Tim update

Tim, Felicity and Natani are currently in South Africa for about a month for further treatment.

It was confirmed that the tumor removed from his brain was in fact cancerous and an off shoot of the original tumor, thus resulting in more extensive radium / chemo treatment.

We continue to ask for prayer for Tim as the last operation had taken its toll on his body and he had been experiencing some debilitating headaches. It has also left Tim with eyesight problems.

Please join us and many others in prayer as we ask the Lord to:

- continue the healing process, all aspects of healing;

- grant Tim & his family the strength to cope with the upcoming treatment;

- grant them much needed rest in between treatments;

- provide in all their needs, He knows their specific needs;

- provide the right people to assist Natani not only with her school work, but also guide her at this tender stage of trusting a loving God, no matter what the circumstances.

We also thank the Lord for:

- the family of Christ that are stepping into the gap for them;

- the testimonies that have already poured forth, prayers already answered;

- the restoration taking place on so many levels of their lives;

- His everlasting presence throughout this period in their lives, not once has He let them slip from His hand.

We serve an awesome God, a loving Father who will not forsake his adopted son, Tim.

We have had our "What if"

God is so amazing in preparing us for the unexpected things in our future. In following a blog on a very brave little one, who has fought more than her share of medical battles, God reminded me of the unconditional love of a parent. This prompted me to write the post about "What if..."

3 Days later Samuel had his 2nd "loss of balance / limp" episode that scared the girls and me into a proper emotional state. The episode lasted less than 15min -felt like a life time as I was frantically calling the doctor in between trying to calm girls & and myself. By the time we rushed into the doctor's rooms, Samuel as so active that the nursing staff - on standby due to Mommy's plea - surely must have thought this Mom had lost it. He was so charming & cute, even I doubted what had happened less than 30min ago!

So after the EEG done on Monday, we heard today that Samuel would need to take medicine for Petit Mal Epilepsy. I was so relieved, I cried again.... yes, such a "small reason" in relation to all the things that flashed through my mind on Friday. We continue to pray healing as the doctor said that he could outgrow it - we stand on that :)

And for those who know me, yes I did cry at the EEG - Samuel looked so small & vulnerable and all I could think of was how blessed we were to love such a precious little one.

.... I also cry when they need to draw his blood & do his shots...... yes, yes I know :) I have nothing to say in my defence.

Samuel is back to his old self, getting cuter each day, his sisters are even more protective than before and loving on him in extra measure. More often than not we find him drumming away..... the sitting on the drum was self taught. The most adorable drummer boy I know :)

2 Amazing young ladies

It felt like just the other day when George & I were told I'm not only expecting, but expecting twins! After being "kicked off" a fertility program (their stats gave us a 0-3% chance with best medical help available), we experienced the most amazing blessing direct from the Father's hand.

God didn't stop there, He was in control when we were told at 34 weeks that the one baby was in distress and to prepare for complications. This slightly smaller "distress" baby(1.9kg) was born 1 min after her big sister (2.1kg), but there was clearly nothing wrong with the very verbal pink bundle :) The doctors and staff were blown away as both girls lungs were developed and they needed no medical intervention. Of course we had to wait almost 3 weeks to bring them home due to their weight, but they were (and still is :) ) perfect in this Mommy's eyes or as close to perfect as teenagers can be :)

Today these babies turned 17!! Yes, 17!!!!!! Young ladies:)

God has given them both a heart for others and they love loving on little ones - which makes Samuel one much loved little man. They treat their younger sister with compassion and despite the normal teenage "conflict" that sometimes rears its ugly head, Yvonne knows that she can rely on them always.

George & I are blessed to know that they know & love the Lord. We pray that their relationship with the Lord will continue to grow each day and that they will seek His face daily.

"Thank you Lord for Ellen & Marina;

they are fearfully and wonderfully made

and precious in Your sight.

Thank you Lord for the relationship they have

with Yvonne & Samuel;

for the privilege of being their parents.

Lord, as they enter this "grown-up" stage,

our prayer is that they continue to sit at

Your feet daily, like little children."

Most of the friends are still on holiday, so celebrations were somewhat low-key with the girls going out to dinner with 2 friends. Will do a proper celebration once school restarts.

Ellen & Marina, we love you so much !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (x2)

Tim update

Tim had spent most of today in theatre to remove the brain tumor doctors discovered last week.

The doctors here have expressed some concern as to whether Tim is now "clean" of any further off-shoots from the original tumor, as there had been some "surprises" during surgery.

For now Tim is in ICU in a medically induced coma.

Please continue to pray for complete healing, all aspects of healing.

Please pray God's strength and peace over both Tim and his family - especially those not in Zimbabwe.

Please pray for all medical staff attending to Tim, for wisdom & patience.

