Happy Birthday (to me!)

Me a few days old with casts already on both feet & legs and tubes in both ears

Me & My Dad riding my first horse

Me posing for the camera

Me & David (check out his huge forearm muscle!) on vacation

Well, today I am officially 32 years old! I told David tonight that in ways I still feel like a kid raising kids! I don't feel old and I still find myself having fun & enjoying life with my family. However, a birthday is a very special occasion for me. (Here is the shortest version of this I can share) When I was born, I was given up for adoption at birth due to numerous congenital birth defects. I had a team of doctors that directed my care due to my numerous problems at birth. I was immediately placed for adoption with AGAPE of North Alabama which is a Christian foster care/adoption agency. When my adopting parents met with my team of doctors they were told I would never walk, I would never talk without major speech therapy and I would require constant 24/7 care. They were advised they did not want to adopt me & that they should wait on a "healthy baby" considering how long they had been waiting to adopt. (On a side note, when I say parents from here on out, I am referring to the wonderful husband & wife who adopted me & became my parents. They are the best parents a girl could ever have and the people God knew I needed for Mom & Dad). Despite these overwhelming odds, my parents chose to adopt me. Had they NOT chosen to adopt me, I was going to be placed in a state institution for crippled children. I had a cleft palate, bilateral club feet, underdeveloped lungs, ears that were a huge mess & eardrums that were not functioning. At age 5, I had to undergo an emergency tracheotomy due to acute epiglotittis. I started Kindergarten on crutches and had to be pulled to recess in a little red wagon because of a cast that went from my thigh to the tips of my toes. I have had more surgeries than I can count and there have been so many times in my life when doctors would tell my parents they didn't know if I'd live after the surgery. Through it all, God took care of me & my parents and despite a few scars, you would never know what all I have been through. I've had several surgeries on my feet to repair the club feet. I had to wear corrective shoes with a metal brace in between them. I learned to crawl & walk wearing those corrective shoes & brace. I even had a complete TURCO release of my left foot at age 5. I can walk normally and I can even run now. Ok, so I'm not great at running...but at least I can run! I had my cleft palate repaired at age 2 and again in December 2008 (to read about that, click on Older Posts). I've never had one day of speech therapy in my life and everyone who knows me will attest to the fact that I can talk just fine. In fact, my nickname is "Little Miss Chatterbox". I've had numerous ear surgeries and various types of tubes placed in my ears. In fact, my left ear has been completely cut off, the eardrum & canal reconstructed and the ear sewed back on. I do have some hearing loss, but I can still hear and do not require hearing aids at this point. I've played piano since I was 5 years old, was in the marching band, concert band, jazz band & indoor drum line in high school. I sang soprano in a quartet that traveled & sang through Alabama. I have been privileged to be able to go to Russia & Siberia on mission trips and today, I am a wife & a mother and have been thoroughly blessed beyond belief by God. I am also a spokesperson for AGAPE of North Alabama and an advocate for adoption and pro-life. I speak at churches sharing my testimony, speak at womens events/retreats and am currently writing a book about my life. God literally took an "unadoptable" child and gave me hope, a life and a future. According to doctors, I shouldn't be here today to celebrate my 32nd birthday and if I was going to be here, I should be incapable of taking care of myself, unable to walk, unable to talk correctly and relying on help 24/7. A birthday to me is not about the presents or the type cake or having a huge party with family and friends or any of the typical things we associate with birthdays. To me, every birthday I celebrate is a HUGE reminder of the goodness of God & how even today, in 2009, God is STILL in the miracle business.

**~~** I AM A MIRACULOUS CHILD OF GOD **~~**
to God be the Glory!