Through The Line of Fire

This is an email from my friend in Sydney and I wanted to include this testimony in Kaitlyn's blog...as Ps. Sonya says, "do it again Lord".

Hi clara, I was reading the Colour brochure that came out recently for 2010 and it gathered different women's journeys...and how they overcame challenges in His name. There was one story which i wanted share... I am sisterhood My name is natalie And this is Bella Grace's story Location: London, England Family: husband Mark, son Joshua and baby girl "Bella Grace" Reality: the moment our precious Bella was born, i knew something wasn't right. The specialists soon confirmed that Bella had been born with down syndrome. Shattered dreams: like all parents we had hopes and dreams for our little girl, dreams of what she would grow to be and experience. Suddenly we had to view her future differently. Resolve: to take hold of "God's plans" for his little girl. Those first weeks were difficult, tests and more tests, but church friends and family began surrounding us. This community of friends offered help and support, prayed that God would have His way in her life, that we would know His peace in the tormoil. Something began to happen: we took Bella home and further tests and check ups continued over the following weeks. After a while Mark commented that he thought Bella's face was changing. The miracle: one day one of the specialist phoned. They were extremely puzzled and confessed that they hadn't made this kind of mistake before, but according to their tests Bella did not have, or no longer had the condition. She was a perfectly healthy baby! Every sign of down syndrome had gone! Today: Bella is growing and responding. We are so grateful to our amazing friends and church who stood with us in faith and more so to an amazing God, who really is able to accomplish the impossible when we trust and believe. Clara, hope this story encourages u...it looks so much better in the actual brochure. Take care... And i LIKE ur long and detailed blogs! ^^ Love jul

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but the number of moments that take our breath away". This is a quote that Virginia shared with me...the reason I am including all this in Kaitlyn's blog is because people have been commenting on our strength...but it's through you all that God is also strengthening us. This quote sums up how we feel about Kaitlyn.

Today we had a 2 hour intense meeting with the ICU Intensivist, Dr. Pittfield (these names may not mean anything to you but we want to remember these people's names as they have impacted us significantly during this difficult time) our nurse Linda Dart (we love her), Lori (the Ethicist), Linda (Hospital Chaplain) and the fellow...sorry she is lovely but I forgot her name. I think the way Dr Pittfield framed the purpose of this meeting was significant because it is the way that he related the medical information to us testified to his summary...to paraphrase what he said, "the purpose of the medical team and our recommendations (as difficult as it is to hear their recommendations) is to help you go through the process you need to go through to face the decisions that you are facing."

One of the biggest lessons I am learning as Kaitlyn's parents is how to advocate for her...I think this is another lesson on how to walk in the authority God has given us. It has been intimidating relating with the doctors but I'm learning that we have to use our voice to advocate for Kaitlyn who has no voice. That we have to bold and ask the hard questions...I feel that the more questions we ask, the more light we shed over this dark issue of life and death.

I would like to go back into the ICU to be with Kaitlyn...I will continue this blog later. (Clara)