MERRY CHRISTMAS

The Mueller Family wishes you a merry christmas. We are in Ft.Wayne (Fort Fun as we call it) visiting with all our family for the holidays. Enjoy your blessings from the Lord this season.
Tom, Steph, Jer, and Nick

THE WHY BEHIND IT

I have people ask me all the time why do I love serving in Haiti so much. Especially at work other nurses are very interested in what I am doing. Most people think of the heat, poor sanitation, the diarrhea I usually get when I come home, the tiredness and fog you are in when you come home. It takes a while to decompress and get back to life as usual. I think now that I have been there three times my family realizes that I will get back to normal it just takes a while.
This is why I do it. God has given me the talents and gifts (through my mom making me go to nursing school:) (thanks mom!!) to use for more than just working. God continually is showing me needs all over Haiti. Very real and very sad needs. I know without a doubt He wants me to serve there. If I dont do it I am saying No to God. He gives us choices all the time that are hard. Not always pleasant things to do and we choose what to do with them. The joy I get from being obedient to what God is asking of me and showing me is beyond measure. Second to that is knowing I am helping people to have a better quality of life there. This is the first time in my life that I know I have a choice in what God is showing me and asking me. I can say yes or no. God gave Tom, Jeremy and I, Nick ,and autism, to live with. It is hard but we cannot say yes or no to it. We dont have a choice. We rely on Him to get us through it.
I would never have ever imagined that I would have the opportunities I have been given, or have even been asked to do them, and I thank God every day for them.
So that is why I do it. Knowing I have a choice to do what God is showing me, even though it is hard, is worth more than anything.
I think my family is pretty proud of me too! Who wouldn't love that.

VITAMIN FOR THE DAY
James 1: 22-24
22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

Thank you Lord for your words and guidance and for the Bible to show us how we should be acting. I pray you give us all ears to hear what you are asking of us. Give us the strength to be obedient to those things even if they are hard or not supported by the world. We all have difficulty doing what you ask. We on our own are weak but with you anything can be accomplished. We pray this in Jesus name, Amen.

Food for thought:
Do you hear what God is asking of you?

Steph

HANDS THAT HEAL

I have accepted a position on the board for the organization Hands That Heal that brought Shnaider here for surgery. You can check out the blog from the link on mine. I am so happy to have met the woman that founded it. We have become fast friends through the process of us hosting Shnaider. I will be the medical coordinator. My first case is a 14 yr old boy Joseph that has tumors on his legs. St.Vincent has already agreed and the surgeon as well, it is just a matter of paperwork at this point. I need to find a host family in our area as well. We thought we might keep him but Nick didnt do so well with Shnaider here although an older child would be totally different to have. Nick has struggled as school this last week and we decided it would be best to have another family keep him and I can help them. I am so happy that God has given me opportunities to help more children in Haiti, the time to do it and a family that supports me in all that I am doing there.
Tom has said I can start traveling to Haiti 3 times a year if the opportunity arrises. My mom is willing to watch the kids for me to do this. My family is so awesome! I am waiting on God to show me what to do. My next trip is planned right now for March 28th.
I cant wait to see what God has planned for Hands That Heal!
Steph

RANDOM PICTURES

I am trying to get caught up on my blog. I am terrible about getting the pictures from the camera to the computer. Here are a few from Halloween and Nick blowing out the candles on his cake.

Steph

SHNAIDER

Can you even believe this is the same little boy that was here not so long ago! He looks so grown up now. He is doing wonderfully with his new family. He goes back to the doctor in Feb. and they will do surgery to remove the shunt that was placed while he was with our family. I will update you later on his progress. As long as that surgery goes well he should be totally done until he much older for some minor plastic surgery.

Stephanie

Jeremy's Choir

MY SONGBIRD

Hello all, Jeremy decided this year to be in the choir. I was happy he wanted to get involved in something other than video games. They had their first performance at the Indiana State Museum a few days ago. They were all great. I knew that Jeremy had a solo in the beginning of one of the songs. He told me "Mom you are going to cry when you hear me sing." Then he thought he might even be a child celebrity.(His words!) Well I found out that I have a little song bird on my hands. He was great!!! Everyone was telling me and him how great he was. The principal even made a comment about it on the announcments the next day to the whole school. Im so proud of him and he is proud of himself too. It is a great boost for his selfconfidence.
By the way I did have a little tear when I heard him!
Steph

The Vitamin-God will provide

Luke 12:27-34 (New International Version)
27"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
32"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Help us to only treasure the things of you and not posessions of the world. Give us the strength to not worry about our physical needs and trust totally that you will provide for us if we are obedient to you. Help us to be more giving, more loving and more forgiving. Give us opportunities to share what you have given us. Show us how truly blessed we are. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Food for thought:
What things do you treasure in your life? Do you trust that God will provide all for you?

