Thank you for all of your prayers!
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!
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.
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."
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.
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.
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Crazy Life
In The name great Name, O Lord, we come
To worship at The feet!
O pour Thy Spirit down
On all that now shall meet!
Teach us to pray, and praise, and hear
And understand Thy Word;
To feel Thy blissful presence near,
And trust our Living Lord.
This house with Grace and glory fill,
This congregation bless:
Thy great salvation now reveal,
They glorious righteousness.
Joseph Hoskins 1745-1788
Proverbs 16:9 "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps."
My plan for the last two months, was to write a blog post and keep people updated with our crazy lives. But, as the verse says, I make plans, but God directs my steps. Instead of blogging, I have been just spending time with my family enjoying the holidays and surviving our chaotic life!! So, since it has been so long since I've blogged, and who really wants to read a bunch of boring details of my life, I'm going to sum up the last few months.
- The last of Shan Chen's physical therapy
- Underground Railroad Field Trip
- Served with the kids at a local homeless program for Thanksgiving
- Celebrated the boy's first Thanksgiving and opened our house to international students (who it was their first Thanksgiving too).
- I traveled to Cincinnati, OH to run a half marathon and spent the day with my sister Sarah
- Had missionary friends over from Copper Island
- More doctor appointments (I don't even want to remember all the appointments we've had this past year).
- Went bowling two times with our co-op group
- Shan Chen had ear surgery to replace and fix his ear drum (which was a success)
- I traveled to Baltimore, MD and ran a half marathon
- Watched the Joffrey Nutcracker ballet with the kids
- Christmas Gala with Wayne for work
- Shan Chen's birthday
- Served with the kids at Feed My Starving Children
- Visited the Science and Industry Museum with the kids to see the Christmas trees from around the world.
- Wayne had heel surgery
- Ice Skating
- Watched the new Star Wars
- I traveled to Kauai with my sister Rachel and enjoyed some much needed rest
- Decorated Christmas cookies, saw Christmas lights, and made many fun memories with the kids.
- Academic testing for two of our kids
- More doctor appointments (8 so far in 2018!!)
- Swim meets for the girls
- Celebrated 19 years of marriage!
- and of course school, church, and lots of cooking!
We have some more exciting things happening in our lives. On Saturday, a 5th grade boy from China will be living with us for two weeks while he attends a winter camp. The school that provides Chinese classes for our kids is hosting a camp for kids from China. They were short a home and asked if we could host a boy for two weeks. So, we decided, what is one more child. HA! I'm actually excited for the boys to have someone to practice their Chinese with each night. He will be attending school during the day, so that will make things a little interesting fitting school in between taking him to school. Never a dull moment in our house.
To worship at The feet!
O pour Thy Spirit down
On all that now shall meet!
Teach us to pray, and praise, and hear
And understand Thy Word;
To feel Thy blissful presence near,
And trust our Living Lord.
This house with Grace and glory fill,
This congregation bless:
Thy great salvation now reveal,
They glorious righteousness.
Joseph Hoskins 1745-1788
Proverbs 16:9 "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps."
My plan for the last two months, was to write a blog post and keep people updated with our crazy lives. But, as the verse says, I make plans, but God directs my steps. Instead of blogging, I have been just spending time with my family enjoying the holidays and surviving our chaotic life!! So, since it has been so long since I've blogged, and who really wants to read a bunch of boring details of my life, I'm going to sum up the last few months.
- The last of Shan Chen's physical therapy
- Underground Railroad Field Trip
- Served with the kids at a local homeless program for Thanksgiving
- Celebrated the boy's first Thanksgiving and opened our house to international students (who it was their first Thanksgiving too).
- I traveled to Cincinnati, OH to run a half marathon and spent the day with my sister Sarah
- Had missionary friends over from Copper Island
- More doctor appointments (I don't even want to remember all the appointments we've had this past year).
- Went bowling two times with our co-op group
- Shan Chen had ear surgery to replace and fix his ear drum (which was a success)
- I traveled to Baltimore, MD and ran a half marathon
- Watched the Joffrey Nutcracker ballet with the kids
- Christmas Gala with Wayne for work
- Shan Chen's birthday
- Served with the kids at Feed My Starving Children
- Visited the Science and Industry Museum with the kids to see the Christmas trees from around the world.
- Wayne had heel surgery
- Ice Skating
- Watched the new Star Wars
- I traveled to Kauai with my sister Rachel and enjoyed some much needed rest
- Decorated Christmas cookies, saw Christmas lights, and made many fun memories with the kids.
- Academic testing for two of our kids
- More doctor appointments (8 so far in 2018!!)
- Swim meets for the girls
- Celebrated 19 years of marriage!
- and of course school, church, and lots of cooking!
We have some more exciting things happening in our lives. On Saturday, a 5th grade boy from China will be living with us for two weeks while he attends a winter camp. The school that provides Chinese classes for our kids is hosting a camp for kids from China. They were short a home and asked if we could host a boy for two weeks. So, we decided, what is one more child. HA! I'm actually excited for the boys to have someone to practice their Chinese with each night. He will be attending school during the day, so that will make things a little interesting fitting school in between taking him to school. Never a dull moment in our house.
Underground Railroad Field Trip
Thanksgiving with new friends
Reunited with friends from Copper Island
Shan Chen ready for surgery
Baltimore,MD
Christmas Gala
Christmas trees at MSI
Nutcracker
Shan Chen's birthday
Kauai - I loved this weather forecast
Fun bingo with my sister (we won prizes since we were the only 2 playing)
Kauai was beautiful - my favorite island in Hawaii!
Watching the new Star Wars!
Feed My Starving Children
Fun Roman projects - we finished up our lesson on Rome.
Shan Chen's ice cream date.
Swim team!
School
Ice Skating
Our bodies - our final after studying anatomy for the semester
Final Roman projects: Sophia made a Parthenon out of cookies, DJ made Roman library, Shan Chen made a Roman coliseum, and Naomi made an aqueduct out of clay.
Learning the layers of the earth.
Naomi's birthday date.
19th Anniversary dinner - amazing Middle Eastern food!!
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