Who doesn’t love Miss Jubilee Promise?
Her name is a clear reflection of her joyful spirit.
We are so blessed by this precious daughter Promised by God
many years before we knew of her.
Miss Jubilee’s eyes are healing beautifully and the surgeon is
very hopeful that this time it’s
perfect!
Thank you Jesus!
Aware that many have wondered about opening their home to
treasures with special needs, we have humbly prayed
that the Lord would use our family’s journey to not
only reflect God’s heart for all orphans but maybe particularly,
those deemed “Special Needs”.
We have long contended that the only true
“Special Need”
any treasure has is “for a family”.
And so it is with joy that I share the seemingly itty-bitty
accomplishments along with the gigantic ones…
because every treasure’s life must be celebrated…
On top of Jubilee’s eyes healing so beautifully,
Miss Jubilee had a most extraordinary
accomplishment the other day…
A couple of years ago, when the geneticist discovered Jubilee’s
profoundly rare syndrome {only a few hundred
people in the entire world are known to have it.
In fact it’s so rare there isn’t even a name for it.}linked
with Chromosome number 22 said this:
“Jubilee will write her own story.”
which meant:
Jubilee’s prognosis is up in the air.
The doctor knew she would be a “lifer”
{as did we when we pursued her}
but that’s about it.
Well, Miss Jubilee is such an innocent joy…
We simply love her and cheer
on each itty-bitty accomplishment…
and being truthful,
if she never made another itty-bitty
accomplishment in her life,
she is absolutely perfect just the way she is.
So the other day…
I was in the kitchen when Jubilee appeared on the stairs
and overlooking the stair bannister she called to
Elizabeth and said,
“Hey Lizzie, could you come up stairs and help me?”
My mouth dropped open.
I had not really thought about it before….
Up until that moment Jubilee had only spoken in little fragments.
Her cognitive ability
and likely trauma from her past
make her not very verbal.
And it was okay.
We communicate beautifully.
But suddenly,
Jubilee asked a question in
complete sentence form
{without any help}
for the first time ever
since coming home 3.5 years ago.
I still shake my head as I write.
This milestone has left our hearts rejoicing.
The Lord continues His healing work.
“For what you have done I will always praise you in the
presence of your faithful people.
And I will hope in your name,
for your name is good.“
Psalm 52:9
Yay Jubilee! How wonderful! Praise the Lord!
Seriously exciting for all of us!
I have a feeling that when we get to heaven all the angels are going to look a lot like Jubilee
Barbara, Your comment made my eyes well with tears. I think you may be right!
Rejoicing with you!
Thank you Lesa!! Rejoicing with *you*!
Rejoicing with you!
Love it! She is indeed special!
I wish everyone could have a treasure like Jubilee in their life – she's such a privilege.
Fly Jubilee, fly!!! Yes mam, talk "our" ears off! =) Thank you Jesus.
It would be so wonderful if she would talk our ears off!! God is able!
So proud of your Jubilee Promise–rejoicing with all of you in her joyful accomplishments! Great job, Miss Jubilee!
Love,
Tina
Seriously, what so many take for granted – such a victory!! Love you friend way up there in Michigan!
precious!!! just precious!!
Thank you Cindie for rejoicing with us!
Love it!! Like Ruby, Jubilee will accomplish great things in the hearts of our people!
I feel so humbled that God would choose us to parent these two infinitely valuable treasures!! How our hearts rejoice!
I very much enjoy celebrating your family Linny! Incredible God!
Thank you Monica! All glory to the Lord! He does beautiful things daily over here! We love getting a front row seat!
No words…only a smile and tears of joy in my eyes. 🙂
Thank you for sharing our joy Marie. It's truly miraculous.
WHOO HOO!!! High fives for Miss Jubilee!!!
She loves to high five – so back at ya'! xo
How wonderful!!!! She is feeling so much love from you and from God! She is blessed!!!
Thank you for sharing our joy!
So happy for sweet Jubilee!! Please tell her that I love the artwork she is holding in the picture!
Blessings,
Amy Patzer
I will tell her…
I have to pick my times to read your blog, because I get tears almost every time – especially when you share good news about your beautiful children! I have a 6 year old special needs granddaughter. They are still unsure what her diagnosis is, but she has severe scoliosis, which she has had several surgeries for, is delayed and has limited speech. She also speaks in fragments. She is such a joy though and we love her just as she is, no matter what happens. However, we always want the best for our blessings, so hearing Jubilee speak a full sentence gave me chills and such hope. So happy for her! Thank God.
Diane, I am thankful that Jubilee's story encourages your heart…after 3.5 years, her first real sentence – we marvel…and pray that more comes! I pray your granddaughter will continue to thrive by the grace of God!
Just love your Jubilee stores….and Ruby stories…..and, oh heck, all your beautiful blessings! Thankful to hear her eyes are healing! Our youngest treasure will be having eye surgery on both his little eyes soon and it was not what we had hoped, but we know HE knew and has a better plan! Thank you for sharing your walk!! Go God and go Jubilee!
I pray right now that the surgery accomplishes all that needs to be accomplished, in Jesus' mighty name!
My daughter just saw this picture and said, "Mama, I want a cousin like this!" (She is an only child, so cousins are her best friends).
