Post from Facebook back in September

From September 15th, never remembered to put it on the blog! Turns out having babies three months early is REALLY HARD on the adolescents they become. We were warned in the NICU that this period of their lives would reveal areas of disability and struggles related to extreme prematurity. At the time I was just so grateful they were still alive, I must have shoved it out of my mind to deal with later. My mom had to remind me. As Gavin's Aunt Colleen says, "This is all part of the miracle." ❤ They are a miracle. They are God's. They are entrusted to us. I'm unendingly grateful that I get to have these kids with their unique needs. 🥰 And I'm grateful to be Stateside for a while to get the help they - and we - need. I have always grieved and really struggled over my "failure" to hang on to them longer, but that is gone now. Thank God. Will got the ball rolling when he broke his water before dawn at 27 weeks 5 days. He was the quint who was in distress at the time, despite being the biggest (2 lb 10 oz, or 1190 g). He had meconium staining and was urgently worked on by our dear Dr. Burgess, who has since gone to be with the Lord. He seemed so healthy in the NICU, never any huge scares, but now he's the one who has the most long-term consequences of extreme prematurity. In breaking the water and forcing all five to be born so early, he was just getting out when he needed to get out, in the wisdom or our Sovereign Heavenly Father. God sovereignly ordained that the rest would live. God saved Seth through those agonizing months while so many of you prayed. People we'll never meet besieged the Throne of Grace for Seth's life. He has long-term issues too, of course, but he's amazingly healthy, and loving and cute and happy and lively. And he has a good brain that can do hard things despite all those months and even years of low oxygenation. He just needs some therapy and accommodations to help him do those hard things. So, if you're still reading this long update, please pray our kids will get the therapies and accommodations they need soon. We're on waiting lists. PRAISE GOD for a lovely math tutor "grandma" for Gracie, for JD Jondavid-Kelli Lovell to work via Zoom with Seth, and for a small "whole person" school for Will this year. Please pray for stamina for Gavin and me as the homework load with four kids at a hybrid school is daunting. So many new things are bombarding them: multiple classes and passing periods, multiple teachers, multiple apps and programs to do their work in, multiple assignments to do at home. Most days we work from 2:30 to 6:00 and usually have to go back to it after breaking for supper, or catch up the next morning. Plus there's a whole new culture to adapt too, with educators and students they don't know. Meanwhile, they are really homesick and desperately miss their PNG friends and family (April and Dilu Narumao!). Please pray for God's continued amazing provision. He is SO GOOD. Love! Carrie Jones P.S. We know people care so much about our kids and want to suggest things that have helped, in their experience, but we've been buried with suggestions - literally pages of them. Right now we can't process through any more. We'll reach out on FB or in person if we need suggestions for a specific need or child! Thank you for caring.