Steph

DAILY VITAMIN

FAITH
Matthew 17:20 (New International Version)
20He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Dear Heavenly Father,
We all have mountains in our lives tht we are struggling with moving. Give us the ability to totally believe your words that anything is possible with you. Open our ears to the Holy Spirit's guidance in all matters. Help us to continually strengthen our faith in you and all that you can do. Give us the opportunities to show everyone we come in contact with how our faith in you has changed our lives and hearts. We pray this in Jesus name, Amen.

Food for thought

Do you have a mountain in your life that hasen't moved? Why?

Have a great day,
Steph

DAILY VITAMIN

A while ago I was sending out a devotional to my family and friends. I called it the Daily Vitamin. I feel I need to start doing this again because it keeps me in the scriptures hearing God's words. I am going to try to start incorporating it into my blog a few days a week to keep me accountable. I hope you enjoy your doses for the day as well.
Steph

Todays Vitamin

John 16:33
33"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Dear Lord Jesus,
We are in awe of your strength. We cannot even begin to understand your magnitude. We thank you for comming and overcomming the world so that we may have peace. We know that we will have troubles in our lives. Help us to always remember to give them to you in our prayers and you will be faithful to help us overcome them. We ask this in Jesus name, Amen.

Food for Thought
Do you have an area of your life that you don't feel at peace in? Have you totally given it to God in your prayer life?

Have a great Day!

Thankful

On this Thanksgiving day I am thankful for:
God's forgivness
His presence in my life
My eternal security
All He has given me
My family
My friends
My job
I pray you all have a blessed Thanksgiving Day,
Stephanie

UPDATE ON JOHN

These are the three guys in Haiti that work for Nehemiah Vision Ministries every day. They are extremely loyal and hard working. They will do anything for Pastor and us when we are there.
John is on the left. I had written about him shortly after my last trip. He has sever epilepsy and high blood pressure. I am raising money for him to go to the doctor. He is from an extremely poor family.
I have received a donation for him but it is not enough to pay for all his medical care. Pastor was able to take him to the doctor with the money I did receive to get him started at least. I dont have any more info than that yet. Thank you for for the donation and we are hopeful that his siezures can get undercontrol. If anyone else feels lead to donate to his medical care you can email me.
God takes care of everything!
Stephanie

FOLLOWING JESUS CALL

This post is from an american girl that lives in Haiti with her family, she is probably 12 or 13. I follow their blog regularly it is the Livsay Family. Their link is on my page. I wanted to share this post because it is awesome to see a child following her leading from God. Her boldness is a lesson to me to step out and do what God is asking you even if it is scary or you are afraid of what might happen. As you all know the children of Haiti are my passion and knowing there are people there full time reaching out to the least of these who may not have ever experienced love makes me happy. This family is amazing to me what they are doing.
Steph

