February 23, 2019 ASD, February 2019 Feature - Heart, Heart System, pulmonary atresia, pulmonary stenosis, VSD 0 Comments

Honestly, I don’t feel like I quite fit in the special needs community. Or even the adoption community. Our lives at one point were very much impacted by both of those things, but now it looks very normal. I drive my four kids – all in school – and I drive them all over creation. …Read More

February 13, 2019 2019 Features, advanced heart failure, complex heart defect, February 2019 Feature - Heart, Heart System, heterotaxy, large families, malnourishment, pulmonary stenosis, single ventricle heart disease, terminal diagnosis 0 Comments

Have you ever received news that was so hard to hear you actually felt like you were having an out of body experience? The afternoon of Evelyn’s heart catheterization, the day that doctors and surgeons came into a small room to explain to my husband and I that our little girl was more critical than …Read More

March 19, 2018 complex heart defect, double outlet right ventricle, heart defect, Heart System, heterotaxy, March 2018 Feature - Sunshine in the Grey, pulmonary stenosis, surgery 0 Comments

Mary Katherine is our walking miracle. She was born with heterotaxy syndrome and a rare, God-designed, complex heart that we like to say is “imperfectly perfect”. Every imperfection (and there are many) was created in such a way that her heart was perfectly balanced. For four years she defied odds and was full of life, …Read More

January 19, 2018 aortic stenosis, complex heart defect, double outlet right ventricle, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, Lifelong needs, medical needs checklist, Megan V., pulmonary stenosis, TGA 0 Comments

There is a checklist. It is several pages long and includes medical jargon I don’t know and hope I never have to understand. Every person who has adopted has been faced with this list. What are you willing to weather? I agonized over that list, checking and unchecking things depending how I felt in that …Read More

May 12, 2017 complex heart defect, Family Stories, pulmonary stenosis, TGA, VSD 4 Comments

I remember looking at pictures of children and wondering if they were mine. I knew God wanted us to adopt a child. I knew He had a specific child for us. Every time I would look at a picture of a waiting child, I would ask myself, “Are you mine?” God, how will I know …Read More

February 9, 2017 adopting a boy, Family Stories, February 2017 Feature - Heart, Heart System, HLHS, older child adoption, pulmonary stenosis, single atrium heart disease, single ventricle heart disease, TGA 7 Comments

Our son, Matthew, is eight years old. He came home last year in May 2016. Throughout the adoption process and shortly after arriving home, God reminded us that Matthew is a gift. My husband and I would hear “He is a gift” over and over again. God had to remind us. He had to because …Read More

February 28, 2015 complex heart defect, double outlet right ventricle, February 2015 Feature, February 2015 Feature - Heart, pulmonary atresia, pulmonary stenosis, single atrium heart disease, single ventricle heart disease, Tetralogy of Fallot, TGV 0 Comments

We know that adoption is beautiful, don’t we? We know that it is a wonderful way to build a family. We also know that it can be painful, and scary, and even though it can most definitely be a dream come true, it can also hold many frightening unknowns… We have three dreams come true, …Read More