5 days.

So its almost here- I'm getting on a plane and going back to Haiti in 5 days. Does time really fly by that fast? I don't think its really began to hit me yet that I'll be leaving the US and going back home soon. My whole time of being here in Florida, I have tried to keep the mindset of embracing each moment that I have here and not waste it on missing Haiti, which I so easily could have fallen in to doing. Don't get me wrong, I definitely had my moments of missing home, my kids and my family- But the Lord really placed it upon my heart to just keep my eyes on Him and the day before me and just LIVE in each moment. I once read a quote by Jim Elliot that said
"Wherever you are, be all there." That's what motivated me each day.

Now that its getting closer to going home, I'm slowly trying to switch into 'Haiti Mode.' I'm so excited to be going home and spending this holiday season with my HUGE family there. I know that it will be nothing less than beautiful.

My time here in Florida has been such a blessing and I will forever cherish the 5 months that I've had here. Being with my grandparents and just spending time with them has been wonderful- I've definitely learned a lot from them and I will forever be thankful for this time I got to spend with them. Love them so much.

So here it is guys, the start of a new chapter. I have no clue what this next year is going to bring, but I'm anticipating it, knowing that Jesus always has such an amazing, perfect plan. He is SO good and forever faithful. Thank YOU Lord! :)

Adriano Visit

I cannot even describe how thankful and blessed I feel right now. The Lord truly does care about the things that are on our hearts and really does listen when we tell Him our desires. He showed me this first hand.

As most of you know, Adriano has been in the states for a little over 3 months now getting medical treatment done. Since the moment I said goodbye to him in July, I prayed in my heart that I would be able to visit him in the US. I had mentioned it to my parents and a couple close friends, but honestly, I had to clue how it was going to happen. When I decided to move to Florida for 5 months, I thought that maybe I would road trip it and see him. Well, then reality slapped me in the face with the well known fact that I don't have a drivers license. I guess I could have still drove, but unlike Haiti, America has laws and apparently its illegal. Prison? No thank you.

Well after a couple weeks of being in Florida and trying to figure out how I was going to see my little man, I finally just had to come to a place of surrender. I gave up my desire of wanting to see him to the Lord and left it at that, knowing that whatever the Lord wanted was best. While I was still praying this through, I got an e-mail from a friend. Reading the e-mail, my jaw immediately dropped. My sweet friends, Jessica and Matt blessed my socks off and offered to make it possible for me to see Adriano. I was ECSTATIC!

After two months of anxiously waiting, on October 7th, I finally set out on my trip to PA. It took a little longer than I expected because I kind of got lost and missed my flight, but eventually I DID make it there. Jessica picked me up from the airport and from there the PA adventure began :) It was such a great trip, because not only did I get to see Adriano, but I also got to surprise and reunite with my friend Josiah, whom I had gotten to know in Haiti. He had met Adriano about a week after we had taken him in, when the little man was only 3 months old and a little under 5 pounds. Crazy to see how much he's changed now.

Josiah, his lovely sister Jocelyn and I took the one hour car ride to see Adriano this past Sunday, and it was nothing less than amazing. When we arrived, Adriano was sleeping in his host mom's arms. She asked me if I wanted to hold him as she slowly passed him to me. I tried hard to hold back tears. I was finally holding my sweet boy. The Lord is so good!

Adriano is now 12 pounds and looking absolutely amazing. He'll hopefully be going back to Haiti in mid December or early January. I just can't get over it- The Lord Jesus is so amazingly good, it just blows me away. I look back on the day when we first picked him up and brought him to my house. Nurses were teaching me ways on how to resesitate him if he died on my watch, because of the condition that he was in, he wasn't expected to live very long. Looking at the beautiful child that he has become now, I'm absolutely amazed. This little boy that so many people thought was going to die, is now a living and breathing miracle. Now no one can tell me that there isn't a God.

A New Season

The Lord has been teaching me a lot about seasons. I've realized that there is a season for everything, and every season walking with Jesus, He wants to teach us, grow us and draw us closer to Himself.

Growing up, I have always had a really hard time with change. Change is what I had to do my whole life, though, from moving numerous times, traveling and making new friends, than having to say goodbyes constantly. It was tough for a little girl and it got harder every time. Moving to Haiti was definitely the biggest change I went through and it was rough in the beginning, like change always is, but it ended up being the biggest blessing of my life. I look back now, on all those times change had to take place and the seasons that the Lord was bringing me through. Through all the tears and all the goodbyes and all the changes, the Lord was teaching me to lean on Him as He drew me in closer to Himself. He was preparing me for Haiti where Satan is so visably active, that we know that Jesus is the only one that we could depend on and put our full hope in.

