New Surgery Date

Sarah Mei's surgery is rescheduled for Wednesday, September 5th. Please pray for the following: 1) An opening in the Ronald McDonald house for our stay in Charleston. 2) A smooth pre-op day on Tuesday, Sept. 4th. (Sarah Mei will have 4-5 hours of pre-op tests.) 3) God's hands to guide the hands of the surgeon. 4) Successful outcome from this surgery so no 2nd surgery will be required. 5) A committed and knowledgeable support staff for the surgery and aftercare. 6) That our family will be a testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ, and that we will be ready to give an answer for the hope within us!
We'll try to update the blog daily while in Charleston.

Surgery Rescheduled AGAIN

We received a call from the cardiac surgeon's office today. They've asked us to postpone Sarah Mei's surgery once again and take her to a pediatric infectious disease specialist to confirm what type of staph infection we are dealing with. The MUSC surgeon's office called and made an appointment with Dr. Ahmed at CMC in Charlotte. The first available appointment was next Tuesday, but in God's providence, the office called this afternoon with a cancellation appointment at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow. Please pray for wisdom for the Dr.'s as they try to determine the best course of action. We are racing against the calender...the best time for open heart surgery and recovery (which takes a month) is before the fall respiratory infection season. We're reminded again that God's timing is perfect. We're resting in that!!

Thank- You CWA

Flight to China: $1,600

Outfit at Gymboree: $25

Being a Mom again: PRICELESS

We just wanted to say a special thank-you to Christian World Adoption (CWA) for all their hard work in helping us bring our daughter home. While Torie & I were in China picking up Sarah Mei...Phil, Michaela and AnnaGrace were able to visit our caseworker at CWA, Mei. Mei was a constant help and listening ear during our 9 months of adoption paperwork/waiting. She has such a heart for the waiting children and for the adoptive families. THANK YOU Mei for everything!!



After returning from China, we were able to visit the CWA offices again in July. Jane, CWA's China Program Manager who resides in Hunan, China, was in town. We were so excited to get to meet her face to face. She was not only responsible for helping us bring Sarah Mei home, but also worked with us in 2000 and 2001 when we were paperchasing and waiting to bring home AnnaGrace. AnnaGrace's homecoming was in December of 2001 and Jane was involved every step of the way. THANKS JANE for your faithful service to the waiting children in China. You are such an advocate for them!

Sarah Mei continues on her antibiotic for her staph infection. The pediatrician has decided to keep her on the antibiotics for 4 weeks in an effort to finally resolve the staph. We are waiting to hear from the pediatric cardiologist to confirm that he will still be able to perform her heart surgery on August 31st despite the on-going antibiotic treatment. Please pray for God's wisdom for the physicians as they make health decisions for our little girl.

RESCHEDULED Surgery Date

Sarah Mei's staph infection continues. She is on her 4th antibiotic. Sensitivity cultures were done last week, and we are praying that this antibiotic will be THE one. A staph infection and open-heart surgery aren't a good mix, so surgery has been postponed until August 31st.
I'm reading Amy Carmichael's biography, A Chance to Die by Elisabeth Elliot. It's such a timely "read"!! Amy Carmichael is such an example of leaning on the Lord, for everything, in prayer. For those of you who aren't familiar with her...she was a woman who after serving on the mission field in Japan was called to India and began a children's home for Indian orphans. Many of the orphans were little girls destined to be sold to the temples as temple prostitutes. Amy Carmichael saved their lives and served for over 50 years in India without a furlough. Her life was such a testimony of what it means to be a true disciple of Christ!
After reading about her life, I wouldn't even think about complaining about Sarah Mei's surgery date change. This is just an opportunity for me to (in Amy Carmichael's words) do "nothing less than to walk with God all day long." I pray that He will find me faithful!!

Now THIS is Sarah Mei's idea of riding a horse.

AnnaGrace celebrated her 7th birthday last night. It's hard for us to believe that she's already 7!! Here she is sharing a hug with her daddy before dinner.

Meeting with the Surgeon & Farm Life

We met with Sarah Mei's cardiac surgeon on Tuesday this week.
We were very impressed with both his medical skills and his wonderful communication skills (not always common in a surgeon:) We are excited that we are in the two week countdown for surgery!! It will be a relief to have that behind us. All of Sarah Mei's other medical appts....audiologist, swallow test, back x-ray, chest x-ray, etc. have gone well. She has no other major medical issues at this point. Praise God!

Sarah Mei is finally brave enough to "ride" one of our ponies with her big sister's (Torie's) help!!

Each of the girls planted their own plants in the garden this year. AnnaGrace is VERY excited about her 1st watermelon. The picture to the right is of AnnaGrace with her 2 goats...Patches and Puddles.