The Davis Family

I often go through day to day thinking of how much is not getting done. I see the messes on the floor, the tall grass in the yard, the unfinished projects and the chores I need to do. I’m glad I’ve taken some pictures, though. Because they show me a different story. They show me the highlights, the successes and the things I want to treasure. Here’s a stack of those pictures from March.

One of the reasons I love having a family goal (To care for orphans) is that when I am feeling the pressure from too many things too do, too many opportunities to decide between, I can use the main family goal to help me prioritize. The lawn being gorgeous is not a high priority. Keeping the kids in a bunch of programs is not a high priority. I don’t know… but it helps.

My mom and dad together. My daughter snuggled up with my dad. All of us at a Heart Change workshop Sunday morning supporting my Mom. <3

Sadly, I don’t have a great video of Maggie’s lesson.

We went through the training to be able to foster cats with kittens from the Humane Society. (They can’t adopt out kittens until they’re old enough to be spayed/neutered.) Our first kitty was a super sweet mama, friendly and calm and good with her kittens. We only got to keep them a few weeks, though, because one of the kittens was getting pushed off and wasn’t growing. She needed somebody to sit with her and help her nurse multiple times a day and I couldn’t do it. Thankfully, somebody else from the foster group was able to take them in and help. All the kittens were just starting to move around and be playful when they moved, so I’m looking forward to taking in another batch of kittens sometime this summer.

The kittens:

Anna celebrated her ninth birthday this year! On Easter Sunday, we had a small birthday celebration with some family. I can’t believe how big she is. I’m very proud of my first big little girl.

Over the last few months, we have been reevaluating our family choices and goals. We tried to remember our five and ten year goals that we made early in marriage (we celebrated our eleventh anniversary this spring.). As Mom and Dad moved back home from Uganda, we have, as a family, been discussing what each of our “missions” might be. That seemed impossible to narrow down, but I think we’ve done it.

The primary mission for our family is to care for orphans. We have internal family goals as well, but this is specifically our family’s mission to the world. God placed it in our hearts before our marriage and that passion has not lessened with time. Being Jordan’s Mom, Dad, and sisters is part of that mission. Supporting other adoptive and foster families through friendship, counsel, prayer, babysitting and respite care is part of it. Supporting orphan care organizations financially is part of it. Supporting families that might otherwise fall apart without help is part of it (thinking of impoverished families who can’t afford to care for their children without aid, such as World Vision children). As specific as caring for orphans is as a mission, it has broad possibilities for application. And I’m excited.

I’m excited that we have a mission. A goal. Something to aim at, to strive for. I’m excited to have introduced it to the kids. I love broadening their world and seeing them embrace the new information and grow. I’m so proud of them.

Tonight we went around the table and tried to decide what some things we can do are. Being Jordan’s family came up. Praying came up. And sending money to an orphanage or other orphan-care organization came up. We made a goal of saving up as much as we could by Christmas! We got out a big jar and we all raided our purses and wallets and put our bills and dollars in.

I’m excited.

We’re going to try and think up some fundraisers to help us raise some more money. We’re especially looking for things that we can do together. Our first idea is to take some of the scrapbooking paper we have and write Scripture or inspirational quotes on it in calligraphy. Or I can do calligraphy on regular paper and the kids can decorate it. The idea was to have something inexpensive to mail so that we can sell these things very cheap. We’re putting quarters and dollars into this jar. Please let me know if you also want to contribute and how!

K – right now I’m in wide-eyed, don’t panic mode. Then I will get into research mode. Then we’ll figure out what the best thing to do is.

Long story short: We went to the Down Syndrome clinic last month for a check-in and check-up and got some good general feedback. At the very end, the PT (physical therapist) noticed Jordan’s hips were really loose. More than she expected or something. She looked more, she called other people over and we got a referral to an orthopedist next door at Shriner’s. This morning was that appointment.

They talked with me, looked Jordan over, had him run up and down the hall and pushed and pulled his legs, feeling his hips especially. Even I could see his right hip klunk in and out of joint (without pain from Jordan). We took xrays of his hips and his c-spine. Don’t really know how the c-spine xray is related (at all) but he wanted it done and I have been putting that off so we did it too. Jordan was pretty scared the whole appointment, but was a trooper and did really well considering I couldn’t explain to him that the xray machine was taking a picture and wasn’t going to chase him down and poke him or something. I was a little wrong though.

