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beauty always rises

Many of you write to ask me how our Haven is doing.  There’s just something so sweet and so tender about our precious Haven.

Last week we celebrated Haven’s sixteenth birthday.  It’s hard to believe that eight years have passed since she joined our family. It’s been eight amazing, stretching, learning, growing years. We have learned so much about parenting a non-verbal child who struggles daily with PTSD. We’ve journeyed through so much together as we’ve grown along the way.

One day at a time.

Grace for each new day.

It’s been a beautiful, beautiful journey.

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People ask us all the time, “Is she speaking yet?” No, Haven is still completely non-verbal.  And that’s okay.  She is very, very happy and content in her silent world. Haven has absolutely blossomed in school. Letting her go to try school is one of the best (and hardest!) decisions we could ever have made for our silent treasure. Haven is slowly learning that the world outside of our home is a safe place too.  She is gaining independence every single day.  For that, we are so, so grateful!  Helping her to become as independent as she can be is one of our greatest goals. Haven is thriving in her small class with the help of incredible teachers who truly pour their hearts into their students.  We have been blessed!

One year ago Haven struggled to even write the first letter of her name.

I got so tearful when I saw this. These are the things we totally rejoice in.  This is huge for Haven. An accomplishment that she has worked so very hard to perfect.

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It’s such a beautiful thing to witness a child who has struggled in so many areas master a new skill. We never take a single breakthrough for granted.  We rejoice when they finally hit the big milestones–like writing their names.  And we rejoice too when, to the rest of the world, the victory may seem totally insignificant.  In the lives of each one of our children with special needs, they’re huge accomplishments.

Haven has come so far. God has been so kind and merciful to restore so much of what was stolen from our young lady.  He has healed her broken heart. He has given her beauty for ashes and the sweetest joy. The Redeemer of all things! Gone are the days when she was afraid of anything that moved.  She is happy and content and has the sweetest smile ever.  Haven adores our little kids and laughs until she cannot laugh anymore at the silly things Hailee does.  Music to our ears. When one of the younger children does something that Haven knows they shouldn’t be doing, oh my goodness, she belly laughs.  It’s an instant alert for us to do some investigating.  More often than not there will be something emptied on the kitchen floor, a few too many snacks snuck from the pantry, a streaker running through the house, or an entire bottle of bubble bath emptied in the bathtub.  She thinks it’s pretty darn hilarious.

And Kael?  Well, God knew!  He knew that when we added a little boy onto our adoption when we were paper chasing for Hasya that he would be one of the greatest gifts ever to this teenager.

He knew that their bond would be sweet and that they would spend many hours together on the sofa.

My God…He NEVER makes mistakes.

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How we love and treasure this little angel!  She is perfect in every way.

Happy sixteenth birthday, precious, precious Haven.

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