Obviously, by now you know we were blessed to welcome home our 7th daughter in March!  Twenty-five years ago when we said "I do", we never in our wildest dreams thought we'd be parenting seven children.  I wanted a career.  Phil thought two children would be nice.  However, bit by bit the Lord changed our hearts and our dreams.  And His dreams for our lives became our dreams for our lives. 

Or family...now plus one more...

By now you also know Savannah Faith, like our last 3 daughters, will need two open-heart surgeries.  Because of her heart condition we were able to expedite her adoption.  Due to the stepped-up time frame and despite Phil's side jobs and my fundraising efforts, we still found ourselves with a financial shortfall when travel time came.  We were able to borrow the remaining funds, but while in China we were blessed to hear from Lifesong for Orphans that we were the recipients of a $2,500 matching grant for Savannah's adoption. 

This is another Ebenezer stone to add to our family's ever-growing pile as testament to the Lord's faithfulness to our family.  (I Samuel 12:7) "Thus far has the Lord helped us."


Every dollar gifted towards Savannah's adoption will be matched dollar for dollar and is tax-deductible for the donor.  As Phil jokingly says, if we are able to match this grant we will have a "free and clear title" on Savannah Faith before we begin the summer medical procedures which will include her heart cath and 1st open-heart surgery.


Soon you may be receiving our adoption announcement in the mail with this same information on it.  We are praying the Lord will move in the hearts of some to come alongside our family, once again, and make a gift of any amount to the Savannah Faith adoption fund.  You can donate by making checks payable to Lifesong for Orphans (write preference: Horton #3362 in the memo line) and mailing them to PO Box 40, Gridley, IL 61744 7b. You can also just click on the "Donate" button on the right of this blog to donate via PayPal.


So many of you have already blessed us by taking care of our children, making meals for us, giving to us financially (either for this adoption or a previous one), and for that we are SO thankful.  It's overwhelming to us how the body of Christ has met us in such tangible ways.


Savannah Faith (2 1/2) is continuing to amaze us with her willingness to love and be loved.  We have a long road ahead of us as she learns to eat food (she will still only take a bottle), walk (she is in physical therapy two days a week) and get healthy physically (she has her heart cath scheduled for May 15th), but her giggle will light up a room. 

We are thankful the Lord has changed our hearts and dreams over the last 25 years and is allowing us to parent our seven daughters.  Thank you for being a part of that dream!

Lifesong for Orphans

Recently I discovered that I could help advocate for Lifesong and their work for orphans by posting some of their special posts on our blog.   Take a minute to watch this video and read this amazing story about Lifesong's work....





William from Lifesong for Orphans on Vimeo.


Six year-old William once asked his mother, “Why do other children walk on the bottoms of their feet? Why am I like this? What did you do to me?” When she told him that it was God who did it, not her, William said, “Then please tell God to fix me.”

William was born with clubfoot, affecting both of his feet.  If William had been born in America this common deformity would have been easily fixed when he was still a baby.  But in Zambia it’s a different story.  In Zambia, where the resources are few and the funds are even fewer, healing is only a distant dream.





Last February Lifesong Zambia coordinator, Dru Smith wrote about William in her newsletter.  When Wendy in Illinois heard his story she was prompted to act.  After a thorough investigation she discovered CURE Clubfoot International, which had a clinic in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia!  In April William was fitted for casts (first in a series of 3) and then had corrective surgery on his right foot in June and his left foot in September (the video was taken in September just before his second surgery).

God used His people to “fix” William.  Today William can walk!  Soon he will be strong enough to return to school, play with the other children, and be able to do many of the simple tasks we take for granted!





Through this journey the Lifesong staff has been able to help not only William, but his family as well.  William’s brother, Bright, and cousin, Gift, have both been enrolled at Lifesong school.  In addition his father, Victor, who was unemployeed now works in the Lifesong gardens!  We’re so thankful our God is the master at doing “abundantly and immeasurably more” than we even think to ask!


*Find out more about Blogging for Orphans here.