We also pray a prayer of thanks for Tim: his life - people have been, still is and will be blessed & enriched in knowing him.

God is in control, even when we feel out of control.

We trust God to do an amazing work in Tim and through Tim.

What if......

Before, during and even after Samuel's adoption people, mostly people who don't know us well, frequently asked us "what if" ......
- he does have heart problems like most DS children have;
- he is developmentally further delayed than initially thought;
- he has other health issues that were not picked up in Ghana;
and the list continues.
Together with the "what ifs" went a "Would you give him back - if the "what if" is to difficult?"

Our response to the above and "why Samuel, not another child?" had always been that God knitted Samuel together and He will grant us strength to deal with any "what ifs".
God also knew why Samuel had to be the one specific child to stir our hearts in terms of adoption, yes we had encountered many orphans BUT God placed Samuel in our family.
We love him and there is nothing we would not do for him and his sisters.

This past week I have been "witness" to a family's love for their daughter. On their blog http://allarepreciousinhissight.blogspot.com/ they share the story of Chrissie, their "Serbian princess", who has a serious heart condition.
In a time when negative adoption stories are making headlines, this adoption story is a testimony of God's amazing grace, love and strength. This family's obedience when God called them have changed lives across the world - God has definitely used them to touch my heart again & again. They are rooted in God's love.
As I pray for Chrissie's heart, my own heart overflows just thinking of how amazing it is to know that she is loved abundantly - in heaven & on earth.

The "what if" is there regardless whether a child is biological or adopted. However we serve a mighty God and through Him all things are possible. Step by step, daily He will lead us.

Urgent prayer request

Tim's recovery after the removal of the tumor on his adrenal gland had been miraculous.
Tim had already been back on the golf course and was actively involved in the Zimbabwe Open last week.
However he had a seizure on Thursday night which landed him in hospital.
Subsequent scans revealed a tumor pressing on the left lower portion of his brain.
The neurosurgeon have requested more detailed brain scans
(to be done on Tuesday) where after Tim & the family will decide on the way forward.
At this stage Thursday has been provisionally earmarked for possible surgery.
Tim's initial radiation therapy in South Africa due to start in May,
will then be postponed as well as "expanded" to include the new tumor.

Lord, together with Tim's family we specifically pray :
- for complete healing of Tim, that no tumor will be visible on Tuesday;
- that Natani (almost 11 years old) will be able to understand / cope with the new situation especially since she witnessed the seizure on Thursday;
- that You would grant the doctors wisdom in treating Tim;
- that You would grant Tim & his family peace & strength for the way forward;
- that they as a family will be able to see & hear God in all of this;
- above all they proclaim the Blood of Jesus over Tim,
he belongs to King of Kings & stands under His protection no matter the worldly circumstances.
Amen

We know that God is 100% in control of this situation.

We know that no matter what, when we look back we will be able to see

God's fingerprints all over this time of Tim's life.

We know that we serve a loving God, a Father who wants

only the best for His children.

We trust Him - always!

April update

The past 3 weeks had been somewhat crazy, disorganised, chaotic, whirlwind and anything else that might fall into that category would pretty much cover it. We spent 2 weeks in South Africa and most of the above occurred in the first 10 days of our stay.

Our Easter weekend was spent surrounded by family, this included celebrating my sister's birthday on the 5th.

Somehow this trip home involved a lot of ice-cream and where there was ice-cream, there was Samuel. A sugarcone left unattended was snatched up & yes, he did try to hide it behind his back :)

Samuel even made friends with Marica's "new babies" - he was a little apprehensive at first.

We also had our furniture taken out of storage in order to make sure our "house is in order" for future holidays down South. Yeah, 2 truckloads with lots of hard work stored up on the pallets. After a week of choas, I had not even made a dent in the unpacking - it will have to wait until the next holiday :(

Despite Samuel having his own "big boy" room, he still prefered to spend time in Yvonne's room. On our first night in the house, we could not get him off her "bed" - she was half asleep when he decided it was playtime :)

The girls were so excited to meet up with one of their best friends from Ghana.

Olivia, we just loved seeing you!! :)

I must admit that in the midst of unpacking and sorting out, I realised what a blessing our move to Ghana had been.

Yes, we did sacrifice a lot - family, friends & comfort zones - BUT we gained so much more.

We had grown spiritually, emotionally, our family had grown closer than before and our family had been blessed with a son. We had become more aware of the world around us and the needs of others and we became involved. We learnt that God asks us to be servants and that sometimes it will cost us to serve and at times it will even hurt.

Samuel loved playing in the empty boxes - we pretended they were trains, cars, planes, you name it - BUT for some children this box is all that they have..... their place to sleep, their place of safety....

God has blessed and continues to bless us beyond belief on our journey away from home.