Chloe Update

Just thought I'd write an update on little Chloe.  We've had her a week now, and she's quickly invaded our hearts.  Roger and I are remembering how tiring it is having a newborn, but we've fallen into a routine of taking turns for her night-time feedings (she has to be fed around-the-clock), and though we're finding ourselves to be very tired during the day, it's working out very well.

Jedidah, the head of the children's home (Mercy Rescue Trust in the UK) came to see Chloe yesterday, and she brought a scale to weigh her a little more  properly.  The hospital told Jedidah that Chloe weighed 2 kg (4.4 pounds) when they released her last Friday - but that was with heavy blankets.  When we weighed her yesterday, she came in at a whopping  1.46 kg.  That's just barely 3 pounds.  I also measured her.  She's 15 7/8 inches long and her head circumference is 29 1/2 cm.  She's really little.

Jedidah had the opportunity to share Chloe's story with me - at least, what she knows of it.  Chloe was brought to the hospital as soon as she was born by - we assume - her mother.  She checked into the hospital, then left her on the bed they were assigned to and disappeared.  This is so precious because  the mother took a huge risk getting her baby into the hospital; baby abandonment is punishable by imprisonment.  This mother loved her baby; she just had no means of being able to care for her obvious hospitalization needs.  

Another precious part of her story is that Chloe was actually cared for in the hospital - oh, not by the nurses; they don't really do much except very basic medical care.  Babies are not held much.  I don't think it's that they have hard hearts or don't care; I'm not sure exactly what the problem is.  Chloe shared an incubator with another premature baby.  The mother of that baby took pity on Chloe and cared for her just like she cared for her own baby.  That is so precious I'm about in tears as I tell you about it.  God seems to put Chloe in the path of special people who will care for her.

We were gifted with the wonderful opportunity of giving Chloe her official middle name.  The staff at the children's home chose her first name.  Jedidah has a baby name book, and she started reading down the list; when she got to Chloe, the staff decided they liked that one.  It is certainly NOT a Kenyan name.  So, I decided upon the Kenyan word for "Precious," "Valuable," "Of Great Worth."  Thamani. So, her name is officially Chloe Thamani.

We were having a difficult time feeding Chloe.  It was taking her over an hour to drink 1 ounce of formula!  I'm very thankful for valuable input and advice from a friend in the States who had a very preemie baby a few years ago. She taught me a new position in which to hold Chloe while feeding her; Chloe is now drinking the whole ounce in about 15 minutes, and it's taking her much less effort.   i think even in the last couple of days, we've seen some meat develop on Chloe's legs.

Chloe's first bath - sponge bath.  She did well, but I needed to keep her warm as I bathed her.  This was on Sunday this past week. I think she's filled out a bit more since then.

Never thought I'd be doing this again!

Thanks, Jennifer!

So, we continue to love this child day-by-day and follow in the steps of Christ day-by-day.  We've no idea where this journey will take us; I guess that's on a "need-to-know" basis, and God doesn't think we need to know just now.  

Thanks for your prayers on Chloe's behalf.  Keep praying; she's got a long way to go.

As Much as You do it unto the Least of These, You've Done it unto Me...

When we first moved to Kenya, it seemed I was writing updates all the time; there were so many new things happening to us every day.  But after 6 ½ years, living in Kenya mostly seems normal to me now; and my life is no more extra-ordinary than anyone else’s.  Yes, we have frequent electrical outages (in the last week, I think we’ve had a total of 48 – 56 hours of electricity, and many of the missionaries were out of water for several days, even a week).  Yes, travel is, well, a challenge.  Yes, it is difficult to work with a culture that thinks totally differently than we do.  But this stuff doesn’t seem like anything to write home about.  It’s just a part of living here, and we’ve all learned to cope with it.  Yes, we have frustrations – but so does everyone, everywhere; we’re no different in that respect.

It may sound odd coming from a missionary who sold everything and moved to Africa, but I have recently found myself praying for God to move me beyond my comfort zone and into a life that requires deeper faith.   I have long believed one of the reasons we don’t think we see God moving in amazing ways is because everything we do, we do in our own strength.  We calculate, plan, take pros and cons into consideration, take personality tests to see which ministry we might be naturally good at…and only then do we think about stepping out; we throw the words, “in faith” at the end because we know we’re supposed to.  But, why does God need to move miraculously when we’ve got all the bases covered (or at least, think we do)? 

So, I’ve been praying for God to move me beyond this.  It’s a scary prayer. 

