God Bless,

Mike

because this life matters!

I have sat typing and deleting this post for hours.  Sometimes the right words, those which adequately express what is in our hearts, are so very hard to find.  I definitely am not the most eloquent person around.  Sometimes words fail me.  For many reasons, this one has been a hard post to write.
“You can’t save ‘em all, you know.”

“You can’t help every child who needs a family.”

We hear it all the time.
I just smile when people make these comments.  My response is always the same–Yup, I sure do know that I cannot save them all.  That’s God’s job, not mine (whew!).  But I sure can do everything I possibly can to save the life of just one child at a time.
You see, I believe that every child matters.  Every child has worth and inestimable value.  Every child on the planet is created in the image of a God who adores them. I believe that every child is fearfully and wonderfully made—just the way they are.
With all my heart I believe that to be truth.
God has had us on a journey recently.  For weeks we have felt the stirring in our hearts to do more, to be more, to give our lives away more.  We have been ever mindful of the fact that our lives are not our own—that we have been bought with the ultimate price—a Savior who died for us. What a glorious example of surrender was He who knew no sin, but was willing to do the will of His Father!  We have such a long way to go in understanding the magnitude of it all.  We have so far to go in truly knowing what it means to give our everything to God.
A willing heart.  That’s what God requires of us.  The rest we can leave in His capable hands.
Prompted by the direction the Lord was leading us in, we put our yes on the table.  Not really sure what God was going to do with us or where He would take us.  “Yes” could take us anywhere.  “Yes” meant He could call us to do anything.
“Yes” simply meant surrender.  No matter what.  No matter where.  No matter how.
Have your way, Lord Jesus!
Soon after giving the Father our yes, we were presented with a situation. Finding the words to express what I felt the moment I read about it, well…there are none.  Driving in the car and heading out of town that day, I leaned over toward Anthony and said, “There are some things that my human heart cannot fathom.  Sometimes there just are no words.”
Staring at me from the e-mail on my phone was a little sweetheart.
One with infinite value.
One created in the image of a loving, gracious, and most merciful God.
One who had suffered far more than any child I have ever seen or advocated for on my blog.
“How can this even be?”  I asked my husband that day.
We were shocked.  Speechless.
Because sometimes there truly are just no words.
Today I would love to introduce you all to a little lovie whom I will refer to as Faith.

This is from another blog if you would like to read more about what happens to faith please visit:

http://www.nogreaterjoymom.com/

To see some pictures of faith please go to the link above!

Though there's a date of 1983 on all the photos, it's a camera error. All photos you will see here were taken just last month.

On August 11th, the day before my due date, I was having contractions 8 minutes apart for 4 hours. I thought it was the day we would meet our baby boy. That night my mom came to Tristen and Elisha just in case. Mike and I walked and my contractions increased to every three minutes. We headed to the hospital, trying not to be too excited just in case it was a false alarm. We got to the hospital and I was about 2-3 cm dilated, 100% effaced with a bulging bag of water. I was admitted. We expected things to move along quickly because with our other boys everything was very caotic and fast. However, after 2 hours I had only progressed 1 cm. A few hours later, my contractions were slowing down and we talked about what to do. Going home was a good option it seemed, however as the midwife checked me, she thought it would be best to go ahead and break my water to get things going. That is when we got excited!

We found out Jeremiah had had his first poop inside of me, but it was hardly anything. Either way, we were glad to get him out at that point so he would not ingest the dirty water. Things quickly changed from there….as the midwife checked me she became concerned she was feeling a butt, not a head! We were shocked and confused. She had a nurse check as well and she thought it was an ankle or a chin. That is when everyone around us began to scurry about. An ultrasound had to be ordered because the machine that was normally in the delivery area was broken. The only problem was that I progressed from a 5 to an 8 in 2 minutes and was heading for transition and we still didn’t have answers. It was a scary time and we started talking about c-sections. We never had anticipated that. Mike and I prayed and tried to be clear-minded even thought it was now around 2:30am.

