SCH in a Nutshell

Q & A about Sarah's Covenant Homes

More About the New Kids!
Oh, I have lots to tell you about the new kids. We spent several hours with them today getting to know them. There are 32 girls and 8 boys. That's right--there are 40 children on our list now! A few from other rooms, including two tiny baby girls and one boy who was very newly abandoned have been added to the list, along with a few other blind girls who were not on the list before. We were smitten when we saw them all and knew we just couldn't do without any one of them.There's Shalene, the 16-year-old, and then there's another girl who's about 12, but most of the children are about 4-7 years old. Several are even littler, though--in fact one of them is newborn size, but about

Getting Ready for 35 New Kids!
OK, the official word is that we're to receive 34 or 35 new children, and the release date has been moved to Wednesday, December 2nd. If all goes well, we should be home with them in time for the Special Olympics on the 3rd (Please, Lord--I'd hate to miss that again this year!)These are abandoned children, all of whom have been given labels such as "mentally retarded," "mentally retarded & blind," and "mentally retarded & physically handicapped." The majority of them have cerebral palsy. All are currently living in the huge government orphanage. All look weak and sickly.I'm very excited about the new children, but occasionally these twinges of fear t

Beautiful Boy
I did get a chance to visit Justin today, and he was peaceful. He smiled when he saw me come in... He's such a smiley guy. The right side of his face is affected, though, so that beautiful smile of his is lopsided. I know.... :( It's so hard to see that.But he's happy--blessedly oblivious to the full meaning of his stroke, he's not in any pain that is observable, he's getting good rest and being well attended to, and when he's awake, he is much more present.Strangely, I feel so relaxed. I just feel like it's all going to be ok. Instead of beating myself up for feeling that way and not worrying more, I just remind myself that the Lord's giving me grace right now. He

Justin Update
Justin's in the ICU here in Hyderabad, and I'm really at peace about him. I think he's at peace as well, which makes me rest easier about it all. He showed sensitivity to pain on his right side last night, which he didn't the day before, so there's some improvement. I'll have more to report when I see his neuro today. I feel confident that the Lord is with him, that his recovery will be complete, and that he's in the best hands with this neurologist.It's going to be a very expensive stay (could be $500/day for ICU care) but I've learned that, here in India especially, the cost of skimping on healthcare can be profound. It's often a choice of your money or your child's life. And

Terrible, then Wonderful News
Yesterday afternoon, our precious nine-year-old Justin had a serious stroke and is in the ICU here in Ongole. We're shifting him now to Hyderabad to get him into the care of a neurologist I respect very much. He's experiencing some paralysis, and his CT brain report says "Hypodense areas are seen involving the left anterior basal ganglia and parietal lobe, show hu 12-14 s/o infarcts." If it weren't so critical to get emergency meds into him, I'd have shifted him to Hyderabad last night, but since time is of the essence with stroke, I let them begin treatment locally and am packed up and leaving now to take him to the city.