Teachers Saving Children® of Pennsylvania Inc.
	Newsletter Volume 8, Number 1 October 2006	Home TSC Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Newsletters

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The Board of Trustees for the Pennsylvania Chapter met on September 9, 2006 in the Union County Library. Our discussion yielded a suggestion for your consideration: on Pro-Life Sunday at your church, ask for space or time to highlight Teachers Saving Children^® of Pennsylvania, Inc. Contact us if you need brochures or other information. You might also consider attending the July 2007 National Education Association Representative Assembly as a delegate, or volunteer at the exhibit that Teachers Saving Children^® Inc.-National will have. The NEA RA will be held in Philadelphia June 30 – July 5, 2007.

Jeff Remington also traveled abroad during the summer. He went on a missions trip to St. Marc, Haiti, to set up an elementary science program at the Good Samaritan School. With grant money, Jeff was able to purchase science supplies, organize a science room, and train teachers in how to teach science to the eager Haitian students. The Good Samaritan School is one of very few in Haiti to have such a science program. The science classroom was named after Jeff’s father-in-law, the late J. Kevin Scanlon, in honor of his life-long passion for science education. To find out more about the Good Samaritan School and the amazing story behind it, visit www.mortelfoundation.org.

Board member Linda Burroughs spent most of her summer in the Scandia Woods of northwestern Pennsylvania where she and her husband enjoyed their home on 75 acres of land that they share with the wildlife. They also traveled to Niagara Falls, Canada, with their granddaughters. Linda volunteers at their local Crisis Pregnancy Center and has been active in the pro-life movement nearly 25 years. Her most precious pro-life story is that of her oldest grandchild, Sky, who was born in June 1993, a month after her mother turned 16. Sky’s father (Linda’s son), a high school graduate that same month, was struggling with drug and alcohol problems. Although these circumstances would suggest to some people that an abortion was indicated, this was not even a consideration, thankfully. Linda further states, “Our family rallied together and affirmed the life of this beautiful child. She has been a great blessing to our extended family and us. The poor decisions that those young teenagers made have had major consequences for both of them. However, that will never negate the power of God’s grace to transform and redeem the most tragic situation.”

Linda also reports that this is her last year to serve on the Board of Trustees of Teachers Saving Children^® of Pennsylvania, Inc. She says of her experience, “I have been involved for 10 years and have had the pleasure of working with some of God’s faithful servants. Robin says I need to find my own replacement, so help me out and please consider becoming a board member!”

When asked by my local education association for a PACE donation, I send a decline letter. If any reader is interested in also doing so, the wording of my letter (which you are welcome to use) follows:

Dear Pennsylvania School Education Association/National Education Association:

As I have done in the past, I respectfully decline to contribute to PACE due to PSEA’s and NEA’s stance on abortion as evidenced in New Business Items, Resolutions, and Action. New Business Item 1990-65: “NEA will oppose any legislation which will erode the status of Roe v. Wade and/or which impedes access to and choice of reproductive health care options, by providing technical assistance to state affiliates.” Rationale: “NEA resolution supports family planning, including the right to reproductive freedom. Erosion of reproductive rights by states, currently provided by Roe v. Wade, must be challenged.” Resolution I-12: “NEA supports . . .reproductive freedom.”

I encourage PSEA/NEA to take a position of “silence” (no position) on abortion since this very controversial issue is outside the immediate realm of classroom teaching. It is surprising that our organizations take a stand on such a controversial issue. I believe our position on this issue costs us memberships and financial contributions each year and needs to be addressed to keep our organizations strong.

Respectfully submitted,

Each family’s journey to adoption is unique. Our story started when Jay and I were high school sweethearts. After dating for five years, we married. We took several years to become financially stable and buy a home outside of the city where we first lived before trying to start our family.

When that time came, I began collecting baby items at yard sales, and it was so much fun! And I informed my doctor that we were trying to get pregnant. We discussed it, he examined me – and then he told me that we needed fertility drugs. I was speechless! I recall sitting in my car at a traffic light after the doctor’s visit that day, and I glanced at the receipt given to me at his office. Under the diagnostic category was the word “INFERTILITY.” The label impacted me forcefully and tears rolled down my cheeks for a long while.

Since pregnancy did not result after taking the infertility drug for a reasonable time, our world soon filled with a multitude of increasingly invasive, modesty-stripping tests, drugs, and expensive specialists. Every month became an emotional roller coaster ride of great hope followed by even greater disappointment. Holidays and other family-centered activities formerly filled with joy became increasingly painful, but through it all the Lord was faithful. At the precise times we needed them, the right people, Scriptures and other resources were there for us. God constantly amazed us as we traveled through that very barren place, and He mercifully accepted both our tears and our questions. The daily challenges we faced caused our faith to grow.

After three years, we took a brief break in treatment to catch our breath. During that time, the Lord surprised us with a positive pregnancy test! That was a day we will never forget! However, after several weeks there was spotting, then cramping. The doctor ordered blood studies and an ultrasound. There was no heartbeat. Our smiles dissolved into tears. Our first baby died in April of 1999. We named our baby Jordan.

