The Invisible Shield

FRIDAY MORNING:

Today is Andrew's birthday, but since Derek's parents were not available today to celebrate Andrew's birthday, they asked if they could come over to our house last night and give Andrew his gifts.

So, Derek drove to the store with Andrew and let him pick out a cake and ice cream for the early birthday celebration.

After dinner, Cherish put candles on the cake while I got the camera. Andrew asked if he could light his candles. Derek said yes--since Andrew had worked on lighting matches over and over and over again with several different adults.

We were going to have him light the candles by the sink, but then thought better of carrying the lit candles over to the table--carrying the lit candles over the heads of the children. So, we put the cake in front of Andrew with a bowl of water next to him for him to put the used lit matches.

Andrew lighting the first match.

 Daddy helping Andrew light the candles with the first two matches:

On the third match, something startled Andrew, and he instinctively threw the match out of his hand. The match landed in Matthew's lap--who was seated next to Derek's dad. Instantly, Matthew's shorts and shirt erupted into fire. I threw the camera down to run to Matthew while Derek's dad started slapping out the flames and Derek began blowing out the fire. Everyone was screaming with horror, and terror took over the room.

By the time I reached Matthew, the fire had disappeared. DISAPPEARED!!!!!! I lifted Matthew out of his booster seat while the screaming and crying continued, but not one iota of any indication was found on him that his clothing had just been on fire! We all looked Matthew over, and NOTHING was found--not even the smell of smoke!

Andrew ran to his room and wailed. He cried for over an hour. I reclined on his bed and put him on me. I tried to get my breathing and heart rhythm to regulate his. He felt so badly!

After I was able to return to the kitchen I took a look at the table cloth in front of Matthew's seat. It was untouched by the fire. As I was cleaning up, Cherish came out and examined the table cloth as I had done. She marveled at finding no traces of the fire as well.

Two people mentioned that night that they had immediately thought of the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from Daniel 3, when we examined Matthew and found no traces of the fire--including no smell of smoke.

All I could think was that there had to have been an invisible shield around Matthew's body and face. There is absolutely no explanation as to why Matthew was not in a trauma burn center.

This morning when Matthew woke up, Derek said: "Good morning, Matthew!" Matthew said: "Good morning, Daddy. I had fire!"

Matthew's first thoughts were on the fire--even without knowing the implications of the dangers or effects of fire.

This miracle of protection has rocked our family!

Thank You, LORD, for Your protection!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our "thanks" has no real words!


FRIDAY NIGHT UPDATE:

Andrew had trouble eating at the table. He would point to Matthew's seat and say, "That's where Matthew caught on fire."

-----

Cherish came to me to tell me she was sorry. She had been standing behind Matthew's chair holding his hands up so he wouldn't try to reach for the matches or the bowl. When the match flew at Matthew, his shirt was up above his belly button (due to Cherish holding his hands up), and she saw the match land on his bare belly. She saw his shirt and shorts instantly ignite, dropped his hands, and ran backwards. (This is when George and Derek--who were closest to Matthew--sprang into action.)

Of course I told her there was nothing to be sorry about. We train children to run from fire, and her first instinct was to get away.

She said she actually saw the match land on Matthew's skin just bellow his belly button. There are no marks of any match. There is no burn on his skin!

-----

Derek's dad called to ask about Matthew. He couldn't get the image of the "flames" out of his mind. He said he just couldn't understand how the fire "disappeared". (He had used the same word I did to describe the phenomenon.) The fire did not go down or smolder.... It literally disappeared!

GOD did a miracle!
To know He sees us and knows beforehand what is going to happen makes us stand in AWE of Him!!!

Preacher

Andrew practices the Evangecube often. He told me today he wants to preach a lot, because "hopefully" someone he preaches to will kill him, and then he'll get to see Jesus faster.

Only Andrew....

When boys are quiet...

I always go checking on them.

Tonight, I found Andrew reading the children's Bible to the boys.

