Thorburn Family

 Samuel Smith is a 14 year old boy from Charlotte, Vermont who needs your fervent prayers.. and when he is a little stronger… he needs a kidney donor.  Three of the six Smith children have a rare, genetically-recessive kidney disease, Juvenile Nephronophthisis, and retina pigmentosa, which together are called Senor-Loken Syndrome.  

In March of 2007, Samuel was diagnosed with 10-15% kidney function, and was put on dialysis two days later.  In Oct. 2007, he received a kidney from his Dad.  Two unusual complications during the surgery damaged the new kidney and nearly cost Samuel his life twice during the 9-hour surgery!  God’s protection was very evident that day.  Samuel had to go back on dialysis, as the new kidney was not functioning.  Samuel was hospitalized again from early December 2007 until mid-February 2008.. 75 days!  Almost half of those days were spent in the ICU.  

During the last 3 months that Samuel has been at home, he has not been well.  He is back in the hospital.  Samuel is very, very sick, in a lot of pain, suffering from discouragement, and very weak.  The picture I am including is from stronger days before his last transplant.   Go to www.smithfamilykidney.blogspot.com for more information on this family and Samuel’s situation.

Meanwhile, Samuel’s older sister, Katie, received a new kidney donated by a stranger who heard of her need.  Both Katie and Kelly had excellent surgeries, and are experiencing this awesome reality of health restored through kidney donation.  Who knows how many generations Katie will influence, because of the compassion put into action by Kelly, by God’s grace.  

You all know about Rich’s own kidney donation surgery.  Both he and Ken continue to do marvelously well, and Rich says he feels immensely privileged to have been able to do it.  Kidney donation is simply the difference between life and death for many people.  

Please consider whether you might take the step of being tested for a kidney match for Samuel.  If you have questions about any aspect of kidney donation from a donor’s perspective, feel free to contact us at anna@thorburnfamily.com  or 603.542.3132 and we would be happy to answer any questions.  You can find out if you are a match using your own local labs, paid for by the recipient’s insurance.  Please pray for Samuel Smith. 

**************************************************UPDATE:  SAMUEL IS DOING MUCH BETTER, AND IS STRONG ENOUGH FOR SURGERY.  HE STILL NEEDS A DONOR.  PEOPLE WHO ARE TYPE A OR TYPE O BLOOD ARE POTENTIAL MATCHES.  PLEASE CONSIDER WHETHER YOU MAY HELP.   Samuel Smith’s mom, Nancy’s, address is smiths@smithfamilyfarmvt.com — and she will direct you to the transplant coordinator’s number for testing.

The kids went to the Cornish Fair yesterday and Valerie was happy to find a first place ribbon for her items in Sculpture and second place in the Special Exhibits category!   The picture below is one we had on hand of part of her miniature clay sculptures, and when we receive the items from the fair again, we’ll post a picture of the rest.  Valerie has made extremely detailed miniatures of a tiny apartment, complete with bunk beds, clothing hangers, tools, and pretty much anything at all you could need in a super-mini home :-).   There’s also a great collection of animal sculptures.  How she manages the detail she gets at such a small scale, we don’t know.  She’s had a wonderful art teacher for a few years, Linda Hammond, and we have enjoyed seeing her talents developed in various mediums.  Great job, Val!

Since I can’t seem to load a cute video of Benjamin yet (maybe later today), I will take the opportunity to stick something in the “recommended” category. Managers Of Their Homes (MOTH) has really helped us so much, for about 10 years now.  After having evaluated, inspiration-ized, concocted, planned, and prioritized in many areas of life.. there has to be that last piece of actually fitting it all into a day, year, calendar.. everything from washing out the silverware drawer, to teaching & training children, to serving others, to building a marriage relationship and planning family fun.  

It would not happen in our house if we didn’t have our over-arching plan and the tool (MOTH) to actually accomplish it.  We still fall apart at times, life is still not perfect, and sometimes when you check my silverware drawer, you might find some crumbs. Mostly, we are kept from running in 50 directions at once (yes, there is a method to what looks like madness!), and we don’t get so overwhelmed as we used to, or buried by basics.  

I try to have a “machine,” a system for everything, especially b/c I tend to feel mega lousy in the winter, which also happens to be my most intense schedule b/c of schooling.  When the alarm goes off at 5 AM in the middle of February, I have to be able to get up and tackle the day with everything more or less “idiot-proofed” or I’d be in survival-mode by 9 AM, bogged down by basics (or, back in bed!).  

When we fail to work the plan or have unforeseen things happen which necessarily throw us off, it is shorter-lived, less-stressful, and less catastrophic than it would be if we didn’t have our systems and plan in place.  

I want to live intentionally, fruitfully, eternally-focused, and not waste my life!  I want to be learning how to do this better and better every year.    I would say that MOTH shines less in the area of the “inspiration-izing,” concocting, etc.. the big picture stuff.. but after you know where you want to “go,” the MOTH system is the train that can get you there so it actually happens.  

More recently, the authors of MOTH have come out with a new manual/system called Managers Of Their Chores.  We got it this year.  It’s great, too!  I particularly appreciate their online program called Choreware ($10/year to people who own the MOTC book).  

So, there are my little plugs.  I would love to know what tools are working for you all as well.   Go to www.titus2.com for the MOTH and MOTC systems if you are interested.  Also, they have some of their forms online now which is much neater, etc.  If you want info, let me know.