Many nurses came in, gave me IV’s, and gave me medicine to stop contractions, which was crazy for my body since I was almost 9cm at that point! The C-Section team was called in. FInally, after what seemed like an eternity, the ultrasound confirmed out baby was butt down! So, then the pace really picked up.

I was wheeled back to the OR after being prepped and given a spinal block. Soon I was numb and they began cutting me open. (Mike had joined me at this time) Not too much longer we heard our little boy arrive screaming. We both cried like never before because it had all been so quick, emotion, difficult, shocking and to hear him was incredible. He was evaluated and was perfect. It was so hard that I could not hold him right away, but Mike took great care of him while I got stiched up.

After we got back to the room he was weighed….a wopping 8 pounds 2 ounces! Two pounds bigger than our other boys! The nurses were AMAZING and helped me breast feed him even though my arms were sluggish and I was EXHAUSTED after laboring for 12 hours and having major surgery. I was just relieved and so thankful to have our baby.

The Lord was amazing and blessed us in amazing ways. Even though it was very diffcult in so many ways, I had complete peace and sensed the Lord’s presence. We saw the Lord work out his will through our midwive multiple times, giving her wisdom and the ability to act quickly. We found out I have an odd shaped uterus, which is why they think Jeremiah could not turn and possibly hindered the growth of our other two boys in utero.

All in all it was the craziest day we’ve had, but I feel so blessed at the same time. We are SO in love with our big baby. Even though it has already been such a hard recovery, I am doing very well. (natural birth is so much easier) Jeremiah is eating, pooping, and peeing like a champ and we can’t take our eyes off of him and we cannot stop thanking God for how he blessed us and watched over us.

Jeremiah means “God will be exhaulted” and He was and every time we think back to the day Jeremiah was born we will praise God.

P.S-sorry if there are mistakes I am not taking the time to proof this…I have a hungry baby to feed

If I want it,
IT’S MINE!

If I give it to you and change my mind later,
IT’S MINE!

If I can take it away from you,
IT’S MINE!

If it’s mine it will never belong to anybody else,
No matter what.
If we are building something together,
All the pieces are mine!

If it looks just like mine,
IT’S MINE!

If it breaks or needs putting away,
IT’S YOURS!

I thought this was funny but so true. We are so selfish. I did not know how selfish I was until I got married and then wow… I have two kids and a third on the way… I am so selfish just like this toddlers creed

I hope this Blesses you!

Mike

Se Vende el Carro en Shell Ecuador

El mejor carro que he tenido

Aqui tengo fotos de el carro.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/60072533@N00/sets/72157625478840743/

Miguel

Mas informacion: mi correo electronico es :michael(punto)waskosky(aroba)bcom(punto)org

Confort
Aire acondicionado

Alarma de luces encendidas

Cierre centralizado de puertas

Computadora de abordo

Cristales eléctricos

Espejos eléctricos

Sensor de luz

Seguridad
ABS

Airbag conductor

Airbag pasajero

Alarma
Apoya cabeza traseros

Control de estabilidad
Control de tracción

Doble tracción

Neblineros delanteros

Exterior
Limpia/lava luneta

Vidrios polarizados

Sonido
AM/FM

CD

We left for a big parade in the next town over. The kids loved the parade, but it was a hot day, so we decided to leave early. When we got home Mike walked in the door thinking he should check the heater just to make sure everything was doing well. When he opened our back door there were huge flames spilling from the gas hose that was once connected to the heater. He ran to turn the gas off and almost as soon as he did the flames went out.

The area stayed incredibly hot, but we surveyed the damage and the only thing that had been seriously damaged was the plastic plumbing tube that was connected to our toilet.

We are incredibly grateful to the Lord. We know this could have been way worse and believe He prompted us that day.

Although we have no hot water, we are so grateful nobody was hurt (Mike’s mom was upstairs and our maid was cleaning a different part of the house) and we are so grateful that there was no further damage to our house. Our clean water system is very close to where the fire was and was not damaged…such a blessing…this is not something we can replace here!