Each time I checked in on them, the boys were in a different area of their bedroom still reading. Andrew read probably 15+ stories to them.

God bless them all!

Bowling with Andrew

"Dear Mommy,

Can I take you on a date?

Check yes or no.

Love, Andrew"

✔ Yes!

Mother's Day

I am so immensely blessed that these precious children call me "Mom"!

Happy Birthday, Andrew!!

Andrew is 8 years old!!!! Woo-Hoo!!!! We love this sweet boy!!!!! He is an amazing blessing to our family!!!!!!! Happy Birthday, Andrew!!!!!!!!

Mud boys

How do you make boys happy? Set them free in mud!

Bathroom help

Andrew: "Mom, there's some toilet paper in the bathroom that needs to dry before you use it." Mom: "Oh? What happened?" Andrew: "I saw the bathroom needed toilet paper, but while I was putting it on the roller, I dropped it in the toilet by accident. I washed it with soap and water, so just let it dry before you use it." Mom: "Oh. Ok, Buddy. Thanks!"

Baths

How my boys like their bath times:

No scrubbing required! 😉 

They come out like clean prunes! 😄

Jetlaggin' in the living room

Answered prayers!

Derek called me via WeChat and informed me that he and Andrew were down with fevers. The last time I remember Derek having a fever was in 1999. Now, all three of my boys were sick, and Derek was alone to care for everyone.

I asked some friends to pray, and about 6 hours later (the middle of the night for Derek), Derek woke up with a drenched shirt. God had answered our prayers!! Derek's fever had broken!!!

However, by morning Andrew--who had been struggling tremendously with asthma that had gotten out of control--was unable to even dress himself. He was so weak from struggling to breathe.

Matthew noticed Andrew's weakened state, and while Derek dressed Andrew, I watched as Matthew crawled over to Andrew on the bed and place his head on Andrew's shoulder. Then he began rubbing Andrew's head.

After Derek dressed Andrew, he lifted Andrew and put him in Matthew's stroller. Derek began Andrew's nebulizer treatment. Derek then finished dressing Matthew, put him in the baby carrier, and rolled Andrew in the stroller down to breakfast.

They ate and were off to Matthew's medical appointment--for his visa clearance.

When the guys got back to the hotel room, Derek had to clean up Matthew from his illness, so Derek called me via WeChat and handed Andrew the phone.

As I watched Andrew, I noticed his lips beginning to turn purple. I called Derek over to the phone. Derek instantly noticed Andrew had turned purple, and he began rubbing Andrew's chin and cheek--like he was trying to rub off the color. I informed Derek that Andrew was in crisis and needed to get on the nebulizer right away.

He informed me that the nebulizer did not work!!!!

Derek's guide/interpreter was out on a touring trip with others from their group, and Derek didn't know the phone number for emergency. !!!!!

As I watched over video chat for about 45 minutes, Andrew continued to decline as Derek jiggled the nebulizer and did everything he could to get albuterol into Andrew.

I logged off video chat, as I couldn't look at Andrew without terror filling my heart.

I enlisted prayer warriors and then began to pray.

I began praying aloud that Jesus would heal Andrew. Aloud I preached to myself as I prayed, reminding myself of Truth. "God, You are completely Sovereign. God, You are all-powerful. God, I know You love Andrew. God, You are The Healer. God, You can heal Andrew if You choose to. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, please heal Andrew!"

I logged back onto video chat and saw Andrew's decline. Derek and I began praying together over Andrew, and--without the use of medication or nebulizer--Andrew began to breathe!!! He began to breathe in oxygen!!!!!!

As we watched Andrew, his lips turned pink!!!!!

In a hotel room,

without steroids,

without albuterol,

but with prayer,

during the crisis of an asthma attack,

Andrew began breathing freely on his own!!!!!!

That does not happen except through a miracle!!!!

PINK lips!!!!!

I praise the Lord for each of these answers to prayers and for so many more that have not been mentioned. Our family is under spiritual attack and the evidence is multiple times a day. (I'd share them all, but I don't have enough time to write them all out.)