I argued with God through the searing pain. “Lord, You don’t understand. How could You let this happen?!” The feelings of pain and frustration were overwhelming. One way God provided for us to grieve and heal was through an organization, SHARE, which sponsors a burial every other month – free of charge – to anyone who loses an infant through miscarriage or stillbirth. A local funeral home and pastors conduct the graveside service surrounding tiny white caskets. It meant so much to have our family and friends come that day to grieve with us, to acknowledge the tiny but real life that was lost to us here on earth.

Through Jordan’s short existence, it became even more clear to me that we are not in control of creating life. God is the sole Creator of all life and those lives belong to Him, not us. He allows us the privilege of caring for His children. We came to realize that we could do that in many different ways. Through involvement with our nieces, nephews and friends’ children, as mentors to children at church or in the community, or by foster care of children. All children need love, care and direction. Who am I to tell God which of His children I will love and under what circumstances I will do it?!

We took a few months to heal and then visited what we agreed would be our last specialist. It took less than a year to reach the treatment limits Jay and I had set together. Ending treatment was bittersweet. On one hand, it was the death of a dream. We mourned the fact that we would never experience full-term pregnancy and the birth of our child, and that our genes would not sculpt children who would look like us. However, we were grateful to move past the infertility treatment that consumed our energy, time, and resources like a black hole. We could now move toward the promising goal of adoption.

We collected information from multiple adoption agencies covering a wide range of options. We wanted God’s will more than anything, and prayed that the Lord would make His direction very clear to us. I prayed, “Lord, if one of the agencies we’ve narrowed our search to contacts us personally and specifically, we would consider that to be a sign of Your direction.” We had not received communications from any of the agencies since our initial contact with them, but a few days later we received a hand-addressed envelope from one of the agencies we had contacted more than a year earlier! Enclosed was a letter explaining that there was a significant need for families to foster-to-adopt, and inviting us to attend their training classes that would begin in a few weeks. We completed our 10-page preliminary application and made plans to attend the classes. Following the classes were more paperwork to complete, physicals, and a home study, all a routine part of the pre-adoption approval process. Our final approval came on December 11, 2003, the fourth anniversary of Jordan’s due date. We celebrated! It was great to have a happy event to associate with December 11.

The phone literally began ringing right away. First we were asked about brothers, one and three years old. . .then a four-day-old infant. . .then three brothers. . .and a 16-month-old toddler. . .all of whom were placed with other families.

Discouraged, I asked God, “What is going on? I thought You directed us here!” The response from God was the same as I had received many times before, “Come to Me. Lean on Me. Receive My comfort and peace. But WAIT for MY PLAN and timing.” Reluctantly and by sheer will, hoping that positive feelings would follow, I replied, “Okay, Lord. The right child at the right time. I know Your will is always best.” After that flurry of calls, the phone was completely silent for many weeks.

One day my dad called me at work and told me that a mutual friend had given our name to a couple whose daughter was considering releasing her child for adoption. We had received several such contacts over the eight years we had been trying to build a family, but adoption was a passing thought rather than a serious consideration for each of those mothers. I had no reason to think this time would be different. In fact, I was surprised when I found a message from the couple waiting for me when I got home that day. Dutifully, I called back. My heart began to beat faster as their story unfolded. Their daughter had the baby six weeks earlier, realized that being a single parent was too much for her, and was ready to release him for adoption immediately. . .would we like to meet the baby? (Is there sand in the desert?!) We had mixed feelings of excitement and vulnerability, fearing another disappointment. Proceeding on faith, we went to meet the family. Clearly the encounter was God-ordained. We bonded with the family immediately, our lives fitting together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. They decided that evening that they wanted us to be Cameron’s parents. There were plenty of details for the Lord to work out, and He did. In one week, we had a bouncing, seven-week-old baby boy in our home, complete with crib, car seat and all! It was clear that “God can do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20).

Since that day, we have discovered more of the details that God orchestrated to create this plan for Cameron and us. Some would call them coincidences. But is it a coincidence that our friend, Ruth, joined a Bible study with Cameron’s grandparents the very evening that his mother came to them about the adoption. . .or that soon after that Ruth heard a talk entitled, “When God speaks, are you listening?,” which prompted her to call Cameron’s family with our name. . .or that her call was placed the day they were leaving to take him to an adoption agency to leave him there. . .or that Cameron looks like Jay. . .or that the adoption agency training classes we took helped us through some important issues on adoption before Cameron came along?

The answer is a resounding, “No!” These are illustrations of the fact that God really does have a plan for each of us and that He is in control even when it may not appear to us that He is, and that He is a God of details and precise timing. It is no coincidence that God handcrafted our family for Cameron and Cameron for our family. Cameron’s presence in our family has been blessing and a daily confirmation of Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Editor’s Note: There is a postscript to this story, but Renee did not have time to write it before we went to press. She was very busy tending to the needs of their new daughter, Joelle, born on September 18, 2006. God brought Joelle to their family in the same miraculous way He did Cameron, except this time they had the luxury of three weeks to plan for her arrival as a newborn infant! They asked that we pass along to you that “God has done great things for us and we are filled with joy!” – Psalm 126:3.

Care Net, as you may (or may not) know, is a Christian ministry assisting and promoting the evangelistic, pro-life work of pregnancy centers in North America. Their contact information is www.care-net.org, or 109 Carpenter Drive #100, Sterling, VA 20164, or telephone number 703-478-5668.

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