We have had a crazy couple of weeks…Rosa has had several problems with her leg, we have spent LOTS of time at the doctor, she has had infections, Mike and I have had some really scary/crazy dreams, we have been exhausted, felt discouraged about many things and things have just been seeming to go wrong. This fire has been a reminder of the Lord’s care and love for us. It was a reminder He is watching over us. He sees all. He knows all. He is good. Really good. And so we have the strength and courage we need to press on because of Him.

Thank you Lord! You are the reason we are here and why we do what we do….thank you for reminding us.

The Lord constantly put these two verses on my heart, “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15) and “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’” (Matthew 25:45)

I longed to share my joy in being adopted by adopting. I realized that along with helping and loving a child, adoption is ministry unto the Lord and my heart lept with joy at that thought.

Mike and I began talking about adoption, and more often than not, I said too much, wanting to convince Mike that we ought to look into adoption. Although I was probably very annoying, Mike also began to pray and seek the Lord. The Lord was working…

Rewind for a minute, a few days after we had arrived in Shell, we heard about Rosa being adoptable for the first time and we thought we would take her into our home shortly after we arrived, but due to many circumstances, we went through a very hard time and decided it would be best not to take her in due to her many special needs.

Once we began seeking the Lord again about adoption, we kind of ruled Rosa out because we felt we wouldn’t be able to “handle” her. However, the Lord had something else in mind…

When we were visiting the states through times of prayer the Lord revealed to us that we were indeed supposed to welcome this precious girl into our family, and so we purchased everything we might need for her and began praying a little harder.

Rosa has been living with us for a week now, and it has been smoother than we imagined. She has seemed to blend right in with our family. Tristen LOVES her and wants to do everything with her (he even invited her to keep him company when he needs to go to the bathroom). Elisha is a little more jealous, but doing better each day (it helps that he shares a room with her and they giggle and play when they wake up in the morning while they wait for us to come and get them).

There, of course, are challenges because Rosa cannot walk yet. She will turn five in March (our birthdays are days apart), but has not been able to walk because she was born with club feet. One foot was amputated, so she is in need of a prosthesis, which we hope to be able to get in the near future. Right now she is in a cast because we are “straightening” her other leg. After the cast comes off, she should be able to begin to learn to walk more and more.

Rosa also has a problem with her jaw. For some unknown reason at this time she cannot open it very far and as a result doesn’t speak much or chew her food (I cut everything very small). We are working everyday on using words and sign language, doing massages on her jaw and other exercises.

“Getting used to” a child with special needs presents its challenges, especially here in Ecuador where there are little resources and difficult conditions for a person who cannot get around by walking. However, we have found great joy…more than we imagined…in having this precious, fun-loving, beautiful little girl in our home. Many of our concerns have disappeared and we are seeing how God has intervened, offering us grace, providing financially, giving wisdom, and placing people in our lives to help.

We hope to legally adopt her in the future. Ecuador is a difficult place to adopt from, so we have to wait two years before we can legally call her Rosa Waskoksy, but already she is a part of our family. We often call her Rosa-faith. We gave her the middle name Faith and it seems to fit perfectly!

Please join us in prayer as we continue to adjust:

• Pray for Rosa…she spent her whole life at Casa de Fe and has never been in a family setting and we think it can be overwhelming for her at times.
• Pray for her as she has this cast on…the straightening process is painful.
• Pray that we would have wisdom to parent all our children!
• Pray for Rosa to learn to walk! She can do it even now for short spurts, but we think she can learn to walk well!
• We are homeschooling right now a we bond and help her learn more English! Tristen loves this time too!
• Pray for finances to cover the medical expenses we will have!

Every day as we walk down the street nearly everyone greets us warmly and admires our boys.