Your daughter is right – Jubilee would be a great 'cousin' to have!
What an awesome story! It's clear she feels loved and comfortable to be making such great progress! I adore her smile!
KK
She has made such strides these last few weeks…we are in awe of the work of God in her life!
Our God is so amazing! I love hearing this story as well as the ones of Ruby and your other children. I know I don't comment often, but I read your posts and pray for you all. I rejoice with you!!
Thank you Cheri for praying for our family. There have been so many times where I am comforted by the thought of praying bloggy friends…so thank you for being one of them! And thank you for sharing the joy of our treasure's triumphs!
Jubilee is God's way of reminding us that He is still in control! Hallelujah! Looking forward to hearing about more milestones in this precious ones life!
Thank you Audrey. He is most definitely in control. I am still shaking my head that she said a full sentence – on her own! Such a beautiful and completely unexpected miracle.
Being the mom of special needs kids can be hard, but the milestones are so awesome!!! I'll never forget listening to my Isaac at age 11 reading his first three word sentence!!! God is so good!!
The milestones are such precious love touches from Almighty God! I rejoice that your Isaac had a sentence!! It is pure joy to see our kids rock the world!!
Wohoo Jubilee!!! Keep shining for Jesus beautiful treasure! xoxoxxo
She does indeed shine!!
That is so awesome!!! Woohoo Jubilee!!! Woohoo God!!! My family loves to see how the Lord is working in and through your family. It's so exciting and inspiring to us. We praise with your family and pray for your family. Thank you so much for sharing these miraculous triumphs. The Foro Family
Thanks for sharing our joy. Sometimes I hesitate because I think that some might say, "So she said a sentence? Big deal." But it *is* a gigantic deal and it took her 3.5 years to master it and that makes it an amazing triumph! Bless you!
Praise the Lord! This is so cool, just the other night my little girl talked about sweet Jubilee during our Bible time. She thinks she is the cutest and then she said something so amazing. She said everyone should have a smile like Jubilee, she has the best, cutest smile ever. And I agree she is one sweet package of joy. My little girl said if I meet her one day I am going to hug and hug her and she is a friend I would love to have. So neat when I came to read your blog and it happens to be about her. Celebrating Jubilee with you.
Awwww, please tell your little treasure that Jubilee would love her to be her friend! And yes, one day, we will hug!
That's awesome!! 🙂 praise the Lord 🙂
Thank you Susan!
YAY Jubilee!! You go girl! The sky is the limit!
Those breakthrough moments are miracles on earth! Praising God with you!!
Jubilee reminds me of our Emma. She can be silent for weeks and then she speaks in sentences!
Thank you for celebrating our joys my sweet friend! And yeah, for Emma!
Awesome, what a wonderful blessing!
Thank you Sandi!
Awesome, what a wonderful blessing!
Wonderful! Love the picture too. I remember seeing the change after vision therapy from "scribble scrabble" as M called it to identifiable subjects that looked like what other kids would draw.
Thank you friend – the miracles are such wonderful pleasures to our soul!
Wonderful! Love the picture too. I remember seeing the change after vision therapy from "scribble scrabble" as M called it to identifiable subjects that looked like what other kids would draw.
Wow, how amazing! Thank you for sharing. It is so neat to see how God works.
He is so grand to give us such sweet victories!
This blesses me beyond measure or words. It gives me great hope for Mia. Thank you for posting!
There is bountiful hope for MIss Mia!! He is more than able!
Blessed be the name of the Lord!!!
Having worked with special needs children for years, I can say this is not itty bitty… this is HUGE Linny! Rejoice! God can do anything HE wants with this sweet girl of yours! What a magnificent milestone for her!
You are so right Joy! This is HUGE. Thank you for cheering her on with us!!
Such sweet news! I have to admit that whenever I think of Jubilee, I smile…for a couple of reasons! First, HER smile is contagious! But also because I remember last July Fourth, when all the kids had JUST come back from going to the bathroom and Jubilee realized now SHE needed to go…and you told her jokingly, "Well, I guess you'll just have to go in your pants!" The look on her face for those 2 seconds before you told her you were joking was PRICELESS! Confusion mixed with sheer horror! So funny!
Hugs from Nancy & ShaoXi (who just finished a performance…did a duet w/a guy…breathtaking!!)
So thankful you got to spend a bit of time with our treasures! Is ShaoXi coming back to school?
Love it! and Love that Girl!
janet and gang
We love you my friend!
Your uJuBean
Your little JuJu Bean is a precious blessing to your family and to me! I love her beautiful smile! She lights up a room with the love of Jesus! It is very obvious the love that Jubilee receives from her family! Thank you for sharing her life with us.
Love,
hollym.:)
Thank you hollym for loving our family. Bless you!
Jubilee has been on my heart and in my prayers lately. I'm going back to have repeat strabismus surgery too.
How awesome our God is. Not only did she speak in a full sentence, that full sentence was used to express a need. I believe there is something special about that.
Smiling, smiling, and smiling.
Someday I will tell you the story of what came out of my mouth when they put hearing aids into my ears for the first time. Someday I will tell you in person, okay? 🙂
You know I love your sweet Jubilee… I am SO thrilled at that wonderful sentence out of her mouth!