Thorburn Family

On July 24th, after a judge’s decision, our 16 1/2 week old foster baby went to live w/a birth parent.   It’s been quite a ride.

We are thankful for many things.  Mostly, we are thankful that God equips a person for whatever He calls them to do. Living the Christian life is not a call to lunacy, though it may appear so at times :).  He does not say, “Care for widows and orphans in their distress,” or, “Care for the weak,” and then decide to rip your heart out without remedy.  He knows how weak we are and He stands ready to be our strength. He doesn’t leave us w/out tools to figure out how to process and navigate a world, and a system, that seem foreign and wrong in so many ways.   He doesn’t set us up for confusion and despair when we come out of our comfort zones in a faltering attempt to honor Him.  Rather, he’s setting us up for more growth, more confidence in Christ, more ability to comfort and counsel others, more love for Him and His ways, and more love for others.  He’s all about making us part of strengthening the faith of God’s people and confounding a dying world, in the process of simply living life, proving His worth!  We are thankful that God’s grace through Christ Jesus is far beyond the fear or difficulty of any situation.   How we wish we’d learned some of these lessons, and held this confidence more clearly, much earlier in life!   We would go back and change some things. There is still so much for us to learn.   We are thankful for God’s Word, the Bible, which contains all the information we need for learning how to process any situation, emotion, decision, and reaction in a way that pleases God.

One thing we remembered over and over again through this experience is that we were wretched sinners without hope before Christ redeemed us, paid the enormous debt for our sins, through no doing of our own.   On our own, we are no different than any other person who is struggling w/addictions & broken lives, and we were worse.  The only difference is that we were pulled up out of a futile way of life, through the death of One whose life and love was perfect.   This new, victorious way of life that we live now is available to all who know the burden of their sin and turn to Christ for forgiveness and a new life.   Anything we do now to serve God is simply an insignificant token of gratefulness for a gift we could never come close to earning. Our greatest hope is that the baby’s family will know this great salvation and what is “life in Christ.”

Now we are grieving a little bit, just missing this sweet baby who was part of every minute of every day for around 4 months. He’s strong now, healthy, and so very different from the baby who struggled for over a month in the hospital after birth.    He is now a cooing, smiling, laughing, chubby little sweetheart!   We really enjoyed having such a sweet bundle in our home and will keep him and his whole family in our prayers for a long time to come.   The end of this story has not yet been told, and God holds the future in His hands  :^).

Baby Reeve arrived home today!   He screamed the whole ride, but as soon as he was taken out of his car seat, he was happy again   Reeve is 1 month old today and doing a lot better than he was.During our little hospital stint of a few weeks, we felt the Lord’s hand close and dear to us.  I could never list them all, but here are a few of the things for which we are praising God:

1. Baby Reeve’s life; he is “fearfully and wonderfully made.”

2. God’s hand of protection upon him in the midst of many trials.

3. Excellent medical care at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.  The nurses and doctors were outstanding.

4. Many, many opportunities to share our gratefulness to God and hope in HIM w/staff and others involved w/baby.  The answer to our hope and strength is simply life lived in Christ Jesus, and the knowledge of all He has done for us.   Forgiveness for sins and being “transferred from death to life” is the answer to all the world’s problems, and the answer for the hope that is within us.

5.  Emotional and physical strength, and the fact that things kept running very well at home!  It would not have been the end of the world if our house and schooling fell apart during these weeks.   But what a blessing that schooling stayed on track, housework got done (including a couple extra projects!), and we remained generally functional and sane beyond our capabilities  That was God’s great grace.  We also were not sick for an entire month.  After a winter of being chronically sick w/everything that came along the pike, we are so grateful that we were not hit w/any colds or bugs that would have hindered our involvement at the hospital.

6. Grace from God in dealing w/the “powers that be.”  We are thankful for trials in this area, as it refocused us on the fact that God alone is in control and holds the “hearts of kings in his hands.”   

7.  The knowledge that God’s will will be accomplished in Reeve’s life.  God will fulfill his purposes on this earth, unfettered.  Whatever happens, whether Reeve is with us weeks, months, or many years, he is in God’s hands.  

“Contentment should be natural to those who are born of the Spirit of God; yea, we ought to go beyond contentment, and cry, ‘Blessed by the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits.’”   C.H. Spurgeon 

What a momentous day!   I watched the inauguration online and was unexpectedly moved by the significance of this day.  I’ll tell you right off the bat that I didn’t have to think twice about the decision to not vote Obama, though I find him to be charismatic, inspiring, and as presidents go, he’s not bad looking either  ;-).   I am thankful to live in this country where we have the right to vote for the man or woman whose policies most closely line up with our own values, and I did that on election day.   The nation has spoken and ultimately, God himself has placed Mr. Obama in the position of our new president (Psalm 75:5-7; Daniel 2:20-21; Daniel 4:17; Proverbs 21:1) for His own good purposes.  We’ll happily honor and respect him as our president, and pray for him, his family, and his presidency.