Almost everyday large trucks drive by our house with their speaker system blaring, announcing all the fruit and vegetables they are selling. I am actually starting to understand what they are selling

Everyday we walk past the orphanage and the kids yell, “Hello Mr. Mike and Miss Lindy”. (They are working on distinguishing between Mrs. and Miss)

Almost everyday we get to be involved with the beautiful kids at Casa de Fe in some way and I love it how they adore my boys and treat them so well.

Every day it rains and it is amazing. The wind picks up before the rain comes and we can watch the clouds roll in over the mountains. The rain here can sometimes drench you in no time if you are outside. If you are inside, the sound of the rain hitting the tin roofs is somehow calming and peaceful. Lately, the rain has been leaving as quickly as it rolls in, which is not normal for this time of year, so we are praying for more rain because without rain we could have power cuts.

Everyday we see ladies carrying their babies in wraps and everyday I wonder how they keep their babies from falling out, but they are talented and the babies stay safe.

Everyday we see the garbage men who ride in the back of a dump truck and just pick the garbage up with rubber gloves…Dirty Jobs should check this out!

Nearly everyday we see a motorcycle with a family riding on it. So far the most people we’ve seen on a motorcycle is six. Two adults and four kids.

Every day we pay only $1.50 for a big lunch out at a restaurant. Soup, Rice, Meat, Salad, REAL juice, and dessert!

Everyday we walk everywhere we need to go and sometimes we take a bus to get to farther places.

Everyday I get to have a Spanish lesson.

Every morning Mike and Tristen walk to the bakery to get bread or eggs. Each costs 10 cents! I love that you can buy only one egg at a time

Everyday we see stray dogs and we have to remind Tristen that they are not all nice like our dog.

Everyday Tristen gets to play outside and get his energy out! Mom’s dream come true. I especially appreciate this coming from winter in MN.

Every night we go to sleep to the sound of frogs, dogs barking, and pigeons on our roof.

Everyday we thank the Lord that He brought us here and we ask Him to help us reach the beautiful people that we live amongst.

We looked up the meaning for “Elisha” after we decided on the name and found that the meaning is “God will save me” and “Protected”. The verse that goes with it is Psalm 62:7, “On God my salvation and my glory rest; the rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.” It was settled, the little boy growing inside me was Elisha and we called him that every time we talked to him.

My pregnancy was normal and baby Elisha was healthy; however, I always had a sense to pray for Elisha. I remember praying the meaning of his name over him all the time. I wasn’t scared for Elisha, but I just had a strong sense to pray for him because something might be wrong.

September 18th finally arrived. It was my due date and I was still pregnant. I was convinced that morning that I would be pregnant forever. I went on a really long walk, played outside with Tristen, and had dinner plans with Mike. It was a beautiful fall day and I didn’t expect the arrival of sweet Elisha, but at 3:30 while I was at the park with Tristen I was having steady contractions. One of my friends told me she thought I was in labor, but I didn’t believe her. Just 30 minutes later on my walk home from the park I was starting to change my mind. I called Mike and told him not to be late coming home from work. By the time I was off the phone with him I was having contractions every 7-8 minutes. He rushed home and we left for the hospital. (Good thing my parents live close and could take Tristen…thanks mom and dad!)

When I got to the hospital I was already 6+ cm dilated. Good thing we left when we did!! They gave me the option of walking around or breaking my water for me. I chose to walk around, which didn’t last long. I am not a very patient person most of the time. So, the midwife, who also delivered Tristen, broke my water. When they broke my water they found out Elisha had had his first or more bowel movements in the womb. The midwife informed me that they would call a NICU team to standby so they could clear Elisha’s mouth and lungs in case he had ingested any of the stool. Only 45 minutes passed before I was ready to push. I only pushed for 6 minutes and our baby was out.

