Celebrating ten years of life!

 Friends, join me in celebrating a decade of this phenomenal child's life!

Ten years ago, I was bracing myself for Sarah-Hope's birth with not much more than a memorial service planned in preparation. She was in such a bad condition in the womb, there was no reasonable expectation that she would survive. 

 

But against all odds she did, and what an amazing young girl she has grown into! She has incredible determination, engages deeply and is such fun! 

I can't adequately describe how grateful I am for Richard and Libby on this journey. Richard has led me in embracing and celebrating... and stretched my capacity to navigate complexity. Libby is a well of life, pure joy to the soul, a genuine friend and delight. Our family life as the four of us has only developed more recently (prior to that we were graciously held together by extended family, friends and community as we lurched from crisis to crisis), yet I'm so grateful it has and look forward to how the story unfolds.

What a provocation Sarah-Hope's life has been - for me; scientific, educational and faith communities; neighbours, family and friends. May she continue to point us to the One who gave her life against all odds and who will surely continue to provide for and sustain her.
 

 

We've applied for a service dog!

Sarah-Hope has been through various animal stages. First she wanted a horse. I made it quite clear that that would not be in the realm of possible. I think she thought that asking for a bunny next would be a safe bet as a couple of neighbours in our complex have them. But I didn't budge on that either. She was then getting very interested in dogs and I did feel that a service dog could be a really special companion for her one day. You would typically only get a service dog when you're 18 and can handle it independently. However, Honey's Garden for Medic Alert Dogs opened up a new possibility - because the person needing a medic alert dog (for seizure response) could be a child, they use a model where another parent / family member can be the main handler. 

Sarah-Hope has applied for a multipurpose service dog. This means that the dog would be trained to accomplish specific tasks for her. In her case, it would be largely to assist with carrying and fetching given that she doesn't have arms. 

I called up Lucy Breytenbacht, owner of Honey's Garden, and she agreed to meet us in a park with the dogs that were being raised at the time.

We took a while to get our application in to Honey's Garden, so Sarah-Hope started getting herself ready by training her stuffed dog, Charlie.

After a successful interview, Sarah-Hope has been matched with a beautiful golden labrador, Barley. We are attending weekly training sessions and our first weekend visit is coming up this month. All things going well, Barley could graduate and come to live with us in around the middle of 2022. It is a blessing that we can slowly adjust to having a dog as part of our lives - there will be plenty of updates to come!