Since adopting Benjamin who, like Mr. Obama, is half-African American and half “white,” the matter of race and race relations has taken on a new light for us.   I never expected it to be something we thought about much because a lot of people assume Benjamin is Latino and “he’s not that dark,” but we still find ourselves tuned-in to racism and the history of black Americans in our country.   In some areas, being of mixed race is even worse.   Friends of ours who have AA children through adoption have been assaulted by blacks and whites alike!   Sometimes when I hear little racist comments by others, especially under the guise of a twisted version of “Christianity,” I have to struggle to keep my “Mama Bear” in check.  I was watching Ben sleep in his nap a few minutes ago — he is incredibly beautiful!   He doesn’t even notice race at this point, though I know that will change eventually.   It amazes me that, based only on the color of his skin or the biological heritage he has been given by his Creator, someone could hate him or think he was less than another person of a different race.   This story is as old as the world, of course… African Americans are not the only group of people who have been segregated and limited in a society based on the color of their skin.  Still, they are the ones our country has discriminated against the most in recent history.

So, the Thorburns are rejoicing this Inauguration Day that our country seems to have come a little bit farther in one area at least, and that is of race relations. I think what this day must mean for all the elderly soldiers of African descent who fought for our country but were never acknowledged, who were treated better in a German prisoner of war camp than they were when they finally made it home.   I think of the mothers who had to explain to their little children why they could not attend college or even ride in the front of the bus, but who can dream of bigger things for their grandchildren. It was good to see a brown hand on the Bible today and know that when my son memorizes the presidents someday, it will include one guy with skin similar to his own.  It hits us much more deeply than we anticipated.

God knows what He is doing with this country of ours and our duties remain the same as they were yesterday. Our confidence rests in Him alone, regardless of who is in the White House.   There are two things we wanted to include in this post.   First a prayer for our new president, so beautifully written by Al Mohler:   http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=3113

Second, a plug for the book One Blood — The Biblical Answer To Racism  by Ken Ham.

Micah 6:8  ”He has shown you, oh man, what is good and what the Lord requires of thee:   but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” 

May God bless America! 

Nancy Smith has updated their blog.  This precious family from Vermont continues to press on through this long-term trial.  Kidney donors are still needed for Samuel and for Esther.  Please consider helping this family. Kidney donation is the difference between life and death for many people.  Click on the “Smith Family Kidney Trial” link under “Current Situations” on the right side of this page to read more about the Smith’s situation and need, or paste this:    http://www.smithfamilykidney.blogspot.com

We use an online source, The Potters School, with help in tutoring some upper level courses in our homeschooling.  One of our girls’ classmates was Emily Stauffer, a lovely 14 year old girl who described herself as, “A follower of Jesus Christ, a goof, a bad listener… who tries hard.., love rambling through the woods taking pictures of nature.”  By all accounts, she was an authentic, a real-deal, and God graciously saved her as a child. She was prepared to meet him.  

On September 27th, around 4:45 PM, Emily was attacked and murdered by an unknown man on a trail near their home, in her small Canadian town.   Two young boys saw the attack and ran for help, but it was too late.    

Please pray for this family.  They are a homeschooling family who had four children; Emily was the second-oldest. Emily’s Dad is a pastor, very like-minded w/us.   Reading the parents’ blogs is immensely encouraging. Unimaginable pain and sorrow lay ahead, but even greater grace.  

Please pray for this precious family. Here’s her dad’s blog:   http://newlumps.blogspot.com 

 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.

A few days ago, we mailed some announcements for the arrival of our new son, Benjamin, mostly to our not-local friends and family members.  We listed our blog address on the announcements, so we expect we’ll have more people than usual hitting the site in the next few days (and here you are! :^).  Please scroll down to see more pictures of Benjamin, and we’ll be posting some more fun family pics and video soon, Lord willing.   In the meantime, we want you to please take notice of an important need that a 14 yr old boy has for a new kidney.  My original post on it is below, a few spaces down (so scroll down!!).  Since that post, Samuel has been released from the hospital and is getting stronger in preparation for (hopefully) a new kidney transplant.  It cannot be emphasized strongly enough that he needs a kidney, and getting a kidney means that someone needs to choose to be tested to see if they are a match.  The process is simple and can be done in your local lab. A kidney transplant is simply the difference between life and death for many people like Samuel Smith.  Please consider whether you might be able to help.  Scroll down and read below.