Broken

My camera broke.  The camera that I bought just 4 months ago.  The camera I bought to replace the other one that broke right before we went to China.  Sigh... that is part of why I have been so silent the last few weeks.  That and I'm still working on what God is walking me through right now.  In a way, I feel broken too.  He is breaking me down to build me up to be a better me; He is breaking me down to build me up to be a person that more reflects Jesus.  Of course, I will never, ever perfectly reflect Him, but I can most certainly be better at it. : )  These valleys, oh, they are so very uncomfortable and kind of lonely.  I have God, of course, but it is so difficult for me to express myself to others and have them truly understand what I am going through.   I don't know how long it will last, but I do know that there will be an end to this valley and my walk with the Lord will be even stronger because of it.  That is worth it to me!

Taking walks out in the meadow preserve by our house with my little crew makes me happy, so we try to do that every day.  I brought along my phone and caught these cute pics of Isabel.

On Tuesday, Isabel and I headed down to Children's Hospital.  We met with a orthopedic hand surgeon that specializes in radial club hands.  I was able to have most of my questions answered and we have a plan for Isabel.  She will have centralization surgery in April on both her hands.  She will be in casts for 6 weeks.  After that, she will have surgery to remove her pointer fingers, rotate them and place them where her thumbs should be.  So, she will have 3 fingers and a thumb. : )  I'll miss her one little (non-functioning) thumb, but I'm sure she will be glad to have better use of her hands.

She wasn't all that happy in the waiting room.

And finally, this picture just makes me smile.  Even though she may not look all that happy, she is reaching for me and calling me "mama" in this picture.  Precious!