ELLA

Have you ever asked God "why"? For some reason, this year I have become especially curious about how Mary must have reacted when she found out that she'd be giving birth in a barn... with livestock!  Did she ask God, "why"? I don't know what the cultural norm was back then??  Who knows?  Maybe it was typical for a family to bed-down in a stable if the inns were all full?  Maybe women gave birth in stables on a regular basis and it was not a shock to her?  I just don't know.  But I am approaching this post with the idea that it was not in Mary's plan in any way, shape or form to give birth in a barn. I have thought about Christ's birth over and over as we've celebrated Christmas each year and the significance that there is that God chose for His Son to be born in a lowly stable, but never has it dawned on me with such intensity as this year how Mary must've felt about it.  She had just been delivered an amazing message that she would

If there's one thing I want someone to get from this blog, it's not that life is easy, but with God, problems are not only smoothed, they are possible miracles in disguise! Romans 8:31 " If God is for us, who can be against us?" Matthew 19:26 " Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  A cousin of mine reminded me last year of this quote:  "Don't tell God how big your problems are.  Tell your problems how big your God is!!!" I am reminding myself of these truths tonight as I am recovering from a second night in a row of sleeplessness.  Friday night, Ella awoke with a barking cough and strider breathing, known to many as Croup.  This is no new illness to Ella, but as she has grown, she's been expected to grow out of it, which, so far has not been true.  So, outside we went, wrapped in a huge, fluffy comforter, to allow the cool air to enter and open Ella's airways.  After ab

 A HUGE thank you to Emily Williamson for this amazing shoot!  You are just incredible!

All I can say right now is "oh my goodness".  Ella has been diagnosed recently with something called "Sensory Processing Disorder" (a neurological disconnect of the senses).  This basically means that all of the nerves that connect her senses and bring messages to the brain have been interrupted and do not work correctly, throwing off her coordination, balance, body awareness, hearing, vision (to name a few) and sends her into frustrated fits and seemingly, bad behavior.  She has been referred to several therapies that are supposed to help her cope with what her body is telling her and help her to more accurately see and experience this world in which she lives. Some of the symptoms that made us aware that Ella had something quite severe going on internally was the fact that she could not play on play-ground equipment the same as other kids.  Just making her way up the play-equipment steps was a challenge for Ella and if/when she made her way up to the top of t

It's time to announce!  We (the Wilkins family) are working towards adopting two children from Africa.  We have not yet been matched with our children, but are in the beginning steps of getting our paperwork turned in and selecting our placement agency.  It has been an amazing journey that has brought us to this place of readiness to add to our family(for MUCH more of our story, visit my, Jen's, personal blog at www.ramblings-of-jen.blogspot.com ).  The girls are so excited and pray for their "baby" siblings every day on the way to school and before bed.  Ari is even looking forward to selling lemonade and cookies at our upcoming fundraiser to help bring "her" babies home!  Ella asks if she can help push the "babies" in strollers once they arrive and Ari can't wait to teach them all that she knows! We are hoping to adopt two children zero to three years old.  The country that we are aiming to adopt from and believe the Lord has lead us to is

Thanksgiving coats my heart today as I think of those who have lifted our family in prayer to the throne of God!  I have been feeling so much better with only a few lagging symptoms and Ella has shown great signs of good-health as well.  Since having the swallow-study done several weeks ago and starting with thickened drinks, Ella's breathing problems have improved significantly.  She saw her pediatric cardiologist last week, who performed an EKG and reported that Ella's heart is doing well and that there are no signs of pulmonary hypertension that can typically go along with aspirating.  Praise Jesus!  We rejoice today for a God who is good and who cares about our deepest and even smallest needs!  Praise Him!  And thank you for your prayers!

Seems like I've been apologizing a lot for not keeping this blog up to date, but a lot has been going on.  Last Friday night, Calvin rushed me to the emergency room with an anaphylactic reaction to an antibiotic I was taking for my sinus infection.  My entire body swole up and broke out in hives while my eyes, nose, ears and lips grew several sizes larger as well.  My throat closed and caused a dramatic entry to the E.R. with me collapsing on the floor. I was rushed to a bed where they gave me a shot of epinephrin and a breathing treatment which brought the swelling down enough in my throat to breath effectively.  My body though, remained swollen and reacting more severely than what was normal.  I was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit for the night and into the next day.  I was later told how I narrowly avoided a tracheotomy and should be thankful for my life.  Over the course of the weekend, I experienced several strange reactions to other medications that they had me on, such

This morning brought more answers to Ella's breathing problems after a trip to see Idaho's only pulmonologist, Dr Tipits.  Before we actually got to meet Dr Tipits, his assistant prepared Ella by getting a reading on Ella's current oxygen levels, and charting her height and weight. But while we were waiting for the oxymeter to read the oxygen levels, Ella got a bit antsy, and in order for the monitor to pick up accurate numbers, the patient has to be completely motionless.  For those of you who know Ella personally, you understand what an oxy-moron it is to even use the two words "Ella" and "motionless" in the same sentence.  So, I had to come up with a way to keep Ella occupied and for the most-part, still.  I decided that maybe if she started reciting Bible verses, it might take her mind off of the sensor on her pointer finger and allow it to properly pick up her oxygen level.  So, I started by suggesting a Bible reference of one of the verses that Ell

Spring Break is officially over with Calvin's start back to work and Ari's return to school.  For Ella though, the end came on Saturday morning when she realized that she was in her bed at home instead of in the car-seat she fell asleep in the night before, and came running into our bedroom whining, "I don't wanna be home, I don't wanna be home!"  I guess that means she enjoyed our vacation.  From the photo on my last post, you probably gathered that we spent our week away at the Oregon Coast.  It was an incredible time of play as a family.  We haven't had a family vacation since September of 2009, before we left for Peru to work in missions for a year.  And we have never had a family vacation with just the four of us.  So we were very ready for some time as a family to rejuvenate after our busy year (2011) with Ella as she underwent 3 hip surgeries, 8 times going under anesthesia, 5 full-body casts, 2 wheelchairs, 1 scope (camera down the throat), nume