Harder Family Adventures

Friday, September 7, 2018

Racing to Change a Story

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified."

Running a race takes training, time, and endurance. Most people cannot just wake up one morning and decide, "Hey, I want to go run 13 miles this morning." No, it takes weeks of training and running to build your body up for this type of mileage. The same can be said for enduring the race that God has set for us in our lives. Whether it be something you pursued on your own, like another degree or running a race, or a trial that is in your life, cancer or losing someone you love, we are to run with our eyes fixed on the prize of Jesus Christ.

As many of you know, a few years ago I decided to try to run a half marathon in every state. I have run in 22 states so far. In September, I am running in Philadelphia, PA and Providence, RI. For my 25th state, I decided to do something different. I am flying to North Carolina to meet someone who has become like a sister to me. My friend Michelle, who was DJ's host mom, and I are going to run a half marathon in Charlotte, NC. We aren't just going to run though, no, we are going to run for a cause. You see, once you have been impacted by adoption, whether it be a family member adopting or hosting, you are never the same. Your heart breaks for the millions of children around the world that do not have a mom or dad to tuck them in at night and kiss their boo-boos when they get hurt. You have seen children transform in a loving home. Not all stories have a happy ending though, and Little Leo is one of those stories.

Many of you know that I alluded to a big announcement on Friday, well today is that day. I want to announce that we are running for Little Leo. Little Leo was hosted the same summer Shan Chen and DJ were here in America. He was being hosted by another family and we loved seeing the pictures of him thriving inside the love and security of a family. His face just emanated joy and he just loved to be loved. Unfortunately, Little Leo's adoption did not go as planned and he is still waiting for a family to RUN to him and make him part of their family. So, in order to help his future family RUN to get him, we are going to RUN for them!

Michelle and my goal is to raise $100 per mile, so $1310 each, or $2620 total. If we reach that goal, we will dress as Superwoman and Wonderwoman all 13.1 miles of our October 20th race!! I know that you would love to see pictures of us dressed like superheroes. Would you consider donating a $1/mile ($13) or more? Help us RUN this race in such a way that draws attention to the plight of millions of children around the world without families. We cannot rescue them all, but we can rescue one at a time! YOU can be part of Little Leo's story! Help us raise the money needed to bring Little Leo how and change his story!

If you would like to donate, please click this link. AdoptTogether is a project of Hoping Hearts Foundation Inc, an IRS approved 501c3 organization.

https://adopttogether.org/families/?fundraiser=racing-to-change-little-leos-story

Monday, September 3, 2018

Love Stories and Fairytales

Genesis 2:18, 22-23 "Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.' The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.'"

Why do we all love fairy tales and love stories? There is a deep longing in our hearts for a happily ever after. Women have a deep thirst to be found beautiful, exquisite, and rare; so much so, that someone would fight dragons and villains, and made give up their life to capture our hearts. Men have a deep seeded passion to climb mountains, slay dragons, fight villains, and maybe even willing to die to save the princess, to capture something beautiful, exquisite, and rare. Why do we have these deep longings in our heart? Yesterday, we heard an amazing sermon on this very thought. I highly recommend listening to this sermon. It is only 35 minutes and will be worth your time! I walked away feeling loved and challenged all at the same time.

"Isn't She Gorgeous"

Friday I will be making a fun announcement, so stay tuned!! I'm trying to be better about posting more frequently, so keep checking back for new posts!

On a serious note, please be praying for my friend Mary. We met online and in person when we took a trip to Texas. Her husband is having brain surgery tomorrow to remove a tumor that has returned. Please pray that God works a miracle in their lives and brings healing to her husband, Jonathan.

Monday, August 27, 2018

Faith vs. Fear

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." Isaiah 43:1-3

FEAR. This word is packed with so many emotions. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines fear as an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger; anxious concern (noun); to be afraid of (verb). Fear is discussed in the Bible. There are actually two different uses of fear. The first use is to fear the Lord. The fear of God does not mean to be afraid, but it means a reverent awe of God and His awesome power. Fearing God brings positive results in our lives. Proverbs 9:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight." Proverbs 14:26 says that the fear of God brings confidence. "In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge."

The second use of fear in the Bible is not positive and not beneficial to us. The second type is often referred to as a spirit of fear. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, "for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." Fear is not from God and it is something we have to learn how to overcome. Of course, we cannot over come fear on our own, we need the help of the Holy Spirit and dependence on Jesus. There are many examples throughout the Bible of men and women who feared and God had to remind them to fear not. The verse above at the top, Isaiah 43:1-3, is a reminder from God that He is with us, no matter what we face in life.

