The Letter....

I am writing family and friends, asking for prayers for both of our littlest girls, Gelly and Witty.  They will both be undergoing heart surgery in the next few weeks.

Gelly (age 5) will undergo open heart surgery on July 11^th.   She was born with a VSD (a hole in her heart, which we were aware of when we accepted her referral from China in 2006).  The hole has not closed, and now in order to avoid further heart damage, it has to be repaired.  We continue to pray, as we have since she came home, that the Lord will heal her heart prior to pre-op day on July 8^th, but are grateful for any way HE chooses to heal her (prior to the surgery or during the surgery).  It is extremely difficult for our family to think about our sweet little Gelly having to endure this procedure (her heart will be stopped and she will be on the heart bypass machine), but we are confident that Christ is in control, that she is HIS. 

We recently learned that Witty (age 4) (who is also a “heart baby”) requires additional heart surgery, which has been scheduled for August 8th.  When we accepted her referral (from China in 2008), we knew that she had several heart defects and needed surgery as soon as possible in order to survive.  When Jim traveled to get her, she was blue and unhealthy, but a fighter!  Six weeks after her arrival home she received her surgery.  Things seemed to go well at first, but took a precarious turn when her lungs and heart filled with fluid (effusions are a rare occurrence of the surgery).  We did not know if she would live.  Through God’s providence, we witnessed HIS mercy and grace over and over, she was healed.  In the upcoming surgery, already very stressful, Witty runs the risk of the life threatening effusions returning.  Additionally, it has been explained to us that this particular procedure is extremely painful.

Since the girls came home, and because we also received and accepted the referral of another little “heart baby” (Baby Summer, who died in Hunan, China during our wait time to travel), we have occasionally been asked “did we know?” when we accepted their referrals, that Gelly and Witty had heart defects.  We did know; we chose to ask our agency to match us with children with medical needs; needs that would not have been met in China.  Clearly, each of our littlest girls (including Beanie, age 10, who came home from China December 11^th last year), are “chosen” children.  Chosen by us, and most importantly chosen by HIM to know Jesus Christ.

Through the choices Jim and I have made (through HIM), our older kids have a unique perspective.  They are willing to sacrifice and are grateful through trials.  They genuinely love and adore their little sisters, and are a tremendous support.

We would appreciate it if you would include the little girls on your prayer lists…and are so very grateful for your prayers and encouragement.                          

With gratitude….Ginger