Joanna's Page


	Before Joanna was born, we already knew she was going to be a special child. She was born with many (what the doctors call) "abnormalities." The scripture Tom and I received from God was John 9:1-3. We couldn't understand why she had all these problems. And we did not want to focus on all these. John 9:1-3 says this: "And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." Joanna is going to be used for God's glory! Hallelujah! Sometimes we don't understand why things happen the way we do. But God is interested in our hearts. He is interested in our response. Will it be anger? Will it be bitterness? Will it be fear? I am confident that He who has begun a good work in her will bring it to completion. (Phil. 1:6)

Joanna spent her first birthday in surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. This is Dr. Stephen Kopits of the International Center for Skeletal Dysplasia. Dr. Kopits paid our way to Baltimore! He prescribed a brace for her that straightened her back.
While in Baltimore, she was diagnosed as having some form of dwarfism, known as Spondyloepiphyseal Dysplasia (SED).
	Here is Joanna with her brace on. She had to wear it for a whole year. It weighed 5 lbs! I don't know how she moved around in it. All around the walls there was a brown line where she walked!
	Even though she was originally diagnosed with SED, the doctors have gone back and forth with their beliefs. First they thought she had a condition called "Sponastrime," a very rare syndrome. Then they thought she had camptomelic dysplasia. Now they are not sure. Only God knows.
	Here she is after a long, hard day at special Olympics. She won 5 ribbons that day. She had a lot of fun! This was when she was still in public school in second grade.


	Joanna loves the Donut Man. She loves to sing along with the songs on the videos. Here she is with Donut Man Rob Evans. When she actually saw him in real life, she was just speechless!
	Note: This page was made about 4 years ago. I really need to update it! In the meantime there is Joanna's ScoobyDoo page.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)

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