One month update!

It's been one month since Anna's device was activated in Verona, Italy, and we have seen remarkable things.

First, Anna's babbling has changed.  She used to "babababa" all the time.  Now, she is quiet when the device is not on, and when she speaks, it seems more imitative of speech.  She likes wearing the device and asks for it in the mornings.

Before the surgery, Anna could say words like "papa" and "purple," but they came out as puffs of air
with very little voice behind them (even though, at other times, her voice was very strong).  Now, she says those same words with more voice behind them. 

Anna has also added "yellow" and "blue" to her spoken repertoire.  These are words she was attempting to imitate pre-surgery, but now she can say these words, or at least something close and recognizable as these words. 

In the past week, Anna has also mastered the "mmm" sound.  She could say "mmm" before at random, but never on command.  Now, she can say "mama" and "moo" (as in cow) when you ask her.  (Note:  If you are thinking about leaving a comment to highlight the irony of Anna's being able to say "mama" and "moo" during the same week, please don't....it's not lost on me, I promise.  A trip to Italy, stress, lack of self-control, and a well-documented weakness for kettle cooked salt and vinegar chips have caused this mama to be approximately the size of a well-fed heifer.  But hey...it's a small price to pay for "mama" and "moo.") 

Today, Anna added a new sound, "h," and a new word, "hot."  As Lucy was getting into the bath, she exclaimed that the water was "hot, hot hot!"  Anna had her back to Lucy, so she didn't see Lucy's mouth, but she still turned around, and repeated the word, "hot."  We know Anna can hear voice. It is often hard for her, especially in noisy environments, but she can definitely perceive and repeat certain voice sounds.

And so, I am left with some observations. Sometimes miracles come in big, sweeping events, as a family acquaintance personally observed when she witnessed a roomful of deaf children in another country receive instantaneous and miraculous healing of their ears in one incredible moment as the word of the Lord was shared. Oh, how my heart wished that for Anna!   But God's ways are not our ways, and He has many ways to heal.  Sometimes, His miracles come little by little -- a surgical intervention made available, funds to meet needs found, and one "m" or "h" sound conquered at a time.  No matter how healing comes, it comes by way of the miraculous intervention of a loving and merciful Father.  Thank you, Father, for every little moment that is the making of Anna's miracle.

Tragedy and Triumph

As the news waves were filled today with tragic images that caused us to bow our hearts before the Lord, we had another reason to bow today -- a beautiful, wonderful, joyful reason!  Today, Anna Joy XiaoChun heard her name called and turned her head for the first time EVER.   She even grinned and pointed at herself -- she KNEW it was her name.

Friends, you are the witnesses.  The medical establishment can give us all the technology in the world, and for that, we are more than grateful.  They made this day possible.  But in the end, only the LORD Himself can grant hearing to the deaf....sight to the blind....life to the dead.  HE is the mighty Healer, the only One who can redeem that which has been lost.  As it happens, my birthday is tomorrow, and in an humble way, I feel as if the Lord Himself has given me a birthday present that nobody else could have ever given - the gift of a child who turns her head to her name

 

 

 Tonight, the juxtaposition is so very poignant.  My eight-year-old was sobered when she heard another eight-year-old lost his life in an act of terror today.  How do you really explain to a child the epic battle of good versus evil....life versus death....God versus Satan?  It's the eternal war, and we still fight it every day.  The scriptures tell us in Ephesians, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm."

Many, many days I have wondered when we will see clearly the tapestry that the Father is weaving.  I look at my three special treasures - each one, in her own way, a child for whom the world had assigned little value -- and I see them laughing and running and belonging. I see them eating ice cream and playing baseball. I see mended hearts. I see miracles.

Miracles still happen, friends.  They happen in the here and now.  They happen in the marvelous and in the mundane. They happen in every day life.  They happen even when our faith is small and our hearts feel faint. They happen because God Almighty is still at work.

 

 

In joy and in sorrow, on mountains and in valleys, we praise His name!
Amy

She's one of a kind - SuperLucy!

 

 

Not everyone can pull off orange basketball shorts, a red superhero cape, a lasso, and winter boots, but this girl can!  She's SuperLucy!  And you'd better say it just right!  Our funny, precocious Lucy is a dynamo straight from Heaven.  She makes us laugh every day.  The Lord broke the mold when He made this one!  She delights our hearts.

Currently, Lucy is very wrapped up in trying to understand God's power.  She asks everyday about one thing or another -- how He made the fishes and loaves feed thousands, how He holds the storms and thunder in His Hands, how He made the clouds and stars.  Her favorite question is "why?"  Why did Jesus bleed?  Why did Jesus die?  Why did they put thorns on His head?  But WHY?

Why indeed?

Isaiah 53:10-12 tells us why:

But the Lord was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
 As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.
Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.