Paige's Post:
Hi everyone,
I am writing to fill you all in on my kids group.
A few weeks ago I went and talked to John McHoul about a Children’s club I wanted to start, talking to him really helped me. I feel like God has been prompting me to start this kids club. I am so excited.
On Saturday we (two other girls from church are going to help me) went out and asked around at a few houses if there kids would be interested in coming. There was one house that I have seen a little boy at before… he looked so sad and I wondered if he felt loved.
So I went to this house first looking for that little boy and there was no answer. After about 5 minutes of hitting their gate hard with a rock so they would hear we moved on down the street and went to Gorge's little shop (he’s the one with no eyes and not very many fingers) and I asked him if he had any kids and if they were interested in coming. He asked me to come back when his mom was home which would be the next day at 2. So we were heading on our way back home with no success.
That was really discouraging, but I felt like we should go back to the first house and just hit their gate really loud. We did, and this time a woman called down from her porch asking who it was - I didn’t know what to say; so I just said “some girls that want to talk to you” which I think made her interested enough to come and talk.
A teenage girl came and I started telling her a little about the club and she looked very un-interested. So she said “Just come in and talk to my mom.” Now, when she said this I was thinking like we would step in the drive way and she would call her mom for us. But no, she insisted that we followed her to her mother. We went ALL the way around the house, through a pile of dirty clothes that were being hand washed while we walked through; and up a flight of stairs, and finally in their living room. The girl told us to sit and wait on the couch.
Her mom came out and was SUCH a sweet woman… for some reason it was this house that I felt super nervous about but she came out and was so sweet. I started talking to her about the club a little and she said she had one son, she said that she would be interested in letting him come, so that was exciting.
But I had to ask her if there was another little boy - that maybe worked for her or something (because her son was not the same boy I saw before). She said no and that he was her only son. I was bummed about not having the first little boy that I had seen but maybe God will open another door in the future for me to see that other little boy and he can also come.
I then went back to Gorge's house on Sunday and talked to his mom. She said that there are five children she was able to send but she made a comment about how one of the girls that worked for her was young, stupid, and dirty. This made me feel so sad. I desperately wanted to tell the woman that she was so wrong about this girl! I told her that I WANTED that girl to come. I am really excited to meet her because it's these kind of kids that I wonder if they ever feel loved. My goal is to show me that I love them - but not only me -- Jesus loves them even more.
It starts this Sunday the 30th (My birthday!) at 3pm with 6 kids coming. Please keep this in your prayers that it will go well! We plan to meet each Sunday from 3-5 pm for games, snacks and story time. Some of the kids coming are kids that work for families in our neighborhood (restavek) and are in need of love.

1,500

I was just looking at my blog tracker and couldn't believe that I have had that many views of my blog since I started it. That is amazing to me. I do this to keep my family updated on what is going on here in Indy and the work I am doing in Haiti. I am happy though to spread more awarness about life in Haiti to others that might stumble on my posts.
I am not going back to Haiti again until April unless God shows me the right opportunity in Jan or Feb. that he wants me to serve on. I had planned on going in Feb. but am not going on the trip now I had thought I was going on. I know if God needs and wants me there somewhere it will happen. If not I will be back in April to run another medical clinic for Nehemiah Vision Ministries.
During Thanksgiving time I think now about how truly blessed we are in the U.S. seeing first hand true suffering for basic life needs really puts in perspective how spoiled we are. I pray we never take for granted what we have here and that God continues to allow me and use me to help those less fortunate. I am blessed to have an immediate and extended family that support me in going on mission trips. I couldnt do it without them.
Steph

NINE

My baby is nine years old today. I cant hardly believe it! Time goes so fast. What a blessing he is to us. We love you Nick!!!!

ON THE HOMEFRONT

Well things are back to normal around here. It did take me a little extra time to readjust after my trip this time and Tom was gone all last week with work so we are finally back to a regular schedule. The days are filled with school, homework, housework, and back to regular work.

Toms new hours are great. He is doing very well working nights.
Mom loves her job and the unit/babies are awesome.
Jeremy is doing well in school and is doing choir. He just got picked to perform a solo!
Nick is doing awesome at school. We made several changes to his day and it is all seeming to mesh for him now.
Praise the Lord,
Steph

OTHER THINGS YOU WILL SEE IN HAITI

From top to bottom

*White House where president lives

*Statue downtown PAP

*Statue downtown PAP

*Random street people

*Tap Tap (major means of transportation like a taxi)

*Busy market corner

TAKE THE GOOD WITH THE BAD

Another classic photo from Haiti. In the background are the beautiful mountains and cactus that surrond Haiti and in the foreground you see piles of garbage. I think if you focused only on the bad you would go crazy if you only saw the good you would be deluding yourself.
Steph

The Reality of Haiti

This is one of my favorite pic I took from this trip. It is exactly what you see on the streets everywhere. Garbage and dirt on the streets and people sitting. I wonder what they are doing. Do they have hope that something will happen. Something good maybe he is hoping for, or is he just passing time with no hope. I wonder what his circumstances are. I cant imagine what it must be like to live like this every day. Would I keep my hope that good could come. Being spoiled with the luxuries we have I dont think I would be strong enough. I wonder if he knows God.
Steph

THE BEAUTY OF HAITI

The last day of our trip we went to Calico. A beach resort that was beautiful. Haiti has beautiful mountains and the ocean was clear and warm. It was great to see the beauty of the island somewhere other than the people. They are very gracious and kind. Most every patient we saw in the clinic was extremely thankful for everything we could give them.
Stephanie

I just received an email that someone is sending me $100.00 to help Jean get some medical care. God is so faithful and good. We will use it to start a medical fund! Thank You

