Harder Family

Harder Family

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

365 Days with DJ and Shan Chen (almost)

DJ's host mom, who has become a dear friend of mine, asked me to write a guest blog post. She wanted me to share what our first 365 days have been like with the boys (we are a few days early). Here is the blog post I wrote for her. I hope it encourages you and gives you a view into our wonderful, complicated, God depending lives. 

Thank you for all of your prayers! 



Monday, February 19, 2018

Recent MRI Results

Psalm 136:1-9 "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.
His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. To him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever. Who by His understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever. Who spread out the earth upon the waters,His love endures forever. Who made the great lights—His love endures forever. The sun to govern the day, His love endures forever. The moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever."


I just want to give thanks to the Lord, for HE IS GOOD! Wayne just got out of his MRI appointment and the MRI came back clear once again. We do not have to go back for another 4 months. His doctor said that he is a boring patient. We will take boring any day!! Thank you to everyone who was praying for this appointment and who has prayed for us the past three years. God is not done with Wayne or our family yet.


Saturday, February 10, 2018

Three Year Anniversary

Psalm 34:1-8 "I will always thank the Lord; I will never stop praising Him. I will praise Him for what He has done; may all who are oppressed listen and be glad!
Proclaim with me the Lord's greatness; let us praise His name together! I prayed to the Lord, and He answered me; He freed me from all my fears. The oppressed look to Him and are glad; they will never be disappointed. The helpless call to Him, and He answers; He saves them from all their troubles. His angel guards those who honor the Lord and rescues them from danger. Find out for yourself how good the Lord is. Happy are those who find safety with Him."

Tomorrow marks the third anniversary of Wayne's grand mal seizure and the discovery of his brain cancer. That day will forever be engrained in my mind. Three years ago, I might not have believed that we would be sitting here with Wayne. But here we are three years later and Wayne is still working, riding a bike...pretty much doing everything he did before he had his seizure and cancer. There are some things that have changed, and Wayne would be the first one to tell you some of these things:

1) God is good! Even when life is hard, or you face a life changing trial, God is sovereign, trustworthy, faithful, and true - we can attest to that fact!
2) We know that life is short and it could change in an instant for any of us, so live the fullest for God each day and give Him all the glory.
3) Don't take your family or abilities for granted. Yes, Wayne can walk and talk, but he still struggles. Sometimes he cannot do spontaneous speeches or presentations like before, but that is okay because he is here with us. He may be a little more serious then he was before, but he is talking with his family. I remind him that if no one knew him before, they would't know how his personality has changed.
4) Don't be afraid to say yes, even when things are crazy unknown. Stepping out in obedience can be scary, but it also is freeing. You learn that you don't have control of your life, and the One who really does, loves you and has an amazing plan for your life! As Psalm 34:8 says, "Find out for yourself how good the Lord is."

I just want to encourage any of you facing a difficult circumstance in your life - turn to the One who holds the whole earth in His hands and can save your from your troubles. He is there and has an awesome plan for your life. Even if there is hurt, pain, and struggles, God is using those things in our life to either draw us to Himself, or to make us more into His image. 

I will never stop praising the Lord for what He has done in our family!! He is so good and although I still don't know the future, I know that I rest securely in the hands of the One who does know the future. 

Prayer request: You can be praying for us as Wayne's next scan is February 19th. Please continue to pray for our family as we are approaching our one year anniversary (in March) of adopting our boys. Sometimes the holidays/anniversaries can bring trauma to the surface. Pray that God gives us wisdom to navigate all these new things.



Wayne 3 years ago getting ready for one of his many MRIs.



Two of my favorite pictures my friend took of our family after we found out Wayne had cancer. The picture above is one of my absolute favorites of us. We were ready to fight this cancer together.