I think it's strange in our day and time that we as parents will spend our last dime to make sure our children get a great head start- preschool, sports, music lessons, etc. We want to make sure our children have every academic and social opportunity for success. I don't think there is anything wrong with that necessarily. But we often fail to place the same emphasis or priority on our children's spiritual well-being.  Why is that?  Why do we worry so much about academic readiness and giving our children extracurricular experiences, but we don't worry about developing their spirits?  Our children are body, mind, and SOUL.  We feed the body.  We challenge the mind.  But what do we do for their little, searching souls? 

Oh, Lord, forgive me where I have made other things more important than teaching these little souls about the Lover of their souls!  Forgive me for focusing on the temporary instead of the eternal. Lord, I know that these precious treasures are just entrusted to my care for a little while.  I am just a steward of these great gifts. Your Hand of mercy and love has placed them in this time and this place for this season.  Let me not fail in this, my most important mission,  Oh, Lord, cleanse me and make me worthy of this highest calling - these precious children you have given me.  Amen.

Doesn't every girl...

...need help with her homework?

In Anna news, we officially have spontaneous reaction to environmental sounds.  Yesterday, Anna heard a toilet flush in the next stall of a public restroom.  Who would have thought we would celebrate public toilets?  But when your deaf child hears a toilet flush, and you know the reaction is real because she didn't see it happen, well, there's reason to happy dance!  Anna has also reacted to cooking sounds (spoon tapping the pot and oven beeps).  She has been activated only 10 days, so I think this is great progress!  Also, tonight, when Amelia was getting ready to read Anna a story and Anna had already had her bath and we had put her device away for the evening, Anna asked to have it back for storytime.  Another victory!  Not only does Anna want to wear it, but she seems to understand that she will get more out of storytime with it on.  Go, Anna!

We have been coached to treat Anna's hearing like that of a young baby -- talk to her, reinforce sounds, etc., but DON'T go around banging drums and ringing bells behind her head.  Okay.  I'll stop.  It's just so incredible to see your child turn her head to sound when she has never done that before.  I don't use this word lightly or cheaply, but I will use it here because this is what we have:  MIRACLE.

Amy

Happy Easter (and an update)

Happy Easter, dear friends!  I hope you had a blessed day with your family celebrating Jesus' great triumph over sin, evil, and death.  LIFE EVERLASTING!  It's hard sometimes to really grasp what it all means.

When we were making our way home from Italy, with each and every moment that we were closer to home, the anticipation was building.  It was six long weeks since I had last seen my dear friends, my mom, and of course, my beloved Amelia and Lucy.  I thought I would burst with the eagerness of the impending moment when I would finally cross through the revolving door and see their faces. 

And then it dawned on me.  If this is how I feel when I have only been absent six weeks, and only absent from my regular, daily life, can you even begin to fathom what our hearts should and will feel in those final moments before we meet Jesus, our redeemer and Savior and most treasured friend?  The moment when we finally SEE Him with our eyes? When our Heavenly home, that we have been absent from for so long, is just beyond the precipice?   How can we even bear it?  It is too much to even try to imagine.  All I know is that when it is my turn to go Home forever, I want to look forward to it with the same excitement and hope and joy that I looked forward to seeing my children after a six-week absence.

We did Easter as Easter should be done -- a wonderful worship celebration with our family and church family, a scrumptious lunch prepared by Grandmama, and an egg hunt in the backyard.  Our Easter weather was absolutely perfect.  It was the most gorgeous day I have seen in a very long time.
The girls had a grand time hunting eggs, and since we can't do candy at our house because of Anna's teeth, the girls were all little Miss Moneybags at the end of the day.  The good news is that, at least to the little ones, finding two pennies in an egg is even better than one quarter (the "two is better than one" principle at work!).  The grown-ups even managed to work in a Scrabble game.  I know -- we're pathetically boring people, but we enjoyed a low-key day together while the little girls played.  The only difficulty encountered was that Anna kept signing my letters to the other adults, so they knew that I had the z.  (Winner:  Grandmama in a last-moment victory.)

As for Anna's progress, today, we celebrated that, too.  It is one week since Anna's device was activated.  She turns her head at certain sounds (drum, bell).  As much as I love banging the drum behind her head just to see her turn (yes, she turns!!!), her therapist reminded us that it is not our job to "test" her hearing - after all, you would no go up and bang a drum behind a newborn baby's head.  Instead, it is our job to reinforce hearing:  "Oh, I hear the doorbell!  "Oh, I hear a dog barking!"
We are supposed to talk, talk, talk to Anna - just like you would talk to a baby.  Anna is one week old in her "hearing age".  Over time, Anna will go through the same stages as a baby when he or she learns about sounds.  We know that, typically, progress with ABI is slower than with a cochlear implant, but we also know that you can't put labels and boundaries on people.  Anna will do what Anna will do when her brain has developed and the time is right - and not one moment sooner.  Our job is simply to pray, trust, and do our part at home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are blessed!

Amy