JEAN

This is Jean (pronounced like John). He is one of pastors workers. He is very kind and quiet and an extremely loyal and hard worker. He comes from a very poor family. On this trip I found out that Jean has epilepsy and his blood pressure has been high the last two times I was there. His family can only pray for him to get better. They have no money to take him to a doctor and the money he earns from Pastor is buying food and shelter. He has been having a lot of seizures lately. There is a good hospital not far from Pastors house. We would like to get treatment for Jean there. If anyone feels led to contribute to Jeans medical fund please email me.
Stephanie

ANOTHER LITTLE GIRL

This is my favorite picture from my trip. The older girl is Claudine who I sponsor and she was abandoned by her mother then her God Mother and is now living with another student and her mother. After my last trip there we prayed about whether or not we should adopt her. We didnt feel that was what we were supposed to do. I send her things and picutres of our family. I pray for her and consider her my daughter in Haiti. She asked me on this trip again if she could come and live with me. It is very difficult to not want to bring them all here knowing what their life is like there.
The little girl is TiBlan (little white). Her real name is Witlene I think. They call her TiBlan because she is so light skined. She was also abandoned by her mother and was living with her fathers sisters but they were not taking care of her. She scavenged around in the dirt by herself under bushes and in the roads until about 6 months ago when Pastor agreed to take her into the childrens home. She is so beautiful now. She is still very hesitant and not as open as the other children. I would love to add her to our family as well. Im sure God will lead us if we are to do that. There are so many children and if I knew all their stories Im sure I would want to adopt them all.

I am still trying to decompress after my trip. This one has been harder for me to get back to life here. I love it there so much and have such a huge desire to help these children.

Steph

MADE IT HOME

Hello all, we made it home late last night. Our trip was a huge success. All teams finished their projects on the last day. It was amazing for me to see Claudine again. She is doing and looking very well. I was not able to go to the orphanage this time but spent the day at the beach with the team and it was sooo fun. I was able to develop the relationships with the teachers at the school and the 3 guys that work for Esperandiue. Our two teams worked so well together it was awesome. We had no travel problems at all. God was guiding and watching over us the whole time. I will post some picks soon. Steph

Final Total

We finished our last day of the medical clinic and we saw 740 people total! It was an amazing exprience again. Everything went extremely well. The construction team finished the roof over the courtyard of the school as well. We are all healthy and doing great, having a great time.
Steph

Day Ono

We just returned from Chambrun. We had a great day and were able to see 150 kids at the school. We will finish up the kids tomorrow and start seeing the community tomorrow. Things are going great and everyone is healthy. Keep praying for us.
Steph

we made it!!!!

Everyone made it to Haiti just fine. No plane problems at all. I am terribly sick. Throat, ears, cough, sinuses. Pray for health for everyone and will post again soon.
Steph

3 DAYS TO GO

As you all know I will be leaving on Tuesday morning for Haiti. Things are moving along smoothly for our trip and everything is in line for the clinic. Please pray that we get there without airline difficulties and safely. I am starting to feel sick (sore throat) hopefully that will not get any worse or turn into anything. I will post from my blog while I am there as long as we have internet access.
Steph

Baby Grace

I was able to talk with the people that run His Home for Children and Grace has a family that is adopting her! They are working on coordinating surgery for her in Michigan as that is where the family is from. I will visit with them while I am there and see Sendy. They will find out tomorrow if she is approved to have her surger in Haiti in Nov. I am so excited to see her. Chris says she is doing very well. Still not bearing any weight on her legs and her trunk is very weak but overall doing great. It is so great to see God working.
Stephanie

UPDATE SHNAIDER

I talked with Shnaiders new mom yesterday. She said he is doing very well. Sleeping, eating and playing. He will go to anyone which we are not sure is good or bad. Pray he continues to adjust to his new surroundings. We are very thankful that God brought them forth for Shnaider.
Stephanie

TWO WEEKS TO GO

I am so excited to be going to Haiti again. We leave Oct. 21st. I am waiting on one last delivery of medications and have a lot of packing to do. Our medical clinic should be even bigger than 6 months ago. I am very excited to see Claudine again, the girl I sponsor through Nehemiah that was abandoned twice. She is 12 years old now. I also am hoping to get to the orphanage, His Home, to see Sendy and Grace. Sendy is hopefully going to be accepted to have her shunt surgery in Haiti sometime in November. Grace is the child that was left on the trash pile that we are now sponsoring through His Home. Last I hear she is doing better and eating well.