His spine xray showed all is well in the spot that can be too loose in people with Down Syndrome. Between the hip xray and the physical examination, though, the doctor recommended treatment to fix his hip joints. This treatment… is not pretty. It involves breaking and resetting his pelvis and his femurs, shortening his ligaments, 4+ days in the hospital and a spica cast for 8 weeks, which goes from waist to ankles with a hole for a diaper. That’s followed by PT and a prayer that it was successful.

Steps now are a MRI to get a better visual on his hip joint (the x-ray didn’t show enough). Then another consult. Then I will take that stuff and get a second opinion, because this does not sound like a good idea to me. No kidding, right?

So now you can freak out and pray with me while I go to my peeps and get more information. I need more input about: what happens if we don’t do it? (loss of mobility? pain?) How successful is it likely to be? Do we have alternatives? Etc.

I want to share about one of the pivotal moments of my life. Perhaps the most pivotal. I would have been about fourteen or fifteen years old. I lived in a Christian family and done a lot of thinking and researching about whether I also believed in God the creator and His son Jesus and decided that yes, I was a believer.

About this time, my mom brought me, my brother, his girlfriend, and I think Emily (my good friend) and Lydia (my good friend cousin) and some other kids to Christian conference thing. At the end of the main topic, the speaker began giving an invitation. I don’t exactly remember what he said… it was some sort of an invitation to come up and submit to God and be prayed for. I do not know what his words were, but this was the moment, the pivotal moment in my life.

In my heart, I heard things. I knew things. I don’t think I even really heard the words of the man speaking. It was God speaking and He said, “I want you to show everybody that you are mine. I want you to walk forward and confess your submission to me.” I was mortified. I was there with my friends, proud and confident as only a teenager can be. The idea of showing weakness, of being embarrassed by going forward in front of everybody to an altar call was horrible. I.did.not.want.to.

God continued speaking to me. It wasn’t in so many words, but I argued with him internally. I told him no. He told me yes. My heartbeat was loud to my ears and I began to have something like tunnel vision. I did not want to go up, but I felt that I should. I began to understand that to not go up was to deny Him. He told me that if I did not confess him in front of my friends, that he would go away from me. He had been with me since I was a child, but he would leave if I denied Him.

I had a choice.

I delayed. I delayed. I waited while other people went up and while the speaker kept talking and my heart kept pounding. And I knew that this decision was more important than all the decisions up to this day. It was a choice with consequences. An adult choice, if you will. I fought. The part of me that wanted to not change, to stay hidden… it fought. And then I cast my pride down and left myself in the hands of His grace. I stood up and I went forward. I had to climb over the legs of some friends. I think I told them I’d be right back. I didn’t look at anybody I came with – I was too scared. But I wasn’t going to let God go. I needed His protection. I needed Him to stay with me. So I went.

While I stood in the front, nothing remarkable happened. Somebody asked how they could pray for me and I told them I didn’t know. My mom noticed I’d gone missing and came up and found me and I was crying. But I still had so much pride that I couldn’t tell her why I was up there. I didn’t exactly know myself… I just went because God told me to. And it was over. I had obeyed.

A little while later – minutes or hours, I was in the bathroom. It was one of those big venue bathrooms with a long row of sinks and an equally long mirror. I stood there staring at the mirror, washing my hands maybe. And I saw something about myself. I saw the clothes I was wearing. I remembered the motivations that caused me to pick these ones out. And I was shocked with the awareness of the filth of myself. The sinfulness. The selfishness. I recognized for the first time the depravity of my heart and the direction I was headed. I should say, the depravity of my former heart and the direction I had been headed.

Because something was new.

God had taken my obedience and done something new. Something in my heart was new and has never left me since that day. I think it’s what the Bible means when it says “born again.” I felt a new heart inside of me. I don’t know how else to say it. There was something inside of me that was unselfish. It had a new set of hopes and goals in life. They weren’t big long term goals, they were more basic and simple. I think it was when God planted some of His spirit in me – love… joy… peace… patience… kindness… goodness… faithfulness… gentleness… self control. Mostly I remember the pleasant surprise of unselfish thoughts. And the contrast with the thoughts I had that morning. It was a new beginning.

Thank you, Lord, for moments when you have reached into my life and touched me. Thank you for the memory of this day that makes my faith stronger. Thank you for what you did that day. Thank you that you haven’t finished working on me.

There’s still a battle inside me – the old self and the new self. That battle will be over when Christ returns, but I already know who won. And He has never left me. And I am still His.