We Can Do This!

Today, we went on an adventure with all eight of our kids.  (I've got plans of you meeting all of them.)  Our oldest even brought a friend along.  The adventure was as follows:

1. Tabatha was attending a Bible Study over lunch.  So I dropped her off at 12:30 and proceeded to meet up with a friend of mine and his two children.  We fed all 11 children and both adults at Burger King for $25 (cause we're good like that.)

2. After lunch, we picked up mom and continued on to our friend's house, where we proceeded to have a giant water balloon fight.  (450 water balloons!)

3. After we dried off, we loaded everyone up and drove to meet up with another family, who needed to sign some adoption paperwork for us.  (I know.. MORE PAPERWORK!)

4. After the signature transaction, we went home.  We rotated all children through baths and showers while we cooked dinner.  This was a feat in itself.

5. Finally, children clad in their pajamas, we drove into town to watch the annual Semi-Truck Parade that kicks off the County Fair each year.

At each stop, we took stock of what we were doing and we asked ourselves how much harder this would be with a medically fragile, mentally retarded fifteen year old added to the mix.  We couldn't help but to feel that WE CAN DO THIS!

The family that signed the paperwork at stop number 3 has eleven children.  They are some of our best friends.  One if their children has Cerebral Palsy, (like our Trevor, but more severe,) and Epilepsy.  They have been an amazing source of inspiration and motivation for us.  Believe it or not, the paperwork they signed was to agree that if Tabatha and I were to die, they would take all 8 of our children AND Alivea, giving them 20 children, 3 of which with special needs.

Here's the lesson for the day:  There are amazing people that exist.  Our friends are counted in those ranks.  We are surrounded with an awesome support system.  Our children are well behaved, (mostly,) and with God's help, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that

WE CAN DO THIS!

Honor God • Cherish Life • Love Others

"Honor God • Cherish Life • Love Others" is the motto that our family tries to live by.  These are the standards that we have built our lives on.  The three pillars that hold up our home.

HONOR GOD

It started with me, (Timm.)  I have been a fairly "religious" person since the 8th
grade.  I have always tried to live my life according to God's standards.  I read
my Bible and I pray. God is a big part of my life.

Several years ago, I was preparing for an interview for a promotion at work.  I
started to ask myself, "What is my motivation?" I cycled through several things
in my mind; I wanted to make my wife proud.  I wanted to show my children what
a good husband and father looks like. But ultimately, my mind kept returning to
one thing; At the end of each day, I wanted to look back at what I had
accomplished and be able to say, "I brought glory and honor to God today."

And so the mantra of "Honor God" was born

CHERISH LIFE

I added the second and third pillars over a twenty week period, beginning on
August 27th, 2014.  This was a day that changed the lives of Tabatha and I
profoundly. On this day, I was awakened by my oldest daughter, who told me
that Tabatha needed me and it was urgent.  I went to her and found out that
we had lost our precious little Faith at 20 weeks gestation. Our Hearts were
broken.

Now I had already thought very strongly that life is one of the greatest gifts that
God has given us.  I already thought that life was precious and something to
be cherished, but on this day, a day when one of the most precious lives and
one of the most innocent lives was taken from me, I doubled down on the pillar
of "Cherish Life."

LOVE OTHERS

Oddly enough, the third pillar began to take shape on that same day.  During
the same 20 weeks that Faith was alive, a good friend of mine, Trevor, was in
hospital due to heart failure.  He was awaiting a life saving heart transplant.

While Tabatha and I were driving to the hospital, our deceased child in
Tabatha's arms, my phone rang.  Normally, given the brevity of the situation,
I would not have answered, but on this particular occasion, something told me
I should.  I answered the phone and found that it was Trevor calling from his
hospital room.

He told me that a heart had become available.  He was going in for his heart
transplant, "right now."

So while Tabatha and I sat in a hospital room in Lansing, dealing with the
fallout and complications of losing our daughter, Trevor was in a hospital room
in Ann Arbor, getting a life changing transplant surgery.  We no doubt felt these
two life changing events were somehow connected.

Trevor came through the surgery and we were able to visit him several times
during his recovery.  Unfortunately, he developed an infection several months
later. He lived for exactly 20 weeks after his transplant and then passed away,
(the exact same amount of time that Faith lived.)

As I sat and tried to figure out how I could honor my good friend in his death,
I realized that the best way to honor him, was to do as he did.  Trevor was
defined by his love for others. He lived a life that he very easily could have
made all about himself and no one would have blamed him for it.  But that's
not how he lived. Trevor constantly put other's needs before his own. He
would gladly go without or give up a simple comfort if it meant that someone
else's needs were met.

And so on the day of Trevor's passing, February 14th 2015, Valentine's Day,
I added "Love Others," to our family motto.

And so the Three Pillars were born;

Honor God • Cherish Life • Love Others