Jeremy is nervous about me going. He is afraid something will happen to me. Tom probably is too but doesnt say anything about it. Pray for them while I am gone.

Nick is back to his old self around the house with Shnaider gone. He is running around naked, fighting with his brother, just like old times. When Shnaider was here it was like having a guest in the house. Nick stayed in his room, was quiet, agreeable, not wanting to rock the boat or wake Shnaider up after he went to bed. He is still having some issues in school now as well. We were kind of hoping to see improvment. I guess Shnaider wasnt very much of an effect on Nick at school as we thought he might be. The medicine does seem to be taking some of the edge off I think. I have noticed some little things that he has let slide that he never would have before. Not a lot of change though. Keep him in your prayers.

Steph

GOOD BYE

Shnaider officially left us this evening to be with his adoptive family. The house is very quiet. We are happy for him to have found the family he is to be with forever! God works in wonderful ways. We look forward to whatever adventures await us next.
Stephanie

Baby Grace

This is a quick snipet of Baby Grace that was found on the trash pile. Tom and I support her at His Home for Children in PAP so we will start getting photos and video of her. She looks really good. Hopefully I will get to go meet her in Oct. when I am in Haiti for my next medical clinic with NVM.

Steph

NEW FAMILY

We are excited to say that Shnaider has a family in the process of completing a home study and wish to adopt him. They have visited with him several times and are soooo excited about having him become a part of their family. We are expecting him to transition very well to them soon. He is very easy going and I think he will do fine. We are thrilled to see God's plans for him and our family. From the beginning we knew that we were not to adopt him but that God had a plan for all of us. We feel blessed to have been used to help him through some difficult months and surgeries. He has been a great blessing for our family to learn about helping others, sacrifice and listening to God's will and trusting Him to get us through all of it. We will miss his laugh and smile and all the funny things two year olds do. He is such a sweet good boy. I know this family will be blessed to have him in their lives. Thank you so much for all your prayer support for him and us through these last few months I am happy to have been able to share it with you.
We are praying that God shows us now what He wants us to do next for Him and His kingdom. I am happy to have built a relationship with Hands that Heal and will continue in that partnership even after Shnaider leaves us. It is amazing to me what can be done with God leading and I cant wait to see what is next for us.
Stephanie

FACINATION

Shanider is facinated by Andi. He spends most of the morning following her around sitting on her and in general pestering her. She just sits and lets him sit on her, look in her mouth, pull her ears, it doesnt seem to bother her a bit. I think when he finds his forever family he is going to miss her more than the rest of us!

He is doing very well, it has been nice to not have any surgeries and he is feeling good.

Steph

A+

Nick had an A+ day at school yesterday. Thank you to everyone who prayed for him. We will try to remain optimistic that he can do it.
Steph

SWEET NICHOLAS

This is one of my favorite pictures from Nick's childhood! Yes he is in the toilet with clothes, jacket and shoes on getting ready to eat toilet paper. My husband had brought him in from the car and went to get Jer out and came back in 30 seconds later to find this. He quickly got the camera and this picture will not haunt him for the rest of his life:)

Nick is really struggling with school this year. We are not sure what will happen, he might not be able to stay in. This is something I have known might happen and it is so hard. The people working with him at school are not able to get him to do what he needs to and Im not sure they are using the correct methods. We are trying some medication now as well. I am trying to communicate with them in positive ways and come up with better ways to help him. I know some of them are losing patience but others are still positive.

I dont know what is the best thing for him right now. If he truly cant function in a regular classroom I dont want to keep making him try to comply with what he cant do but I want to give him a fair chance to see if he can succeed.

They wouldnt let him go on a field trip with the class yesterday and we have had to give up riding the bus this week too. It is just a reminder that there will be so many things in his life that the Autism will limit him in and that makes me cry, A LOT. I am thankful for everything he can do and it could be a lot worse but it is hard to focus on those things when it is difficult.

Please pray that the medication might work and that he would have no side effects and that the school and us at home will see the right things we need to help him.

He right now has been the best he ever has at home which I find interesting with how he is struggling at school. He isnt thrilled with Shnaider but he has not had any fits or melt downs in a long time at home. That has been great for us.

Thanks for all the prayers!

Stephanie

OFF TO SCHOOL

It was dark and rainy this morning but I still had to try to get a picture or two of Shnaider and Andi watching out the window as the big boys go off to school. Andi has always watched the bus go off then goes and takes a nap but Shnaider isnt always awake when they leave. He was this morning and loves looking at the bus and has learned to say "bye". Jer had fun making faces at him from outside while he waited for the bus.

