "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy: by Eric Metaxas. He had the courage to stand for truth.  Will we do the same today?

Update From Luke

I want to tell you all about how much fun my life here in America is.

I've been home for one week now.

I love my mom, dad, and all my siblings. 

This is the picture of when I saw my room for the first time. It's blurring because my family couldn't get a good picture of me. I couldn't stay still because I was so excited. 

I love playing dress up!

 

Ice cream and Popsicle's are my favorite! 

Baseball is fun! 

I love taking baths! In this picture I don't look too happy, but every time I look at this picture now, I laugh. 

We took a quick trip to grandma's and grandpa's house. I tried some spaghetti and a cupcake. They were both really good!

The other morning, I got my first ride on the lawn mower. It was so much fun! My brother even let me drive it.

The swings and sandbox are so much fun.

 Best of all, I even had my first squirt gun water fight with my brother and sisters.   

That's all I have for now! Thank you all so much for praying for me. I love my new life with my family.

Two Weeks Since Luke's Gotcha Day

Luke has had a lot of firsts, since his Gotcha Day.

His first time meeting us.

His first McDonald's Meal!
He loved it from the first bite.

First time being in an airport,

and first time flying on a plane, from Zhengzhou to Guangzhou.
He could not wait to get on the plane.

First doctor's appointment with us.
There will be lots more to come in America.

First time going to church.
What a blessing, it was in China.

First time being part of a family.
...and it will continue

 More to come later on.

Welcome Home Luke

Luke is home. Hooray! Welcome to America buddy!

They arrived home at 10:15pm last nigh.! It was really suppose to be at 5:20pm but their plane from Chicago to Cleveland got delayed.

Once they arrived at the airport, Luke was pretty happy and loud. Then once we got into the car to drive home he was pretty quiet, but the minute we got into the door he was running around, laughing his head off. I still wonder what is going through his head right now. 

He is doing great! He laughs and signs, and makes lots of noise. He even tries to talk and can read  lips very well. He signed and even said the word "apple"! 

He loves to run around, play dress up, and wrestle. We even played baseball with him and he did pretty well for it being his first time.

He loves animals, but is not too sure about the dogs. I remember when Nathan came home, he would scream at the dog and rabbits.  Luke just gets a little frighten and hops into whoever is standing closest to him whenever he sees one of the dogs.  

I can really see the hand of God through this all! Even though it has been a long hard journey, God has always been with us every step of the way.

Thank you all so much for praying. We really appreciate everything you all have done for us.

~Sarah

Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future."