Little spotlight on Lydia this fine Tuesday :^)… she is almost 15, recently turned in her glasses for contacts, and just started her own blog.  If you would like to check it out, here’s the link:  http://visionsofmercy.blogspot.com    We have discussed the fact that anything you write into cyberspace can be held against you for the rest of your life (and since Lydia and I are so much alike… of course, I have some cause for concern! LOL  just kidding honey..sorta :-)).  Lydia is going into 10th grade, still home-schooled.  Her courses include World Views (which encompasses literature, writing, social sciences, etc), Chemistry, Geometry, and Spanish II.   She’s a wonderful daughter and a great big sister….. 

10 weeks has flown by… but we almost can’t remember what life was like before Benjamin arrived home.  We remember the first time we met him at his school.  A long line of children.. our first glimpse…Benjamin was the last one.. and the smallest… his backpack seemed as big as he!  As we got face to face, he was jumping up and down, all smiles and giggling.. “This is your new Mommy and Daddy,” his worker Mary said..  it was truly a precious meeting.  He turned around and told a whole bunch of people coming up that “this is my new Mommy and Daddy!!!”   He was (and is) a beautiful picture of big, brown eyes and perfect, tiny hands..

In the last 10 weeks, Benjamin has had tons of medical testing… all clear except for some indication that he has hidden allergies.   He’ll be tested for some more specific items soon.  There seems to be no indication that his smallness is due to a metabolic disorder or other problem.  In October, we meet with his Neurodevelopmentalist for his first evaluation & program to address some developmental delays.  However, we already see improvement in speech and other areas.  He’s a lot like Jubilee was.. give him the right day to day activities, structure and attention, sleep and nutrition, and his development will probably come along at lightning speed.

Our boy of 100 smiles a day loves just about everything.. except baths..but that is getting better. :^) Benjamin is crazy about dancing and singing.  When he came, we used to say, “this is a child who LOVES to sing but seems to know NO songs..”  So he would go around making singing noises with no words.. quite interesting, kind of sad…  Of course, we got right on that, and started teaching him songs & hymns.  Loves to wrestle with Daddy and Jesse.. he’s pretty tough!    Loves books!  He’s got SIX people who want to read to him all day!  Benjamin loves to “argue” about who loves who (video of that coming soon!).  He has an awesome sense of humor, and even gets dry humor and subtleties.  He is always surprising us, and keeps us laughing.   Benjamin loves to help Jesse.  He loves to try to help stack wood and do things in the yard for Daddy.  Jesse is a great big brother and they’d be joined at the hip 24/7 if Ben had his choice.  

As far as behavior, there’s been huge progress!  No more “huffs,” with little crossed arms and stomping feet(!!), no more tantrums, no more food issues.  Though we are aware that he isn’t crazy about every food on earth, he no longer expresses his dislike inappropriately.   He sits well through church and other gatherings and gets comfortable on a snuggly lap.  There’s been much progress in the area of telling the truth.  We are still working on many things, and we imagine that, like the rest of us , he will remain far from perfect and “a work in progress.”  We love him so much…and like each precious child under our roof, it is a privilege and real JOY to raise them for God’s honor and glory.

Benjamin’s day to day life consists of his immediate family, and just about nothing else (yet).  We have many people in our life — we visit people and have people visiting us often — but a member of his immediate family is always available and present with Benjamin wherever we are (no exceptions yet).  Bonding, attachment, family identity.. for Benjamin and for every member of our family towards him, are some of our priorities for now, and we believe those are key ingredients –among others– in the foundation we are trying to set for the years to come.  Sometimes I feel like the African moms who strap their babies to their chest 24/7!!  I love it, though.  I feel like I am truly enjoying and reveling in my “new baby,” and it’s a great blessing to see how relaxed, engaging, and affectionate Benjamin’s response is towards us. By God’s grace, we think that mega-bonding –both ways– has happened and continues to happen.  Keeping him with us is only one of many intentional tools we have to accomplish it, but that’s a subject that would be too long for this already-long post!  

Wrapping things up here.. we appreciate any prayers you’ve said for us and Benjamin & all the cards and gifts that he has received in celebration of his adoption.   Things are going super well, and we are grateful.   

The Christian House

The Christian house should be the happiest place on earth, not only to the grownups, but to every member of the family.  Let us see that we make it so even to the youngest.  Never mind if they do make a noise and tumble the house about with their innocent games, and shout choruses when some of us older ones are trying to write articles in the next room.  Thousands upon thousands of young people have gone to their utter destruction for the reason that having cold, dull, stiff firesides at home, they sought amusement elsewhere.  How many sad parents today would give the world to hear the noisy steps of long-absent children.  They would not mind how much the house was turned upside down nor how dirty the carpets became if only they could hear once more the cheery voice and feel the warm cheeks laid upon theirs.  So let us keep them at home by making home the very liveliest place on earth to them, the place of all others where God is honored and where the whole atmosphere is filled with love and joy and peace.

Reader Harris

We are sad to report that Mom’s foot has died.  Months ago, she was running 8 miles in the dark in the middle of the night with her friend, Mrs. Clogston.  They were dodging cars and whatnot…reportedly there was an incident…well anyway…It’s been killing her for months and she’s not been able to run on it all summer.  She’s gained 20 lbs as a result and doesn’t fit her clothes, which is also killing her. We decided that instead of her foot killing her, it was time for this to END. I know it seems kind of cruel but……. the funeral was today.  We older four kids (didn’t want to traumatize Benjamin so early on.. LOL)… had the wake, and we video taped the service.   The video will be up on the site Wednesday we hope.