I want to dedicate this post to a present-day Hero of mine, named Zandra.
Six years ago she decided to give our son, Elijah Thomas, life instead of killing him in her womb. Two and a half years later she made the same decision with our daughter, Riley Alexandra (middle name in honor of her).
Zandra wasn't blessed with the greatest of parents - in fact, she had a very rough life growing up. She started living on the streets in her teens and survived by numbing the pain with drugs and supporting her habit with prostitution.
Fast forward to June of 2002. When Eli arrived in our home as our foster child, I fell madly in love with him immediately. I felt incredibly honored and blessed to have him, but at the same time I felt a lot of sorrow for Zandra. I thought of how much her heart must
ache to have this precious baby taken from her arms. That hour I decided that I would pray for Zandra frequently, and also seek her out and let her know that I loved her and that she did an amazing thing. I eventually did track her down and maintained frequent contact with her through a few dinners and phone calls.
September of 2007 Zandra gets arrested and is sentenced to four months in jail. We find out she's pregnant. We maintain contact with her while she's in jail.
December she gets released from jail. What now? Well, she did
thee most incredible thing. She moved in with the father of her baby - which is way across town from her old stomping grounds - and she's never looked back. She hasn't touched drugs since September 2007 and she's raising the most beautiful little boy, Zechariah, and doing a fantastic job.
I think about Zandra a lot as I watch Eli and Riley grow up. I just have this deep, deep gratefulness and love towards her, and we're
soooo glad she's in our lives now. We talk on the phone and receive notes from her, and she even sent Eli a birthday present this year.
Zandra, you are strong, courageous, brave, resilient, smart, witty, bold, loving, and just AMAZING to me, and I am so proud of you, and grateful to God that He allowed ME, of all people, to raise the babies YOU CHOSE LIFE FOR. You are my hero. The world will never be the same with Eli and Riley in it, because they are going to do mighty things for God. We love you!
Footnote: I did ask Zandra for permission to share her past on our blog and she said she was okay with it.
Scout and Riley love to give me massages! How blessed am I?! Owen took this picture after I just received a most relaxing back and arm massage from the girls. The past few days I've been sick and Scout and Riley gave me a foot and leg massage! Owen is not the touchy-feely type, but he did offer to read to me before bed since my head was aching and I couldn't read my own book. He read to me from a biography of Eric Liddell, and it's very interesting.
