“She believes it, and so do I. That’s enough.” Photo by Chris Glenn “Olivia is a true miracle child. At birth, she weighed only 1 pound, 4 ounces and was given less than a 5% chance of survival. From head to toe, she was just 12 inches long. According to our doctors, she was in the .5 percent size range of kids her age. As far as they know, she’s the smallest child ever born in the state of Indiana to survive. In 23 years working, the doctor who delivered her said he had had never seen a baby cry who was born under those circumstances. Even then, she had

“We love you. Please, remember that.” “What can you say to someone that has given up hope? This is a question that I was asked to answer, and frankly, my husband and I were floored. How can someone even ask such a thing? How can such a possibly even exist in one’s mind? Are there really people out there in a position so dark they are considering an existence without the possibly of hope? It was my husband Richard who answered first. He said the first thing that came to his mind: “We love you.” We know how it feels to see your child suffer. My amazing daughter Piper was

“Remember to make the day, the minute, the second count.” “My daughter Lana, my world, has just turned four. Some of her favorite movies are Frozen, Monsters Inc., and Over the Hedge. If I had to use a word describe her, I would use “bossy.” It fits! She’s been in and out of the hospital since she was a newborn, and as a result, she knows exactly what’s going to happen, when it’s going to happen, and when she wants it done. She’s in charge – her body is her body, and no one is going to tell her what to do with it. Shortly after her birth, Lana was

“What’s going to pull you through it more than anything is going to be your child.” Photo by Chris Glenn “God made Adalyn special. Our daughter says this to us often. Every detail — her sass, her kindness, her courage, her calling to be a farmer when she grows up — it’s what makes her who she is, and she wouldn’t change a single thing. And that includes her Type 1 diabetes that she has managed for almost five years now. Photos by Chris Glenn For a while, especially early on when we were still trying to figure things out, I hated hearing her say that. When you see your

“It might be exactly what someone needs to hear when they need to hear it” Photo by Chris Glenn “Everyone is part of a story. Even when you are down in the dumps, beat yourself up, and threaten to collapse in on yourself, sometimes it helps to remember that there’s a larger story at work, and you are a part of it. You’re not the main character, but instead, you’re a small piece of something greater that will only unfold with time. Our family has always believed this. We believed it when we felt called to take in foster children in need. Before finally taking the plunge, we tried to

“They’ll remind you what it’s all for” Photo by Chris Glenn “I work two full-time jobs as a single mom. Monday through Friday I’m a teacher in the two-year-old program on Tinker Air Force Base, and on the weekends, I work in the surgery center at The University of Oklahoma (OU) Medical Center from 5am to10 pm. This is the second year I’ve dealt with this schedule, and one day soon I hope it will allow me to save up enough for a house. I make it work, but there are days where I feel like quitting, where I’m just sick of being tired all the time and not getting