It was such a different experience from Tristen’s birth. Tristen came out kicking and screaming. Elisha didn’t cry and they didn’t stimulate him to breathe because they didn’t want him to ingest any more stool. He was gray in color and didn’t move. I looked away and prayed. I had peace and I didn’t want the sight of Elisha to steal that from me. Soon I heard faint crying and before I knew it I had a little brown-haired squirmy baby in my arms. He was really stinky because he had been in a giant poop bath, but he was beautiful. They weighed him and he was a perfect 6lbs 5oz. We watched his first bath, first footprints, and I fed him for the first time. It was so amazing and it all happened so fast! We thanked God for our precious boy, especially since we heard from the nurse that she had never seen such thick stool from a baby before. She told us we were “lucky” he didn’t ingest any of it.

Introducing him to Tristen and adjusting to our new lives was really wonderful and difficult, but we remained so grateful for the health of our little boy. We had heard before that it is really dangerous for babies to have their first bowel movements in the womb. However, it didn’t hit me how blessed we were and how the Lord protected Elisha until I was at his two week doctor appointment. Our pediatrician told us that she used to work in the NICU often and out of all the babies she saw in there, the ones that had swallowed stool in the womb were the sickest and died the most often. She told us it was a blessing from God that Elisha was healthy.

Elisha:
“God will save me” and “Protected”
Psalm 62:7, “On God my salvation and my glory rest; the rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.”

Thank you Lord for our precious son!

“November 20, 2003 1:30am.

Lord I think You are calling me to be a missionary. I can’t sleep because my mind is racing at this possibility. I have thought about it before, but have never taken it too seriously. I have never heard You so clearly, yet it scares me because I feel so inadequate. I hardly know what it means to be a missionary; I hardly know anything about You. I want to know you so much more and I want to be in the center of your will. So, I pray tonight that you would guide me and take my fear. Lead me in Your ways and continue to show me where You want me to be.”

I remember writing this prayer six years ago. Even more than that I remember sitting in a small classroom in the Dominican Republic sweating while listening to a missionary say he believed there were some of us seniors sitting in the room that were called to be missionaries. The Lord nudged me and spoke to me more clearly than He ever had up until that point in my relationship with Him. There was no denying that I had a calling upon my life. Up until that point I wanted to be a teacher. It was incredibly difficult to surrender that dream to Him because I had the dream of being a teacher since I was about five years old.

There have been quite a few things that have been difficult to surrender to the Lord while walking out what He has called me to. Living close to my family. A house. Money. Two cars.  Having comforts and conveniences. The list goes on. Honestly, there have been seasons when if the Lord had not held me up and I did not have a wonderful husband and great friends, I would have walked away from this calling. I would have given it up to buy a house and have “security” from a “real” job. I really would have turned my back and run, far and fast, but the Lord, in His grace and mercy, called me again and comforted me with His promises.

Now as we prepare for our February fourth departure, once again I can’t sleep because my mind is racing. Racing at the thought that it has been six years since the Lord has called me and I am about to step into what He has. For six years He has been preparing me, teaching me, loving me, and growing me. He has brought me a wonderful husband that has a similar vision. He has blessed me with two boys that will be lights shinning in the darkness. He has allowed me to cross paths with great teachers, godly mentors and wonderful friends.

It is not that I have “arrived”, no, like in my prayer I still feel so inadequate and I have so much more to learn, but to see the fruit of six years is amazing. It is a milestone in my walk with the Lord. It has been a difficult and joyous journey and I am beyond excited to continue to walk with the Lord into this next season of life.

One more thought, when we got married I got pregnant on our honeymoon, which was unplanned and one of the best things that has ever happened to me in my life. At that point, I had really given up on ever becoming a teacher because I wanted to be a stay at home mom and didn’t finish my schooling. Well, now that we are heading to Ecuador the Lord is allowing me to step into a teaching role. I get to home school my brother-in-law, David, who is 14 and has down syndrome. The Lord is giving me back my dream I surrendered to Him and beyond that, my kids get to be involved, so I still get to be with them. So, the Lord is bringing me to Ecuador to be a missionary, but I get to be a stay-at-home mom, and a teacher…I never could have planned it so well myself.