Fear can be crippling, but we are no longer slaves to fear because we know the One who knows the future and we can trust Him with our deepest fears. His will is perfect, even if we cannot see it in the midst of the storm that we are facing. I have to admit that I have been struggling with fear again regarding Wayne's cancer. After seeing the announcement about John McCain's death, it stirred fear in my heart. I have seen so many friends lose their loved ones to this awful disease called Glioblastoma (GBM), the brain cancer Wayne was diagnosed with 43 months ago. Most people assume because Wayne is doing so great that his cancer is gone. Unfortunately, that is not how brain cancer like GBM works. The original tumor has tentacles, like an octopus, that invades the entire brain. They cannot see any of it until it clusters into a tumor, but it is always there. The hope is that with radiation and chemo that they can kill off as much of the "unseen" tumor in the brain, but they can never get it all. Apart from a miraculous healing from God, GBM is a terminal diagnosis. Only 10% of GBM patients live 5 years. Lord willing, Wayne is one of these few that make it that long. The unfortunate truth is 90% of people diagnosed with this disease will die 12-18 months from their diagnosis.

Even though Wayne has had clear scans, Wayne has been forever changed by brain cancer. If you knew Wayne before his cancer, he was very extroverted, outgoing, and talkative. The new Wayne is more subdued and quiet. He struggles with conversation, much like someone who had a stroke would have issues finding words. For those who never knew him before, they might not notice anything different, but it is there. Although he is different, it isn't bad, it is just different. Recently, some of the long-term effects of treatment can be seen in Wayne. After much prayer, we decided that Wayne is going to go out on short-term disability to try to address these issues with some therapy (speech). We are excited that Wayne will be around more the next few months. When you are trying to live each day to the fullest because you do not know the future holds, having your husband around more is a blessing. None of us really know what the future holds. Wayne's oncology doctor had a great illustration. She said, "People say we could walk out of here and be hit by a bus. The difference with GBM is you see the bus coming, whereas other people don't see the bus."

Although I am excited about Wayne being home, this has also caused fear in my heart. I wonder why God has allowed this now. We could have found out about it months ago, so why now? It makes me wonder if God knows something I don't and is giving us extra time with Wayne. Fearful thoughts like those can just cripple you. It is in those moments that have to trust the God who holds the world in His hand and has a beautiful plan. I have chosen to see this as a blessing and not worry about the future. God knows and I am going to rest in His will and trust Him. Plus, what a blessing to have Wayne around as a math tutor for the kids (his forte is in math, even now after all that he has been through). We are also looking forward to having more time to have family devotional time, time together as a couple to study God's Word, and to exercise together. I have a couple exciting announcements that we will be letting people know about in the next few weeks, so stay tuned!!

Is there something that is causing you to fear? Are you struggling with fear? If so, email me and let me pray for you. We are called to walk along each other. Let me walk along side you and pray for you!

Now to catch up on life. I recently took a trip to Seattle with my sisters. They flew me out to Seattle to celebrate my 40th birthday early (my birthday isn't until November). It was fun to get away and just enjoy being with my sisters. We also drove up to Vancouver, BC for a day. My trip ended up being an exotic eating adventure. We had Korean dessert, amazing Chinese food, Canadian Poutine, French crepes, Paleo/Keto cookies, Indian food, Hawaiian burgers, Chinese pastries, bubble tea, Thai, Cambodian, and of course fresh fish! I ended up buying fresh salmon and froze it. I packed it in my suitcase with lots of ice packs and hauled it back to Chicago to have the best fish I've had in a long time! I also took time and picked wild blackberries, a favorite tradition Wayne and I did when we were first married. I hauled those back and made Wayne his favorite pie, fresh blackberry pie...it was so good and worth all the scratches on my arms and legs. Finally, there are some pictures of the kids starting school. I cannot believe how quickly summer went this year!!

Leaving Chicago for Seattle

Chihuly Garden and Glass - amazing blown glass

Vancouver, BC - Stanley Park. Our hotel provided us with free bikes and we biked around the park.

3 Dutch girls in front of De Dutch (we didn't eat here)

Hawaiian burgers - I had this in Hawaii with Rachel years ago. They spend one up in Seattle, right down the street from Rachel's house!

Poutine

View from our hotel room in Vancouver, BC

French crepe - my favorite treat!! Banana and Nutella

Cambodian food - not my favorite. I'm glad I tried something new, but I think I'd skip it in the future.

Fresh out the oven Chinese pastries. We shared these. I loved the coconut bun!

I visited the Chinatown in Vancouver and Seattle. I had to take pictures for the boys.

We took a tour at Theo Chocolate Factory. That was a fun experience and their chocolate is amazing!!!

Not far from Rachel's house was a hiking path that ended up taking us to the beach. I just love the West Coast - trips like these make me miss being so close to the ocean!

We did the tourist thing and visited Pike's Market (over-rated). We did have some amazing French macarons and fresh salmon burgers.

The day I got back from Seattle, Wayne had a doctor's appointment, to get paperwork signed for his disability. We ended up going out on a date to Nueve Leon, an amazing Mexican restaurant in Chicago. I figure it ended a great 5 days of exotic food.

The blackberry pie I made for Wayne when I got home.

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My students for the 2018-2019 School Year. At the end of school last year I thought I would only be teaching six kids (Sophia was going to go to private school and DJ public school). God had other plans. DJ and Sophia asked to be homeschooled, so now I'm back to eight students. I cannot believe how fast time is going.