Christmas season fun

We've been having such fun this past week. The weather has been quite warm, so that means fun in the pool and lots of ice lollies.

They are all so much braver in the water this summer. Their swimming lessons have helped them to be so much more comfortable in the water - happy Mommy!

 

 

Oooo, how I love my little one's smiles!!! Ice Lollies are quite a hit on a hot summer afternoon!

 

They were so excited to open presents come Christmas morning. Musa was old enough this year to totally get it, and joined in with great enthusiasm. 

 After they opened presents we went to church, and then went with the pastor's family to hand out presents in the children's ward of the nearby hospital. My girls had so much fun giving presents to the little children in the ward. When Pamela was very sick we spent many months in the hospital, and at one stage we were there till just days before Christmas. Pamela received some presents from visiting groups, as well as prayers and well wishes. To now watch as she was the one to give toys to other sick little boys and girls was truly special, and a testament to God's goodness. 

Our house is soon going to be really and truly full. Keshia (above) is originally from Germany, and came to South Africa to volunteer at TLC. After 2 long stays at TLC she decided to move here and work towards adopting the gorgeous little girl above. Keshia moved in with us last April, and has been such a blessing to my family. She is great with the kids, and they in turn adore her. Keshia's adoption process hasn't been very smooth, but she's continuing on, and could use prayers that doors begin to open for her. . .

Faith (below) is an emergency nurse from the US, and will be arriving here on January 1st. She volunteered at TLC for a year back in 2007. She fell in love with the little girl she's holding (below), and when she returned to visit last year she found that their bond was as strong as ever. After much prayer she decided to also move here and work towards adopting this little girl (now 4 years old). Her little girl was born very prematurely, and consequently has CP and cortical blindness. She was transferred to an institution 6 months ago, and Faith is hoping to get her into her foster care as soon as possible. She will be moving in with us, and we're eager to share in her adoption journey.

Nomusa (below) is a dear young lady who has been coming to clean my house once a week for the past 6 months. She has a darling son, Mario who is 6 years old. Nomusa and her son are all alone in the world, and are living in very unsafe conditions. After much prayer I decided to invite them to move in. At least here they will be safe, and hopefully we can get Nomusa into some kind of nursing training. She has been volunteering her time in a hospice; she has such a gentle spirit. She came with us to TLC a few days ago, and she was so wonderful with the babies. Here she is with one of our little nest babies. Her and Mario will be moving in on Friday, so that gives us a few days to sort beds, and rooms. . .

Her son Mario, is also such a gentle soul. He was great with the TLC babies, helping to keep then happy and quiet. I think he will fit into our family quite nicely. Pamela and him get along beautifully. Pamela loves that he's a "big" friend. He speaks mostly Afrikaans, but seems to be getting along fine with us speaking English. . .

I feel so blessed to be able to open my home to these wonderful ladies, and the children they have or are working towards adopting. I would certainly never have planned my "family" to look quite like this, but God sees so much farther than I do. I trust that when he places someone in my life, that it is for a reason. And so, with open arms and heart I eagerly look forward to all this year will bring. 

Best wished, the van Dijk family

So very blessed

Over this past month God has shown me that he knows my heart, and cares about the little things that I find important. I mean, I know he cares, but sometimes I find I forget that he cares about the little things. The things that make me heart sore, and yet I think are too small to bother God about. Really, I should know better, but sometimes I forget that He knows and cares when a sparrow falls. . .
As a Mommy my heart aches when I am unable to provide something one of my little ones really needs. I don't mean wants, but really truly needs. My oldest, Pamela, lived with her biological family until shortly before her 2nd birthday. In this environment she experienced severe trauma and neglect. When she arrived at TLC she was very very ill. At nearly 2 years of age she only weighed 5.8 kgs (12.7 lbs), had disseminated TB, and was diagnosed with stage IV HIV. She spent her first 6 months at TLC simply fighting for her life. She finally took her first steps at age 2 and a half, and from there started getting stronger. Her early trauma, however, had left its marks. At the age of 3 and a half she barley spoke, and completely shut down around strangers. I was one of her few "safe' people where she really allowed herself to come alive, and what a delight she was!
In December 2010 I was given temporary custody of Pamela and her little bother Musa. Proper foster care was granted in August 2011, and with this paper I was able to finally start accessing some much needed therapies for Pamela. My other daughter Sihle, has Spastic Diplegia (Cerebral Palsy), and goes one a week to "Centapaeds" for Physio. Tamara is her therapist, and my how far she has helped Sihle to come these past 2 years. . .