Shnaider is learning to say more words and is babbling much more.

Nick still doesnt like his loud talking or occasional crying very much but we are getting along alright. Nick is still struggling at school to fit into the routine and do monotonus work he already knows how to do. It has been difficult some days. Please continue to pray that he can fit into a routine and for an adoptive family for Shniader.

Steph

TRIP TO THE ZOO

Labor Day weekend we took a trip to the zoo. It was a lot of fun. Nick loves animals! All three boys did great.

Steph

DEADLY HURRICANES

As most of you know Haiti has been hit terribly by all 3 hurricanes that just went through there. Thankfully Port-A-Prince is fine where Pastor Pierre that I work with lives and where His Home orphanage is. I believe that Chambrun, the community we serve, is also alright. There are so many others that are not so fortunate. I have heard death toll as high as 3,000. Most people in these areas have lost everything. There are many reports in several of the blogs on my page listing of ones that I read if you want more information. Please pray for them.
Stephanie

SENDY AND INFANT GRACE

As most of you know I was in the process of trying to find a place for Sendy to have her surgery here in the U.S. We were unsuccessful so far. I just received an update from Chris who runs His Home orphanage where Sendy lives. They have an opportunity for 3 of their children with Hydrocephaly to possibly have surgery in Haiti. They will be taking the three children this week for evaluation and training on how to care for them post op. This service is being provided by surgeons from Miami. Please pray that they are accepted. This would be a huge praise and I am so thankful to hear that opportunities are starting to come to Haiti for them.
I had posted a story about infant Grace Hope a few days ago. She is going to be staying at His Home as well. I received an update on her that she is still in the hospital but doing better and eating well. She will be released from the hospital in a week or two. I cant imagine what it would be like to feel like your only option is to throw your infant in the trash. It just breaks my heart for the people of Haiti to see their life choices. I am praying that she will survive and that we can find a hospital to do surgery on her feet in the future. We might have a lead for this here in Indiana at some point.
I will be going to Haiti again soon. I am currently getting the medications around for our clinic, it is a little stressful but God has provided everything we have needed so far and I am confident He will again. I want to visit with Sendy and Grace when I am there as well as all the other children. There is so much to do when we are there and the time flys by.
Shnaider is doing great. The shunt seems to be working fine right now. He is a busy normal two year old. We have had a few families show some intrest in adopting him and we are hopeful that the right family will come.
Nick has been doing better at school the last few days. Still a little rough but he has been able to stay in the classroom almost the entire day if not the whole day. He still is not overly fond of Shnaider but he is doing pretty good with him. We are seeing some professionals for counseling and other options to help him right now which we have not had to do in the past. As he gets older and new and harder challenges arise it is all a learning process. Pray we and the school make the right decisions on how best to help him.
Jer is doing awesome!!
Tom and I start our new job hours Sunday. It will be an adjustment but I think a great one for our family.
Praying hard all the time,
Steph

BATH TIME

All my kids at one time or another got a bath in the kitchen sink. Shnaider got to try this out the other day. He loved it!

Steph

UPDATE ON SHNAIDER

We saw the Neurologist today. He said he now wants to wait for 3 months to see Shnaider back instead of doing surgery on the front now. He is hoping that if it can scar over on its own that he might not have to even go back in at all. The shunt will need to continue to work and keep the pressure off so it can scar over. The plan is to watch and wait for now.

We are also looking for a family that wants to adopt Shnaider. The organization in Haiti has been unable to locate his mother since he came in March. They will go through the steps to consider him an abandoned child. He would be able to stay here in the U.S. until the end of the adoption process. Our hope is that he can transition from our family to an adoptive family soon. If no adoptive family is found then he will go back to Haiti in 6 months (provided all his medical care is done then) and live in an orphanage. The shunt needs to stay in for 6 months then they will take it out.
We are praying that the shunt continues to work and that he needs no more surgeries and that an adoptive family is found.
Steph

