Mark and Anne’s Story

Site created on December 19, 2021

Hello friends and family near and far! It's December 20th and some of you know that exactly 3 weeks ago our world flipped upside down when a standard check-up revealed that our baby girl had a significant amount of unwanted fluid accumulating in her chest cavity. We're not going to take a lot of time to re-tell these last 21 days because we'd rather just start here in the present and look forward in HOPE for full healing!! We'll post some photos and a re-cap entry below to give a general idea of the path we've been walking.

We are so thankful for all of your prayers and support. No doubt, this stretch has been really hard. And yet God has been very near to us, providing us with everything we need physically and spiritually to meet each day. Amidst the storm, we are experiencing His power in our weakness and His grace being sufficient. There are reminders all around this Christmas season that our Savior God's name is Immanuel, meaning "God with us." Though a lot of things don't make much sense right now, we are trusting that He loves Abigail Hope—and both of us—more than we can understand. At our wedding we sang the lyrics to God, "And I will build my life upon Your love, it is a firm foundation; I will put my trust in You alone, and I will not be shaken." Our household is built on His love, and now is a time to stand in faith on Abigail's behalf believing that God has great things in store for this brave baby girl! 

If you would like to participate in corporate prayer for Abigail, our church family has lovingly started a Zoom prayer meeting that you are more than welcome to attend. It is being held Monday-Thursday from 7-7:30am Central Standard Time (9-9:30pm Taipei time). Zoom mtg ID: 935 993 1900 PW: 77777 (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9359931900?pwd=WkJMOTV5NE1LSGdmRDFYSml0RVZiQT09) 

Thank you for being with us on this journey and helping us bear this burden. Abigail Hope was truly a miracle conception (if you haven't heard that story yet, it's a good one!), so let us continue to together pray with hope that she miraculously "will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done!" (Psalm 118:17).

With love, 
Mark and Anne

Newest Update

Nothing is impossible!

Journal entry by Mark and Anne Cheng —

Hi y'all! 

A memorable Mother's Day weekend has just passed, and Mark and I are starting out the new week feeling deeply touched by God's goodness and grace. As I write, the song You Make Me Brave comes to mind with its lyrics describing the experience of God's love crashing over us like repetitive rolling waves. The love that we're encountering through Abigail, extended family, friends, acquaintances, strangers, and heart-to-heart directly from Christ is more than either of us have ever known. I've persevered through several tough, dark seasons in my life, and am so grateful to be standing again in a space of truly rejoicing and celebrating from the depths of my being. Abigail's name, which means "Father's joy", is a sweet reminder how much our heavenly Father loves to surprise and bless His kids with amazing gifts. It's also a perfect name for our little pink bundle who brings so much joy to her earthly father!    

A few of Christ's statements are stirring in my heart this afternoon as I reflect on my rocky path to motherhood and this milestone of celebrating my first Mother's Day: 

“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? 
 
“And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
 
“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today." —Matthew 6:25-34
 
Over the past 6 months Mark and I have had plenty to fret about from an earthly perspective. When our normal reality suddenly flipped upside down, we did our best to replace worry with talking to and trusting God, and as we have bumbled along, He has taken such good care of us step by step. Why? I really don't know. I think His love is like that—it doesn't make sense. All Mark and I know to do is to keep saying thank you, and to keep raising up our praise! And to love Him back, and to keep trying to stay in the stream of sharing His generous love with others in practical ways. I think every day abounds with opportunity, if we're open and awake.  

Yesterday two Houston news stations helped multiply our joy by airing a Mother's Day tribute featuring Abigail's miraculous journey. You can only imagine the emotions that welled up in our family's hearts as we stepped back in time and remembered how faithful God has been to us. We hope you enjoy the videos, and please feel free to pass them along to anyone in your life who may find them encouraging. 


Later on in that same Gospel of Matthew, Christ also said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible” (19:26). Though all prayers don’t get answered in the ways that we wish, the Scriptures directly say that with God all things are possible. I’m inspired to keep asking myself and others what are the seemingly impossible hopes of our hearts, and to keep praying seemingly impossible prayers! If God can help me conceive against all odds and then orchestrate countless details to bring about this baby’s healing, He can do anything. May we all walk forward from Abigail’s experience changed, becoming more bold to wholeheartedly ask our loving God for unlikely positive outcomes, and more full of hope that our prayers will be answered better than we could ever anticipate. 

Much love, 
AM&A

(Of course I've also attached a few recent photos, just because Abigail's cuteness can't be contained!) 
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