 

Sihle with Tamara at Centapaeds

Exercises on the ball - Sihle loves this part of Physio:)

Centapaeds also provides Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Play Therapy, which is great as we can organise different therapies at the same time. In September Pamela started going to Play therapy on Mondays while Sihle was doing her speech therapy. Thursdays saw Pamela doing speech therapy while Sihle did Physio. It really worked amazingly well (thanks to the amazing therapists who worked very hard to coordinate times and days for us:)  Pamela did not really start talking much until she was 4. Due to this her speech is quite behind, and very unclear. Already in only a few months her speech has improved and is easier to understand. As her speaking improves, so too does her confidence to speak and express her thoughts and feelings. Her weekly play therapy sessions are helping her to deal with the early trauma she experienced, and I hope in time will help her to have less worry and anxiety.
My medical aid, Discovery, very kindly paid for these therapies, with not one complaint, that is until a few weeks ago. They then announced that in January 2012 they would be making changes in their policies with regards to therapies. They said, don't worry, it will only affect 1% of people, well guess what, my Pamela fits into that 1%. They are now allotting families with a fixed amount that can be spent on therapies, once that is spent you are out of pocket. Sihle is fine as her CP diagnosis ensures she still gets full coverage, but Pamela does not have any "medical diagnosis", and so does not qualify for full coverage. The money allotted to her for therapies would not last even 4 months! Then what, no more play therapy, speech therapy. . .these are therapies she really does need - what was I to do? Discovery came to Centapaeds one evening to talk to all us parents about the impending changes, and what we could do. I asked about Pamela and was told she didn't qualify. After begging and insisting that these therapies were needed, I was given an email address for someone at discovery, and was told to write a "motivational" letter explaining why I felt Pamela should have coverage. I've dealt with discovery before, and have yet to get an exemption to any "Rule". They go by the book, and don't seem to have much sympathy for the everyday person. So I wrote my letter and sent it off with no hope that it would change anything, but hey, I had to try.

The following week, I was at Centapaeds when one of the therapists asked to speak to me. A parent had come forward anonymously and wanted to sponsor Pamela's play therapy for part of the year!!! Let me tell you, I was speechless. I had tears streaming down my face, and could only say, "please thank her for me, please let her know how much this means. . ." I left saying, "Thank you God", my heart was so full. Then the next week I had Pamela's play therapist say she was going to continue giving Pamela hour long sessions, but would only charge for half an hour. In this way the money which had been raised by the parent would go farther. . . Again I said "thank you Father". My heart was full, he did see, he did know, he understood that my dear little survivor needed this and he in turn helped heal this Mamma's heart. Pamela's speech therapist has also been SO kind, and it looked like Pamela would be able to continue speech therapy for the next year. THEN, 2 days ago I saw that I had a reply from the lady I had sent the "motivational" letter to at discovery. I opened to email with little expectation, and then read, and re-read, and yelled "Keshia, you have to come here now"!! This is what she had written:

Thank you so much for your email,

I will be able to approve the Allied & Therapeutic Benefit for Pamela for 2012,

 Again I was speechless, I mean she didn't want official diagnosis, special dr. forms, she didn't say "maybe we'll see what can be done". She said YES. Oh, my heart was overflowing - as were my eyes:)
Looking back, I'm sure God could have easily found a way to sort this out weeks ago; however, by him waiting, just look at how many times this mommy heart has been blessed. He allowed countless people to come forward and offer such help and generosity for my little Pammy. Such support offered and love given with no expectation of return - simply amazing. We have been blessed in abundance, and I hope I always remember this outpouring of goodness, and in turn remember the Giver of life and love. He does care about our seemingly small needs. He sees each sparrow as it falls. . .

"Give and you will receive. You will be given much. Pressed down, shaken together, and running over, it will spill into your lap. The way you give to others is the way God will give to you." Luke 6:38

I pray that all the people who so kindly gave of themselves for dear Pamela, will in turn be blessed to overflowing this Christmas season.

Pamela in hospital shortly after arriving at TLC. Nearly 2 years old, and these clothes are size 3-6 months!!!

Pamela boiling with fever - had to have cool clothes on her 24/7 at this point. . .

Pamela now - such a miracle - such a princess!

Love to all, the van Dijk family

Fun filled holiday times

After putting it off for far to long, I've decided to start a blog!

Here's a little about what we've been up to during our Christmas holidays so far.

We had a torrential rainstorm a few days ago. It was so nice and warm out I told the girls to go outside and run around in the rain (not really expecting they would do it). Well not only did they go out, but they had SO much fun. They were soaked, and didn't stop giggling and laughing for hours :)

 

We've been spending lots of time at TLC. Obviously Keshia and I love spending time with the little ones, but my three are also quite into helping!

 

Sihle really does have a Mommy's heart. She constantly says that when she grows up she's going to be a Mommy. A few days ago she said she was going to have 11 children - a daughter after my own heart!

 

Musa is so cute. He's convinced he's big enough to help out around the nursery as well. His "help" tends to hamper more than actually help. Thankfully the babies are usually quite patient. . .

 

Pamela is a great helper. She loves feeding the babies lunch, and has quite a knack for getting them to open up and munch their food. She takes her feeding responsibility so seriously, I just love my girl to bits!

Then today we're having a good old home day. We decided to watch one of my favorite movies, "Mary Poppins", Well no movie is complete with out popcorn, so with popcorn and drinks in hand, this is how we're spending the afternoon.

 

Well, that's it for now. Wishing you a blessed Christmas season,

The van Dijk Family