PRAISE

Our family is going to be doing a lot of changing in the near future. Tom has always worked for Mikes Carwash 55 hrs a week getting up at 2 or 3 a.m. He is tired a lot of the time but that is what we are used to.
I have been working at St.Vincent hospital for a few months in a unit I absolutely love. It is a low level intensive care nursery.
I was presnted with an opportunity to work on the weekends and make full time pay but this would mean that Tom would leave the carwash after 19 years. We really felt like this is what God was wanting our family to do even though the thought of Tom not having a regular job was very scarey. He put in his notice and told them our situation. They said there was no way they could change his schedule to not work weekends. We were really hoping he could stay with them but it wasnt working out that way. We decided to go ahead with what we thougth was right. The carwash called him for another meeting but let him know the answer was still no to the change. We kept praying that God would bring the right opportunity for him.
Finally they called him yet again and said they wanted to keep him and try to work something out. A glimmer of hope but we werent going to get our hopes up too high.
They ended up after 3 weeks almost of stringing us along and us staying firm with what we thought God wanted, they decided to let him work Sun-Thurs nights! We were thanking God. This is what we had asked them originally to do. He will only have to work40 hours a week and I will work on the weekends. It will work our perfectly and financially will be a huge blessing for us.
It is hard to stay firm sometimes and trust what God is saying when you cant see what is on the other end but we learned through this yet again that He is faithful to take care of us always.
Stephanie

JEREMY AND SHNAIDER

Shnaider loves following around the big boys Nick and Jer. He is watching Jer play videogames.

Jeremy is doing great in fourth grade!!!

Nick has been struggling with his new class and routine. Some good days, some really bad days. I had a meeting with the school yesterday to come up with some new stratgies for him. I felt good after the meeting and we are praying hard for Nick to fall into a routine at school. His teacher is wonderful and has much experience with Autism thankfully.

GRACE

I was captivated by this story of infant Grace. She is currently in the hospital and is going to be cared for by the orphanage that Sendy is currently at. If she survives and starts to do well the organization that brought Shnaider here may have a hospital that can fix her feet and possibly hands. This is all just thoughts right now as she is still very sick. The culture of Haiti will probably never cease to amaze me or draw me in. I would go help these infants in a heart beat if it is what God wants our families to do. Until then I will do what I can from here. Steph

From Vanessa:On my last trip to Haiti, I met an angel. Her name is Monique Jacques. She is a mother of 5 children she lives in Citie Soleil. Her husband passed away 2 years ago. She has no possibility of a job. She was on her way to see the Nuns to ask for food to feed her children. In the road trash pile she saw a newborn infant. The baby we have now named Grace. She said she stood there and looked. What could she do. She has her 5 children who she can not feed. But she knew she could not leave the baby lying there. She picked her up and took her to our friend Karen, a missionary who lives in Delmas 31. Karen told her that they need to take the baby to the police because there would need to be a report. Karen took Monique and baby Grace to the police station. Sadly, they would not take a report. They accused Karen of purchasing the baby and now not wanting her. Karen and Monique repeatedly told the baby's story to everyone at the police station. No one would listen. Karen called me and asked if I had any ideas. I told her to bring the baby to Angel Clinic and we would seek care for her. Little Grace has club feet and very tight hands. She was also covered in a terrible rash and there appeared to be other possible issues with this beautiful baby. After making some phone calls around to others we know, Dr. Joey said he would come see her that night. He agreed to her to Father. Rick's hospital, Petit Freres Et soeurs (Little brothers little sisters hospital).People often ask me why do you continue to go to Haiti. Well here is a perfect example. Monique, a mother of 5 who can not feed her own children, spent her entire day trying to find care for a very sick, abandoned baby. This woman who had nothing for herself or her children today stepped out on faith to help a precious child of God. We were able to give her some money that should help feed her family for a week. We also gave her a care package of things we could come up with from the clinic.I ask that you please keep Monique and her children in your prayers. Please pray for baby Grace and for us to get her all the medical care she needs. If anyone feel led to help us help Monique get her children into school, please contact Vanessa at AngelMissions@hotmail.comPlease pray for all of the mothers in Haiti who have children going to bed hungry tonight.

