Dear Sydney,

Sho Sho holding Sydney for the first time

Hooray!!! You are turning twelve today!  Oh my goodness.  Babu and I can’t believe you are almost a teenager.  As we look back over the years, we have so many precious memories of watching you grow up.  I remember getting the call from your mom letting us know you were going to arrive earlier than planned and even though I was still in Kenya at the time, the Lord answered my prayer and I was able to book a flight to the States that left the next day.  I arrived at the Seattle, Washington airport before noon and a friend of Mimi picked me up and drove me straight to the hospital.  I arrived about forty-five minutes after you were born at 1:34 in the afternoon on May 27, 2003 and saw you for the first time through the window of the nursery. Your daddy was so excited as he held you up so I could see you.  You were absolutely adorable.  In fact, I was able to see you even before your mom did.  Pretty amazing timing!! You weighed six pounds, fourteen ounces and were eighteen inches long and you also had such beautiful light brown hair. I was so excited because you were our first grandchild.  So special!! Babu was finally able to arrive on June 6^th and I could tell he was overjoyed because he was smiling from ear to ear.

Bedtime fun with Mommy, Auntie Jen and Nan

The next time we saw you was when you and your mom came to visit us at Nan and Baa’s house in Wellston, Ohio. At seven months of age, we couldn’t believe how chubby you had become in such a short time.  What’s amazing is how you could sit and watch an entire 45 minute Baby Einstein video without even blinking.  You would sit and stare as if you were scrutinizing every detail and would suddenly break into claps and smiles.

Sydney at the age of one, wore her tutu 24/7

Sydney in costume at one of her recitals in 2013

The other amazing thing was how limber you were.  You loved to lay on your back and clap your feet together and then spread your legs out so straight that it looked like you were doing a total split.  Little did we know you were practicing to become a ballerina some day.  Now you have excelled and in a few months you will be using pointe shoes.  We have been so blessed to even see you perform in some of your recitals. You are truly gifted.

Summer vacation 2004

Sydney, James and Megan with Great Grandpa Hubbard Summer of 2004

Playing with Babu at the beach in 2004

You probably don’t remember the Hubbard/Long family reunion in Wilmington, North Carolina the summer of 2004.  You were only about 13 months old when you met your only cousins James and Megan for the first time.  Last summer in 2014, when we lined all the cousins up on the beach for a picture, there were eleven of you. However, there were seven other cousins missing from the picture.  Wow!  Just think, you are the oldest cousin of them all.

Gracie the stuffed doggie–It was love at first sight

I remember when you and your mom visited Auntie Jen in Savannah, Georgia and met the lady named Lee Anne who gave you the stuffed doggie named Gracie.  Who would have ever dreamed how special that little stuffed animal would become.  I think you still take her everywhere you go and she sleeps with you every night.

One thing we noticed about you growing up was your compassion and tender heart for hurting people.  We remember when you started putting money aside for a mission’s project to buy a goat for a village in Ethiopia and even gave away a whole bag of crayons that I was able to give to two little boys here in South Africa.  I was also amazed to find out that you decided to cut your long beautiful hair so you could donate it to an organization that made wigs for children who lost their hair due to chemo therapy.

Honor Stars June 2014

We were so proud of you when you completed all the requirements to be an Honor Star. Your love for Jesus and your passion for life tells us that God has a very special plan for your life.  When we look at the different women in the Bible, the one you remind us of is Esther.  God made her especially beautiful  and full of grace because He was planning to raise her up to be the Queen of Persia some day. She was a woman of beauty, integrity and virtue and because of her strong will, she was brave enough to risk her life for the sake of her people, the Israelites.  When we looked all the effort that went into preparing her for the day when she was presented to King, we thought of all your training—In school, in Missionettes, and even ballet, as your preparation for the future calling that God has ordained for you.  We believe God will use you in a powerful way as you continue to commit yourself to loving and serving Jesus all the days of your life.

Summer of 2014 at the beach in Wilmington, NC with 11 cousins (7 missing)

Christmas Tea Party 2010

Sydney dressed up for her oral report and borrowed Sho Sho’s blouse.

Sydney’s 11th birthday had a Horse Theme

Sydney and Daddy the night of their special Father Daughter Banquet 2015

Dear Brooklyn,

Sydney and Sho Sho holding Brooklyn.

It’s hard to believe you are ten years old! We wish we could be with you to celebrate your birthday and give you a great big hug and kiss. So instead, Babu and I thought we would write a special story about some of our fond memories of you. I (Sho Sho) will never forget the day you were born. I was so happy I could be there to watch you come into the world with video camera in hand recording the momentous occasion. You were so beautiful and tiny and had a head full of beautiful brown hair. You weighed 7 pounds and 12 ounces and were 22 1/4 inches long. That’s when I knew you were going to be a tall young lady someday. You were the cuddliest baby I ever saw and I loved you from the very first moment I saw you. “Sweetness” is the word to describe you!

Even though we live in Africa, we have been so thankful for all the wonderful opportunities to visit you over the past ten years. We came once for Easter and had Christmas with you while you were still living in Hillsboro and even got to see your Kindergarten graduation. Babu was especially happy to go jogging with you and Sydney and Jackson in the summer of 2011 after he got a pacemaker to make his heart work better.

Over these last ten years, we have watched you grow into a beautiful young lady and it is exciting to see how well you are doing in school, especially your love of reading, which is quite a remarkable thing. We remember how hard you worked to learn how to read and now you are a reading machine. Babu especially wishes he could watch you play basketball because he loved playing when he was a kid. He is excited about the new basketball hoop they put in at the court next to the swimming pool and hopes you all can play together this summer.

