Katie's Speech Therapy

Ok, before it is two months and no update, I had better squeeze one in! (I can't believe I last posted on December 15th! That's terrible!)

Katie is now in speech therapy...or we are in speech therapy! Henry & I are taking classes to learn how to help teach Katie to talk! There are 4 classes that Henry & I take and 2 meetings with Katie and us with the speech therapist. Katie is officially a "late talker" which basically means her receptive language is quite high while her expressive language is quite low for her age. She understands everything - in fact she basically potty trained herself in 3 days!
So at home we are working with Katie throughout the day simplifying our language, giving her key words, even using sign language to help. During the next 4-6 weeks we should see quite a lot of progress. If we do not, then this would indicate something else is going on. It is possible there is also a oral something component...you would think I would remember what the "something" should be! Basically it would be that her mouth muscles are developed fine, but there's some connection between her brain and her mouth that needs "therapy". It would mean that over the next 2-3 years Katie would need quite extensive speech therapy. Pray that we would start to see some progress! Right now, 2 weeks into it, Katie has maybe one more word - which would bring her grand total of words up to 2!

Jesus is with you!

It was lunch time in the Chung house. Emily had eaten her lunch rather quickly while Katie was still lallygagging though hers. After Emily had sat patiently...well patiently for Emily...for a good 15 minutes I told the girls Emily & I would go to the living room to get a video set up while Katie finished her lunch. It was getting close to nap time and I wanted the girls to watch a Christmas DVD (45 minutes long) so they could see and better understand what Christmas is all about. We had not been in the living room too long before we heard Katie protesting us being in the living room while she was still stuck in her high chair in the kitchen. Emily yelled to Katie (across the house) "It's ok Katie! Jesus is with you! You're ok Katie! Jesus is with you!" I had to smile. So she is listening when I tuck her in at night and she says she's scared. "You're ok Emily" I tell her, "Jesus is with you, He will never leave you. Katie is sleeping next to you. Your big night light is on. Here's your bear. You're ok."

Katie's Appointment

I have been putting off writing this update. Not because there is any bad news, but because there really seems to be no real news. In my mind I had hoped that a few days before Katie's appointment she would miraculously start talking. Many moms have told me stories of their own child who didn't speak until 2 or 3 and then one day was talking in sentences. (Secretly I am hoping that before she turns 2 - January 17th - that this will still happen!). But alas, still no real breakthroughs.

The time spent with the speech therapist was great. Her name was Debbie and she was very understanding, considerate and helpful. She gave us some good ideas of ways to help Katie. We can now sometimes get Katie to say "more", but only on good days and when she is feeling particularly playful. We are currently signed up for a class called "Target Words" which is for kids like Katie that appear to be fine in all other respects except for verbal skills. It sounds like a parenting class, which as a parent can make you feel like a bit of a failure. Henry & I will take a total of 6 classes in which they will teach us more ways to help Katie learn to talk. There will also be 3 times in which we meet with Katie with a speech therapist on a more one on one level.

So that is that. Katie is overall a very happy little girl who loves to laugh and loves to make others laugh. She happily goes off to play at the church nursery (which, after having a child who hated being left at church nursery, is so wonderful!). However, she hates having her picture taken at a photographer and hates having her hair cut by a hairdresser. Yeah. Imagine quite a lot of screaming and crying. So we have no pictures other than our home snapshots (compared to her sister who had quite a bit), but her hair is cut nicely thanks to a wonderful hairdresser who was somehow able to cut hair on a wiggling crying little girl. All in all we are generally not worried. Unless it's getting late and we're completely honest about our feelings.

I'm rambling, and that usually means its time to close. Thank you everyone for your words of encouragement and prayers!

Katie's Speech Therapy Appointment

We finally have a date for Katie's speech therapy: December 2nd! A friend recently asked if we were worried about Katie not talking yet. In general, we are not worried. She actually communicates quite a lot through pointing, grunts, expressions, and sign language. She is also very physically capable with great coordination. She loves people (not at all shy like her sister) and plays "well" (for her age) with other kids. All of these point to nothing being wrong with her. Yet the doubts can sneak in and it is easy to be concerned that she is not saying words. It will be good to have this appointment!

Also please pray for my Dad. He's at the doctor's office right now...I'm patiently waiting for an update. It seems he may have pneumonia again. It would be the 4th time since March if he does. Obviously as a family we are quite concerned.

