This is hard to write for Marcus and I. Hard to ask. Hard to embrace this valley season for our family, knowing there will be many mountain top experiences still to come. This is a season for us to receive, and I know someday we will have seasons again to be able to give to others. God knew our family was not yet complete, and blessed us with our surprise third boy, Moshe which means "Moses" in Hebrew. 

Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3 that there is a time for everything. We have so much to celebrate. Moshe is alive, born at 27 weeks, weighing 1.5 lbs and has already doubled his birth weight. Especially with the recent diagnoses of pneumonia and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), we are thankful he is here at the University Hospital where he can get better care. We recently had a property fire that spread to our storage shipping container that destroyed many of Marcus' tools among other things. We are so grateful that no human (or animal) lives were lost and no homes were destroyed.

This is our time for breaking down before we can build again, for spending many hours driving back and forth from Cabool to Columbia before we can bring Moshe home (hopefully this summer). This is a time to speak up - to advocate for Moshe and for our family in general - a time to seek out and a time to let go of what was lost, a time for embracing, mourning, crying and healing just as Solomon once wrote. Likewise Solomon's father David once wrote, "Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning" (Psalm 30:5). 

I watched our oldest son, Asher, who is 3 years old, try his best not to cry when one of us was leaving to go be with brother Moshe or going back to Cabool. He bit his lower lip to stop it from trembling, and asked shakily, "What time I gonna see you again?" I keep telling him it's OK to be sad and scared sometimes, and that to be brave means to keep going even when we're scared and sad. God has preserved our family and will bring us through. 

We are grateful for all the generosity already shown to our family through gifts, support, childcare, picking up supplies and dropping them off, encouragement, and prayer. This fundraiser is to help recoup part of the losses from the property fire, help cover some of the cost of driving back and forth to Columbia, major truck maintenance, and to provide for our family while Marcus is unable to work as many hours at his jobs. We appreciate our tribe of loved ones, family and friends. The best tears we have cried so far are those of awe and gratitude at how God has provided for us through you all. 

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