The Continuing Saga - Life Moves On

Our Fabulous Four - Don't They Look Like They've Always Been Together?

As February races by, it is hard to believe Maxim has been home with us for over a month already. At the same time, it seems like so much longer. I think of everything our family has experienced in the last six months and it is mind boggling to believe it all fit into that short time period. Some recaps and updates are definitely in order.

My dad, who you may remember was diagnosed last spring with prostate cancer, joined us in Tennessee last fall, with my mom, to celebrate Sukkot. He seemed to be doing so well until just a few weeks before the trip. However, by the time they flew to Nashville from Seattle, things were not looking good at all. He was extremely weak and declining the entire week we were together, and besides praying fervently that Mom would be able to get back home with him all right for a surgery scheduled soon after, we were pondering whether we would see him again at all after that trip.

Of course, it was during that same trip that we received the exciting news from Bethany Christian Services that it was time to head for Ukraine and bring Maxim home.

Also adding to the unique rollercoaster of last year was our realization last fall that Daniel's youngest sister Carolanne had health problems that were snowballing downhill and we thought we might lose her too.

As we took off for Ukraine, my dad had come through his surgery well and was recovering at home, and Carolanne had finally been admitted to a hospital for much needed water, nutrients, medicine and just plain rest. It was still really stressful to leave the country at that point, but things were at least looking up.

Well, long story short, my dad is doing so well that when I call home, he is sometimes doing such things as working up on the roof of their house, or out kayaking which he so enjoys. He and mom were able to go on a trip to Mexico in January that Dad won through his local Kiwanis Club. The doctors say there is no need to do radiation as was expected at this point, and he doesn't need to go back in now for a few months. Thank You, Most High Father!

Carolanne received a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis and, through medicines, steroids and experimenting with different nutritional approaches, is doing much better. Still some bad times (don't stop praying) yet when I got home last month with Maxim, she had finished a beautiful knitted blanket just for him and presented us with some wonderful homemade jellies as well. I felt like our Carolanne is really coming back. Praise to the LORD the Almighty!

Maxim is doing soooo well. He went to the dentist again this last week. The first time was just a general checkup. This time, they sanded the malformed brown enamel on his left front tooth and paved over it with a tooth colored filling. It looks very nice. I had thought we would not do this for awhile as it would probably be looked at by our insurance as cosmetic. But they will cover the majority so we went for it. Maxim was thrilled when I pulled into the dentist parking lot and he realized where we were going again. He had to have the mask over his nose for the nitrous oxide gas (I think I'm namingthat correctly) but when the dentist, her assistant and I reassured him, he seemed to totally trust us and relaxed. After we were finished, he went to the treasure chest once again, this time choosing a rather ugly pink plastic pig finger puppet with giant googly eyes. He insisted that it is Papa. Yikes!

Some of the great things we are seeing in Maxim these days are that he is continually picking up and appropriate English words. No full sentences yet but naming things accurately, like shampoo, toilet paper and dishwasher. He counts items accurately in English up to twelve. Actually up to twenty but with some mispronunciations after twelve. He remembers various people's names accurately. No matter where we have been on a particular day, when we leave a place in the van, Maxim almost always waves and shouts "Bye bye, thank you!" Wrestling with Daniel and Joel is still a highlight of any day and this passed week, I introduced him to bread making. We have a chef hat the older kids were given years ago and Maxim got to where that and help me put all the ingredients into the bread machine. He was very proud when I told Daniel later that Maxim made the bread, but noticed that I had mentioned myself in the sentence. Maxim was quick to say "and Mama".

Once in awhile, there are moments of temper, but short lived. I have seen this come up primarily when he has to go to bed before the other kids (not every night but if their "teen" activities/responsibilites have them up later than usual), has a mistake pointed out to him in his workbook during school time (he is really doing well but I think he just so wants to get everything right the first time), and occasionaly when he has something I ask him to share (like the Cheezit crackers from Sabbath school; every little one should know that sharing one cracker with each of their siblings is not going to kill them). This week we reached another milestone; Maxim decided he does like salad after all. A LOT of salad. Once he took the chance to eat a bite that had a little ranch dressing on it, that was it. There is no stopping him now.

On Wednesday this week (the 18th), we go to Grand Rapids with Maxim for a two hour (minimum) exam and consultation with the specialists regarding what the necessary treatments will be for his feet and legs. Please pray for peace of mind on Maxim's part and wise counsel from those who see him.

Yesterday, I really enjoyed getting back on track with some things that were on hold for several months or more. The girls and I were able to grate a whole bunch of soap that didn't turn out properly last summer, melt it down and produce about fifty new bars of several different scents.
We enjoyed experimenting with various combinations of essential oils and I told Daniel that he is our official "company nose". I have almost no sense of smell and he has an extremely sensitive sense of smell, so he gets the last say in whether a scent is just right. Anyway, it will be neat to see some good product come out of what looked lost last year.

I made sourdough starter for the first time a week and a half ago, and yesterday Brina used some to make our first sourdough bread. The loaves are on the small side (think 8" round artisan bread) but really delicious.

Something about being home again has me praying and pondering what it is to be a virtuous woman; truly a woman who lives a Christ-like life in front of family, friends and community 24/7. No shred of hypocrisy. I realize this is not what Daniel and the older kids have seen consistently in me. For them, and now for Maxim, but most of all for the glory of the Father, I have to lay down in the palm of His hand and let Christ truly live in me. Some would say I'm too hard on myself about that and/or trying to be "good enough" in and of myself. But then I look at Christ's prayer and promise in John that after He died and ascended to Heaven, there would be others who came after Him who would "do even greater". That is not a blasphemous thought. It is the exciting promise of our King who knows what He wants to do in and through each of us, and that most of us have much longer physical lives ahead of us than He did on Earth, in which to be tools of the Father's in the physical realm. If we get to the end of a day and realized we have failed in a particular way, physically and/or spiritually, it's a good thing to honestly self-examine (asking the Father to let us see ourselves the way He does) and crave doing better the next day. I figure, after letting go of one tiny piece of our lives and seeing God bring the beautiful fruit of adopting Maxim out of that surrender, I want to come to the place where I am obedient in even more of what I know of His ways; willing to let go of even more so there is room for more fruit.