Excerpt from our latest letter...long read, but we like to think it's worth it! ;)

Being a half-American, half-Canadian couple brings both joys and trials. It is a trial having to have a border between our families. It is a trial having to get citizenship to both countries just so we can live either place when needed. It is a trial moving our possessions not across state lines, but across country lines. However it is also a joy to have a few extra holidays. For instance, Canadian Thanksgiving is the second Monday in October while American Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November. Who could complain over two turkey dinners? J So we write this letter with a spirit of thanksgiving: thankfulness to God for all He has done and for all He is.

On Canadian Thanksgiving Day Emily wanted to say “Happy Thanksgiving” to our neighbor, Mr. Bob. Mr. Bob has a special place in Emily’s heart for a few reasons: he has a dog and he gave the girls an amazing sled with a steering wheel. As Emily went to say Happy Thanksgiving she hadn’t quite worked out how to say “thanksgiving” and so instead of saying “Happy Thanksgiving Mr. Bob” she said, “Happy thank you to giving Mr. Bob the sled.” J As we thank God, we are thankful for what God has given us. We do not take for granted the food on our table or our warm beds. When we find ourselves feeling worried over money, food, or our future we have seen God provide abundantly. We publicly say “thank you God” for taking such good care of us. We also want to thank God for who He is, because it is His character in which we take great comfort.

We thank you for praying with us regarding our future. We firmly believe God is answering those prayers. In our last letter we asked you to pray with us about the possibility of helping a small community unite their churches: sharing resources and providing a unified outpouring of Christ’s love to the community. While we felt it would be a good ministry to be involved in, God did not give us peace about it and recently shut the doors to it. Thank you God for directing us. Since that time we also have had a few more doors close, all of which we are thankful to God for showing us a glimpse of where He wants us to be…or rather where He doesn’t want us to be!

We met with our missions organization today. Please pray with us about the possibility of being involved in a fairly new ministry. Henry would be utilizing his computer skills to benefit others in places and countries where technology is not as developed. He would be building relationships with locals through mentoring and training using technology as a medium. For those of you who are not computer savvy, you know how difficult it can be getting technical support. Imagine how much more difficult it is for missionaries or mission teams overseas. There are a few projects lined up that Henry would be able to assist in including: refurbishing computers to be used by the poor, helping missionaries deal with maintenance and computer problems so that they can continue serving effectively and keep in contact with their support team back home, and helping set up an internet café in another country. This particular internet café is in a location where solar panels would be needed and internet would have to be brought in by cells. It has been asked for by the local missions team in hopes of providing jobs for young people who have absolutely no where else to turn. The underlying mission of course will be a place for Christ to be presented to people, Christ’s love in action. Doing computer work for the sake of doing computer work is meaningless. On the other hand, doing computer work for the advancement of the Kingdom, for Christ’s glory – that is something entirely different! Please pray with us as we seek God’s will for us in this. We are anxious to get involved in ministry again. We will update our blog as soon as we have any more information. Our blog address is: http://theotherchungfamily.blogspot.com/

We ask that as you look towards a new year that you would consider pledging your financial support as we begin our new adventure. We plan on being in full-time ministry by May 2009, if not sooner. Please let us know if you would be willing to partner with us in faith as we pursue God’s direction.

Finally please continue to pray for Amy’s Dad. He has been fighting another round of pneumonia. This is the third time he has had pneumonia this year. His oxygen levels have also been very low at night so he is on oxygen at night and will be tested for sleep apnea soon. Health-wise this has been a discouraging year for them. We are praying for a healthy winter for Dad.

May you find many reasons to be thankful this Thanksgiving season!

In Christ’s Abundant Love,

Henry, Amy, Emily (3) & Katie (22 months)

Closed Doors

Over the last several weeks we have been praying for doors to close. Doors pointing to different ministries. We've been praying for direction and confirmations but we haven't hearing anything really concrete. While meeting with our missions pastor, he shared how he went through the same struggles, what direction to go when he and his family returned home. He told us to start praying for doors to close as we had too many tentative choices.

Well over the last two weeks, several doors have been closed and we are starting to get a better picture of what God has in mind for us. We're setting up meeting arrangements and getting together with key people with the right connections.

Please pray with us as we find where God is leading us.