In this I can rejoice: there would be no spiritual attack if we were not doing God's will. And, we know, God always win! Always!!!!

On their way!

Once again, all flights out of Jacksonville were cancelled for Thursday, so Derek rented a vehicle at the airport, and he and Andrew are now on their way to Orlando to fly to Beijing.

Last night while Derek was driving to get the rental car, Andrew kept crying. He said he was going to miss me, so we spent a long time snuggling.

I took several selfies of us, and I told him I would text him the pictures anytime he said he missed me.

Here's one of them:

I love my brave boy!

On another note: The children have been feeling the effects of Daddy and Andrew leaving, because they have not been sleeping. Even Sammy woke up numerous times in the night! I can tell we will need a quiet and lazy day of rest.

God's Heart for Orphans

I have spent the majority of the last two days packing and repacking, rolling and rerolling, vacuum bagging and revacuum bagging the donations poured out for the orphans in the poorest province in China. Andrew graciously gave up the space I had allotted for his stuffed animals and little toys (leaving only his fidget spinner and rubix cube) and choosing to wear day clothes to bed instead of taking pajamas on the trip--in order to get the maximum amount of orphan donations into the luggage. When I couldn’t fit in even one more piece of clothing for the orphans, Andrew and Cherish offered me their $25 visa Christmas gift cards from their grandparents to help with the cost of taking another piece of check-in luggage. Their hearts for orphans—along with our friends and family who have given donations for the orphans—drive me to tears! God bless all those who have God’s heart for the most vulnerable in the world!

Miracle-Working God

We have a miracle-working God! Last night Andrew (age 7) put himself to bed before bedtime. That was an alert for me. I checked on him and found his head hot. I took his temperature; it was 103.2° F. Derek and I immediately prayed over him that Jesus would heal him. By the time our prayer was finished, Andrew’s fever was gone. GONE!

With China quarantining feverish people at customs and immigration (since SARS), we knew Andrew could not board the plane if he was sick.

We prayed. We asked God for healing. God healed.

Thank You, LORD!!

So, Derek AND Andrew will be China-bound, leaving the house at 3:00 a.m. Wednesday for the airport.

Andrew

How he dresses to hide from mosquitos:

 How he loves to spend his time...with daddy:

Summer 2017a

So, now that summer school break is behind us, I will post some special pictures from our summer. (I tried to "live in the moment" with my family, so I didn't post very much.)

The first trip we made was to see Derek's great aunt in Tennessee and then on to Georgia to get together with my family.

In order to make the trip more comfortable and to help Sammy sleep in different beds during the journey, I made my first weighted blanket. It was quite successful! I was extremely happy!

All together with Derek's great aunt:

While we were visiting Derek's great aunt, she became ill and needed a day of rest. So, we took the children to a hands-on museum in the area, and they had a fabulous time!

News anchors:

The boys "lost" their shirts due to a water incident involving toy boats. The workers let us take their shirts back to the car to dry them in the heat.

Aw. Shirts again: 

 The banker:

After visiting Derek's great aunt, we went to visit my family--who had rented a cabin in the mountains for several days. It was so nice to reconnect with the family again!

The girls snuggled up reading:

Look at how the boys are snuggled up for a nap! 💗

Sweet Aunt Teaya:

Madison and Sammy (with Andrew pushing the pedal):

 Hope:

 Daniel:

 Sammy:

 Daniel:

 Yay, Andrew!

 Super, Hope!

 Look at the fishing pole Sammy chose:

 Uncle Pedro and Mason:

 Daniel and Madison: "My dad is stronger than your dad!"

 Uncle Jon to the rescue with the bubbles:

 Cousins:

 Jon and Madison, Jen and Sammy, Pedro and Sebastian:

 Outside fireplace:

This was the perfect ending to each evening

as the adults stayed up late bonding

around the outside fireplace. LOVED it!