Changes All Around

The view from my backyard, October 2006

Coming home is always a pleasure. The familiarity of the faces, places and sounds that home offers is comforting and alluring. Where else can one so easily plop up feet wherever they will and leave a dirty shirt on the staircase rail? My mother and my Aunt had braved the long weekend with our three precious children and had come through with flying colors. They were thrilled about the break of their usual grind at the onset of our departure, however at our arrival, their countenances bore the brunt of pure exhaustion . Our expressions mirrored theirs as we came through the door. Our hearts heavy and our bodies weak, we plopped and dropped into our nest, our home.

We shared with many over the next week about our findings in Haiti. We told the stories of Jeff's brotherly care for David and the way David would follow Jeff and how both responded to us. We uploaded pictures, we gawked, we cried, we laughed, we remembered. We also held our three kids tighter and longer. How blessed we are to have Jadon, Caroline and McKenna. They have enriched our lives with simple joys that surpass any fame or fortune this world could offer. We were still questioning our God. How could we possibly choose one or the other? We needed to hear Him speak.

At the end of the week Debbie delivered some very sad news. David had tested positive for Sickle Cell. I wept bitterly. The thought of this child suffering from any kind of chronic pain broke my heart. How could it be? He had never been sick according to Debbie. He didn't have any symptoms. I feared the worst and worried about what this could mean for us.

The next day we went to a weekend retreat with our church family. Fall had become well known to Virginia at that point in time, and the trees that lined the parkway in Williamsburg echoed my heart- so many changes, brillant and bitter at the same time. Providence had led us to this place for the purpose of confronting our calling and of silencing our enemy, who's voice speaks only words of doubt, fear and inadequacy. Throughout our prayer time, God stirred up our faith and it was Scott who broke the barrier by professing that God was indeed leading us to adopt both boys and in so doing, He would provide healing for David. We simply could not believe the child was ill.

After we returned home from the retreat I was renewed in my spirit. I was excited about all that God had done. We made new friends and for the first time in a long time we had peace. I stood boldly on the frontlines of the war God had fashioned for me to fight. I started researching Sickle Cell and how to properly determine if it is Anemia or Trait. After some investigation, I realized that perhaps David only has the trait and that's why he was not symptomatic. I called Debbie and asked her to have him retested. I asked for a particular test that differentiates between the two.

The next couple of weeks were hard to enjoy even though we went on a wonderful family trip to Atlanta and then went to the riverhouse for Thanksgiving. I couldn't stop thinking about David. I was scared that we would decline to adopt him because our desire to give him a family that could give him 100% attention and care. I knew with four other children that would be difficult to do. I didn't want to let go of the dream of him being my son. Oh, how quickly our faith can wane. I finally got in touch with Debbie and she said that she was concerned about the results of the test. It did not look good according to her conversation with her assistant who read the results to her on the phone. Finally, at the end of all the waiting and worrying (and two incorrect reports) we found out that David does not have the disease but is a carrier of the trait, along with thalassemia trait (we are not confident yet which kind). The combination of the two traits leaves him with a mild version of Sickle Cell that shouldn't cause him much trouble. We had so many reasons to give thanks.

Our ride in Atlanta...the kids thought we were so cool!

Our family at Thanksgiving, 2006

The view from our dock of Hull Creek, so peaceful