All of you reading know that Joshua came from a very serious situation. As such, he carries the effects of neglect. His neglect was more profound, given the terrible orphanage he came from. This has left him with hypotonia, developmental and cognitive delays, fine motor delays, gross motor delays...a long list of concerns. None of them have surprised us and for the past 14+ months we have worked to help him overcome these concerns.
He remains delightful, generally well-mannered, and increasing in his attachment to us. He is pleasant and cooperative, and struggling hard to learn to speak. His articulation is problematic, so we are working to increase his therapy so he can be better understood in the things he tries to say. And he has so much to say!
(hopefully you can see the video; if not, it's a great video of Joshua talking!)
We remain blessed, and blessed, and blessed. He is doing so well.
In fact, he is doing so well, he is going to have an Eastern European sister!
James 4:13-15 says, " Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."
Life is short and nothing is guaranteed.
Matthew West writes an inspiring song called "Do Something". (you can sing along here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I2csO7_pOI ). In that song, West writes:
"So I shook my hand at heaven,
and said, 'God, why don't You do something?'
He said, 'I did.
I created you."
Given that Joshua will have a sister from a familiar Eastern European country, we can no longer use this blog. We have moved to a new place and we pray you will follow us there. We are now on the Road To Kally!
http://www.theroadtokally.blogspot.com/
We are fundraising part of our adoption expenses. Since Kally is not a child on Reece's Rainbow, we are working with Grace Haven to help.
http://gracehavenhome.com/families/the-menges-family/
Please prayerfully consider helping us "do something"!
Pray for 11-year-old Kally! Pray for our family and our process. And please, always pray for Joshua as he grows. Thank you to all who supported us in our process with Joshua. We hope you will follow along as Joshua gets a new big sister!