My family and I's 6th year anniversary in Haiti is coming up,( crazy how times flies!!) and through those six years the Lord has brought us indivually and together through many different seasons. It has been so beautiful to see the Lord's faithfulness through it all. He is so amazing and I am so thankful for all that He's done.

About two months ago or so, I felt like the Lord put it heavy upon my heart to step into a new season. I was nervous at first because it was out of my comfort zone, but that just made it clearer that I had to go. The Lord doesn't call us to stay where its safe and comfortable to us, He call us to step out in faith. So...for the next 5 months, I'm living in Florida. I'm staying with my lovely Cuban grandparents. They speak more Spanish than English, so its been a bit challenging at times, but I love it. I'm hoping to go back to Haiti trilingual. ha! We shall see. This time with my Grandparents has been so precious and I'm cherishing every moment. I'm not really sure what Jesus has planned for this new season, but I'm excited and looking forward to it!

I will be getting some more updates on Adriano soon, that I will definitely be posting on here. Even though there will not be any, "life in Haiti" posts for a while, I will still continue to update you all on the little man as much as I can.

Love you all! xo

I'm without words.

This is the latest picture of Adriano after the surgery. I don't even have words... He looks so amazing I could cry. Thank you JESUS for restoring this beautiful little boy so soon!

Praise Jesus!

This says it all. The Lord is soooo good! :

Hi guys, Just home from Philadelphia after Adriano's surgery. Thought you would be interested in knowing he had a lot more wrong with his heart than initially expected. Of course Adriano went on the heart-lung machine (or by-pass) for the procedure. First of all, the hole in his heart was very large and was successfully patched. He also had some structural malformations which required some "rewiring" and relocation before the repair took place. This was so the oxygenated blood would reach the correct heart chambers once the repair was completed. He had two leaky heart valves which were repaired along with his pulmonary stenosis which was also fixed. The surgeon said he has done hundreds of heart repairs but this was the biggest hole he's seen in a child of Adriano's size. The whole thing took about seven hours. When they took Adriano off by-pass his heart started right up in normal sinus rhythm which is ideal and they weren't expecting. Many children have to stay on by-pass for several days before their heart becomes strong enough to function on it's own. Not so with Adriano and this really surprised the surgeon. (not us of course)They are talking about taking out his breathing tube tomorrow as he is breathing on his own now and even about sending him home in just a few days. What a miracle. If he eats, and maintains weight he'll go home. So we need to pray him through a few more days, but the hard part is done!! The doctor said Adriano's heart was only functioning at 10% of normal and that you guys did an incredible job of keeping him alive for those many days and weeks. His malformation was truly not survivable and he got to Philly in the nick of time. Yeah God! The Roses are taking wonderful care of him. They are truly amazing people and they have inspired the entire hospital. They simply never left his side even through his three weeks in the hospital. Adriano has seriously won every heart in the place. He maintains his penchant for blondes and is quite a big flirt since he's gotten a little meat on his bones. He'll probably not feel like flirting for a few days now, but just be prepared to hear stories. The surgeon did say he hadn't a single fat cell, so don't worry about him getting bulky just yet. The picture of him right after surgery might look grim to the lay folks, but to us in the trade, he looks just fantastic. He's asleep in the photo, his eyes are just open a bit. His lungs have suffered some "permanent" damage from the fluid backup but I say they just don't know our God. I say the same thing about his "Down Syndrome diagnosis. Our God is bigger. I just can't imagine how Adriano managed to stay alive and grow at all with 10% of normal cardiac output. What a fighter! So, congratulations to everyone who prayed, who loved, who touched, who hovered, who cared. I say "great work, team." Love, Ardith


I can't even get over how amazingly faithful our Lord is! Thank you all SO much for your prayers - We can't even wait to see all that the Lord has in store for this little man's life. He's already doing so much through him already!

I just want to hold him in my arms right now...

Prayer for Adriano

Adriano gets his surgery in two days. Please continue to keep praying for this little man. The Lord is so good and I know that His hand is upon him. Just please be praying that the surgery goes well and that Jesus will give him the strength to get through it.

Here are some pictures his host family sent :

gosh, how I miss that smile!

God is SO good!

We just got news today on how Adriano is doing, from his host family in PA. Heres the message :

Greater news today, Adriano is still gaining weight and we learned late yesterday afternoon his surgery is scheduled for next Wednesday. At this point he weighs in at a hefty 9.031 lbs and has had an average daily weight gain of 28.125 grams per day! He will be getting a lot of tests tomorrow in preparation for surgery so pray he passes with flyingcolors!

The Lord Jesus is SO good! Please be praying for the little man and his surgery this upcoming Wednesday.