I (Babu) remember how hesitant you were when you first started going to the ocean in North Carolina. Now, you are like a fish and are fearless tackling even the most humongous waves. I (Sho Sho) remember the big wave that nearly knocked us completely out. But that didn’t stop you from jumping back in after your head stopped spinning.

We have so many wonderful memories of you at dance recitals, having tea parties together, and movie night with popcorn. We love having the summers together at our new house in Wilmington and we are getting it all ready for you for this summer and can’t wait to see you.

Both Babu and I were thinking about which woman in the Bible we thought best describes your strengths and character and we both came up with a woman named Deborah. Her story is found in the book of Judges chapters 4 and 5. Deborah was the only one out of twelve judges, who was called by God to be a military leader over Israel, a civil leader over Israel, as well as a spiritual leader over Israel.

Deborah had strength, perseverance, and was a godly woman who obeyed the voice of God completely and was a strong leader. We see these qualities in you and believe God has a very special plan for your life.

These pictures are just a few of the wonderful times we have shared with you.

We love you so very much and pray for you every day.

Love,

Babu and Sho Sho

Happy 10th Birthday, Brooklyn

A few months ago, Mark preached a sermon at one of our local churches in Cape Town and shared a personal testimony with the congregation which brought back memories of a difficult time in our lives as a family. This story took place after Jennifer returned to the States following her graduation from high school in Kenya in 1994. About one year later, she was battling an eating disorder.

Our normally fun-loving and bubbly daughter had changed.  Mark and I became even more concerned when we noticed that she started looking thinner and thinner but still complained that she felt fat.  We talked to her about our concerns and after a period of time, the Lord opened the door for her to be admitted to the Remuda Ranch Treatment Center for women with eating disorders in Wickenburg, Arizona. 

The program required that the family members come to the ranch for a week of intensive family therapy at the midpoint of the patient’s therapy. When it was time for Jennifer’s Family Week, Mark and I flew to Wickenburg and after talking with her personal therapist, we were alarmed when he said he had some concerns about her.  We had no idea what to expect during our session with her the next day.  That night, the two of us sat in our hotel room on the backside of the Arizona desert and cried out to God. We desperately wanted to talk to Alta—our prayer warrior and intercessor friend who came into our lives during our early years on the mission field.

Alta Stahn was in her eighties and was a member of a small church in Huntington, Indiana. During our first furlough in 1987 we were visiting her church for a missionary service—Mark preached, Judy testified, and Judy, Amy and Jennifer sang “Greater is He that is In Me.” At the conclusion of the service, this sweet little old lady introduced herself to us and said she was an intercessor and that she prayed for our family every day.  We kept in touch with her off and on over the years and especially during this difficult time. We communicated mostly through letters and a couple of phone calls since this was before internet and e-mail.  We didn’t have her phone number with us and we were desperately wanting to talk to her and ask her to pray for us and for Jennifer.  As we were sitting in our hotel room trying to figure out who we could call to track down her number, all of a sudden the phone rang, which was surprising because very few people knew where we were.  When I picked up the receiver, it was Alta.  She had been trying to find us and by some miracle, she found out we were in Wickenburg at a hotel and she finally tracked us down instead.  God had given her a message for us. 

Alta explained that one day she had to drive past a school where a teacher’s strike was in progress.  She said the Lord told her to stop and give them a message: The Lord told Alta to tell them if they would praise Him and trust Him, He would intervene on their behalf and do incredible things for them.  She dismissed it and kept on driving telling herself that surely wasn’t God. The next day when she passed the picketers she again felt something telling her to stop and give the picketers the same message. She said she brushed it off and thought it couldn’t be God and kept driving.  In the meantime, the newspapers were declaring the strike was in a stalemate and that there was no resolution in sight.  The third time Alta passed the picketers she heard the Lord speak again that she was to stop and deliver His message.  Finally she decided that she had better deliver the message whether it was God or not, just to be on the safe side. She stopped the car and rolled down her window and one of the picketers walked up to the car.  She apologized for interrupting but had a message from the Lord for the teachers.  She told him that God said if they would praise Him and trust Him, He would intervene and they would see Him do incredible things for them.  She drove away and felt relieved that she had obeyed the Lord.  The next day the headlines announced an end to the strike.  In fact, the word that was used to describe it was “MIRACLE”!  Alta was overwhelmed with joy and thanksgiving that she had obeyed the Lord. 

However, the Lord wasn’t finished with Alta’s assignment. She said that the Lord then told her to call Mark and Judy Hayburn and give them the same message.  He told her to tell us to praise Him and that He would intervene and do incredible things for our family.  That was the message Alta was determined to deliver to us on that particular day.  She told us all about the strike and the picketers and how God performed a miracle and wanted us to know that God was with us and would intervene on our behalf if we would just praise Him and trust Him. Mark and I burst into tears of joy and thanked her so much for calling us with this word from the Lord.  We began to fill the hotel room with praise and worship to the Lord and knew that God was in control of the situation. That was the turning point with Jennifer.  Her total recovery didn’t happen overnight, but Jennifer not only overcame her eating-disorder, but she has also faced some other major disappointments and challenges that have come her way with a courageous faith in God. In April of 2013, she completed her nursing degree at Georgetown University and is a licensed registered nurse in Washington D.C. in the Cardio Vascular Recovery Ward at Washington Hospital.

From that moment on, we decided never to allow fear to enter our minds when disappointments come or we are faced with impossible situations.  We have made it a practice to trust God and praise Him in everything and always thank Him in advance for working things out for our good because we know that God truly does know where we are. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus…Faithful is He who calls you, and He will also bring it to pass.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16 – 18, 24).