In addition to this, God brought a couple of books my way – both by Francis Chan.  One is called The Forgotten God, and the other is called Crazy Love.  At the same time I was reading these books, I was also carefully reading through the Old Testament book of Isaiah.  It was amazing how beautifully what I was reading from Francis Chan dove-tailed with what I was reading in Isaiah, and how altogether, they were working in my heart on the very issues I had been praying about. 

On Wednesday of this past week, I was reading in Crazy Love, and Francis Chan was talking about the two greatest commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself.  As Christians, we are all very familiar with this; we take it for granted.  But it really hit me in a fresh way when he used his own daughter as an example.  If his own daughter were homeless, destitute, hungry, how would he want fellow Christians to minister to his daughter?  Then, he also talked about what Jesus said:  “As you do unto the least of these, you have done unto me.”  Take a moment and let that sink in.  These are some hard hitting passages – ones that, in truth, we like to gloss over and/or spiritualize.  Ones of which we like to think “I’m doing enough of this.”

I am no “Super-saint.” I know many people think missionaries are; we’re not.  We’re just regular people like everyone else.  We have fears and struggles and sins to deal with.  We like comfort, security, and roots; and we like to be in control of our circumstances just as much (sometimes more) as anyone.  But all this really stirred in my heart causing me to asked God to help me not just talk about sharing the love of Christ – but to really share the love of Christ.  To really love others as myself, looking out for their best interests.  To make me flexible (when I am flexible, you know it’s a “God” thing and not a “me” thing).

Thursday, I went to our missionary women’s Bible study.  I walked in and the women were talking about a children’s home just down the street.  A lovely young British lady runs it; her name is Jedidah.  Jedidah had just called one of my friends to ask if she was interested in taking in a preemie baby girl.  My friend has a new born baby they are in the process of adopting, so she couldn’t take her.  Suddenly, I found myself saying, “I wonder what Roger would say to us taking her?”  Here I am, Lord.  Send me.  That's what Isaiah the Prophet said.  I called Roger, and he wanted to know if it would be truly helpful to Jedidah for us to take the little girl for a while.  He asked me to find out, then call him back a little later; I think he wanted to pray about it.  Jedidah said it would be an answer to prayer.  When I told Roger, he said, “Call her; tell her we’ll do it.”

Here’s one of the neat things about this.  Just as Jedidah was getting my text message, she had been praying, asking God how she was going to handle having a preemie who needed 24hr personal care, when one of her other small girls was getting discharged from the hospital after having a collapsed lung.  She thought about coming to Bible study and asking us ladies if any of us would be willing to help, but then she couldn’t come.  It was at the moment of this prayer that she received my text message.  God certainly works in mysterious ways.

So, there is a new little girl in our household.  She is one month old, and her name is Chloe. She was born on September 17^th, and she weighs barely 3.3 pounds – not at birth, right now.  She’s itty-bitty.  She’s been on a feeding tube, so I’ve been teaching her to use a bottle.  I had to start by feeding her through a syringe; this is preemie care in Kenya.  I’m not sure how long we’ll have her, but it looks like it will be about 4 weeks.  

Roger said he's seen toothpicks bigger around than her fingers.

These pictures don't even really give an accurate portrayal of how tiny she is.

Chloe in the doll cradle with a doll made by Aunt Lee Tate

The bottle is bigger than her head!  Her head, by the way, fits in the palm of my hand.

There are no preemie diapers in Kitale; these are newborn size.

Roger is so great with her!

The boys captivated by this tiny little girl :-)

Necessity is indeed the mother of invention.  Need a mosquito net?  Just find a lace curtain!

Her favorite sleeping position - hands right up by her face.

Josiah said, "Mom, it's not that I mind holding her, I'm just so afraid of dropping her!"

We had nothing for baby care, so Chloe is sleeping in a little doll cradle Roger's dad made for Emily years ago.  For mosquito netting, I found a piece of lace curtain that works perfectly.  Our biggest challenge has been just getting her to eat with a bottle, and keeping her body temperature up.  I'm not sure what her gestational age was at the time of birth - I'm guessing anywhere from 28 - 32 weeks - so, we have to be careful of drafts and hypothermia.  The poor child has not an ounce of fat on her; her skin hangs on her as if waiting for her to grow into it.

Please be praying for us and for little Chloe.  For us, pray for wisdom, strength, courage.  For Chloe, pray for her precious little body to grow healthy and strong.  Also, pray for us that this will just be our first step of faith; oh how I long to be faith filled – totally confident in God’s love and provision for me so that I can step out and willing give these things to others as He leads me.  It’s a journey for each of us, isn’t it?