POST OP

We just returned home a few hours ago from Shnaiders latest surgery. His shunt was leaking from the site inside his back. It seems to be draining the fluid between his eyes again thankfully.
He had an extremely hard time comming out of anestheia this time. We arent really sure what happened, possibly a reaction the the amount of Morphine he had but he was hysterically thrashing, screaming, and crying for 7 hours post op. He was totally out of control. It was difficult and my arms hurt so bad today from trying to contain him. About 8:00 pm he finally came out of it and was fine. He is acting great this morning. He even let one of the nurses and the doctors assistant hold him! Usually he cries when someone comes near him at the hospital. Being his 4th time in he is pretty wise to the whole thing.
The doctor would like to go in next week and fix the bone graph in the front and use a special medication as well that crystalizes when it comes in contact with spinal fluid. It will help to create a barrier so the leak can stop. If all works as planned and the shunt keeps functioning that should be it.
Thanks for all the prayers yesterday. I had a feeling going in that it wasnt going to go smoothly for some reason but we made it through. Shnaider is so strong. I cant imagine having having 4 surgeries between the end of May and now.
We will update as we know more about the next procedure.
Stephanie

THEN AND NOW

We had a huge praise in our family today which I will share at a later time but I was thinking several times today "God is good, all the time". Then I realized that I have been focusing on the negative things going on around Shnaider especially since the shunt has malfunctioned. I havent just thanked God for his life and that it is a miracle that he is even alive and his mother sought help for him. I am thankful for the opportunity to help him and to be used by God for this. I am thankful for the ways it will help our family grow and rely on God more and more. I am thankful that I have skills to care for him. I am thankful for St.Vincent hospital and Dr. Young that they are giving sacrificially for his sake and that we have access to medical help in this country. There are so many things to be thankful for and God is good all the time and in control of every situation. He has grown so much just in the 4 months that he has been here!

PICTURES OF SHNAIDERS INSCISIONS

Shnaiders inscisions were totally flat and the bump between his eyes was flat as well. I took these pictures today of what he now looks like. We are scheduled for surgery on Monday to fix the shunt. I apologize if these pictures bother anyone. Dont scroll down if you dont want to see. Steph
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Shnaider Update

Shnaiders shunt seems to be malfunctioning. His swelling is back on his face and is swelling around the inscision sites on his abdomen and his back. We are scheduled for an office appointment at 8:45 Mon. morning and they have blocked out surgery for him after that. He seems to have every complication that can possibly happen. Please pray for healing for him, wisdom for the doctors and strength for our family to get him through this.
Stephanie

IN THE HIGHCHAIR

Shnaiders favorite place to be, I'm convinced, is in the highchair. He loves to eat. Appetite is totally back today and he woke up from his nap very happy. Yeah!!

Nick had another awesome day at school. Praise the Lord!!

The bump is even flatter today (this pic was yesterday too). No fluid at all in it.

Steph

Shnaider Update

Shnaider is doing well today. He slept all night last night and is in minimal pain. He has pointed to his back a few times and whimpered. That is all! He is eating and playing some with toys. The fluid has completely drained as you can see in the top picture which is what we were hoping would happen. Now the leak should be able to seal itself without all that pressure built up and we will go in soon to fix the front.

Nick had another great day at school yesterday and seemed good getting on the bus today. We take it day by day. We have noticed he has good months and bad months sometimes it seems to come in spurts. He is still bothered by Shnaiders crying or loud talking and told me yesterday he feels a little jealous. That is huge for him to say what his feelings are and that is an entirely appropriate feeling to have. Im not sure he fully grasps what jealous is or could define his exact feelings about it. We are trying to do as much as possible with the Jer and Nick one on one with either myself or Tom. This experience of Fostering is new to all of us.

Thanks again for all the prayer.

Stephanie

NEW UPDATES

We made it home from the hospital a few hours ago. Shnaider did a very good job. It was a tiring night. He is still sore and not too happy today but he took a long nap and is eating in his highchair now. His bump is about half the size it was. It should continue to drain the rest of the way. We have another appointment the 28th and we will then have to schedule his next surgery to repair the bone piece that has come off from the first surgery. Will update more on that as we know
Nick had 2 good days at school which is a blessing. Our basement is cleaned up now too. Hopefully we are headed in the right direction now. Thanks so much for all your prayers.
Stephanie

PROCEDURE TOMORROW

Shnaider is having a lumbar drain placed tomorrow. They have to drain the fluid permanently in hopes of the leaking spot to heal. We will be in the hospital overnight tomorrow. Pray all goes well. He has been on the crankey side I think because of all the pressure built up. My kids start school tomorrow. We have made some major decisions related to my husbands and my jobs and our family life. Our basement flooded a few days ago and many other stressors are happening right now.

Shnaider will most likely need another surgery soon to make another repair as well and will need to stay much longer than we had originally thougth.

We have much going on with our family right now and Satan is taking advantage of the stress. The beginning of the school year is always a huge stress with Nick. Change and something new do not go well with Autism.

Thanks for all your prayers.

Stephanie