Happy Valentine's Day 2008

Dearest Friends and Family: February 2008
Praying this letter finds each of you enjoying 2008. It is always fun to get cards, pictures, and letters from friends and family during the holidays ~ thank you. I know we only keep in touch with some of you during this time of year, but I want to tell you that each person who is reading this has affected our lives in a great way and we are thankful for your friendship over the years.
A lot has happened since our Valentine letter last year. Let me see if I can update you without writing a book.
We had a great time last spring – landscaping our yard at our new home, planting a garden, and enjoying a lot of time outdoors. We can walk to the water park so our summer was filled with swimming lessons and afternoons at the pool. Our family had a special trip to Des Moines, Iowa over Memorial Day weekend. We were treated with great hospitality at the Cannon’s for the weekend, then met up with my sister Lisa’s family. The guys headed back to AR and OK for work. Lisa, our kiddos, and I were in for a 10 day adventure across Iowa and Missouri. We went back to Fairfield, IA where we grew up and invaded the Huff household for several days (Thanks Royse and Kathy). We had wonderful visits with friends and extended family. It was the first time for my grandmother (Nana) to meet Lily – we had a day at my Uncle’s farm – the kids loved it. We also spent a special day on my Grandfather’s farm. Papa and his wife, Mercedes, treated the girls to tractor rides – it was so sweet to see our daughters run through the same fields we did as little girls. We ended our trek at Pop’s and Franma’s house at the Lake of the Ozarks, which is always a great time of swimming, boating, fishing, feeding ducks and seeing the “big boy cousins” – my brothers 3. Summer also welcomed a visit from my younger sister and her 2 children from CT – we all spent a week in Tulsa with the kids in Vacation Bible School in the morning and afternoons at the pool. A lot of great memories were made with cousins! We also continue to be blessed by having Noel’s family close by and get to spend a lot of special time together.
Lily is most happy when she is outside exploring. She can be found riding her bike or scooter around our neighborhood most any sunny day. She attends a Montessori Preschool half days. She loves to paint and sing, and has a remarkable imagination. Lily turns 5 at the end of the month. She continues to be the joy of our lives. We can’t believe she will be a kindergartner before this year is up! How does that happen?

We had just received our referral for two precious sons from Haiti last February. God has had some unexpected turns in the road of our adoption – and the road is also quite a bit longer than what we thought. We are starting to see the destination ahead though – and while the year hasn’t been easy – we are thankful for where we’ve been.
In July, Noel and I took a trip to Haiti to meet our sons for the first time. The joy of holding them for the first time was much like our first time holding Lily. It was amazing. We had a wonderful week with both of the boys – giving lots of love, and feeding them as much as possible. Leaving them proved to be one of the hardest things we have ever done. We would never trade those days – as hard as it was to leave, because if we would not have gone we would have been denied the privilege of loving our son Titus in person and would have missed the blessing of how God has used him in our lives. Titus had failure to thrive and only weighed 9 pounds when we saw him in July. He was strong though – and we really thought he would make it home. After our visit he gained more than a pound, but on September 19 we received the call that Titus had died in his sleep. No answers were available except that we knew his malnutrition probably played a part. Our dream of him coming home to us changed to a vision of him in his real forever Home with Jesus Christ. Our faith and the support of all our family and friends would carry us through those first few days. During that time, I started asking God how we could carry on the gift that he gave us. It was clear God wanted us to do something – and it of course helped in our grieving process to think of something good coming from our heartache. The Titus Task idea was born in my heart. While talking about The Titus Task one day, a woman said something to me that struck a cord – it was as if God was speaking to me Himself – she said that even though Titus did not live many days on this Earth there is no doubt that he accomplished exactly what God had planned for him to do. That’s right – God had a specific purpose and plan for Titus – and we have yet to see it completely unfold. Seldom does a week go by that someone does not tell me how Titus’ story has affected their life. AMEN – thank you God for letting us see this beauty.

In October, with a heavy heart I went back to Haiti to see our sweet son Silas. He turned 2 that month – we celebrated with Twinkies and balloons. It was a wonderful week. Silas is a happy boy. He reminds me of Lily at that age. He laughs easily and likes to tease. He seems to love to be around people and is easy going. It was good to go back to the Orphanage and see new lives in Titus’ crib, to thank the nannies for caring for him, and take them pictures of him. They loved him too. It was healing to spend time with Silas and not as hard to leave this time as he seems fairly healthy and really happy. It is all he knows. While in Haiti in October, I also had a visit with another special boy. On the parent trips the Orphanage lets some of the older kids come to the hotel for a swim with their friends. On the afternoon of the pool party, Loudigens Richard came and had pizza with Silas and me. He didn’t speak much English, but we communicated a little and I could tell he was a very sweet boy. He played with Silas off and on and I frequently found him sitting next to me throughout the evening. When I looked across the table at Loudigens – something in him reminded me of Noel. I thought all day of how much fun they would have together. When I returned home – I couldn’t quit thinking about him. We inquired about him from the staff of the Orphanage and they told us he was 10 years old and has been living at the O more than half of his life. They told us he prays daily for a family. It didn’t take much prayer on our part to know he had a family with us. It was fun to write him a letter in November and tell him we are excited to be his family. Some of the parents just went to Haiti in January and when they saw Loudigens they talked to him about having a “Momma and Papa.” They said he ran inside the Orphanage and came back with a BIG smile pointing to a picture of Noel and I in the album I had sent him. It is going to be great fun when they are home. Our timeline – we don’t really know much, but we are hopeful for Silas to be home by summer. We had to start the process over for Loudigens – we think we will change his name to Louis – we hope he will be home by our update next year. Hope is a wonderful thing!


Life goes on for us while we are waiting. Noel is busy with 3DPT. He and 2 other guys wrote a book this year called Master Your Body – the No Equipment Necessary Exercise Program. It has been fun seeing Noel’s expertise in a book and they have a DVD coming soon. He continues to love his work. We are thoroughly enjoying our lives in Siloam Springs. We have great friends and there are a lot of family activities to take part in. I am still working in the ER and enjoy being involved in our community. I also get to work with Noel a few mornings a week and instruct a Turbo Kick class at 3DPT – that has been a stretch for me and has turned out to be a lot of fun.
My current passion is that The Titus Task has gone from an idea to a nonprofit fund. As you know from our letter last year we were blessed with a financial gift for our adoption. We knew then that our goal would be to someday give back in that same way. We have chosen to honor Titus’ memory in this way. We hope that with your help The Titus Task fund will grow and after an application and selection process a committee will prayerfully gift funds to other families in the process of adopting. It has been awesome to see God’s hand clearly at work bringing people together to start The Titus Task. There have been many hands helping to get this started and donations of time and talents. Thank you! Now, HERE IS WHERE YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! The Gap has a shirt in their Red campaign right now that says that a t-shirt can change the world. Can it? I don’t know, but this is what I do know...
By making a contribution, wearing this t-shirt, talking about The Titus Task…together we can make a difference for one child, one family, maybe 2 or 4 or 10! When thinking about adoption, I know from talking to many families more people would adopt if the initial financial burden were not as much. We could ease that burden and help more children get home. Did you know that 1 in 8 children in Haiti do not make it to age 1 due to disease and malnutrition – did you know Haiti is just a short 2 hour plane ride from the US? This is why we chose the message Love Your Neighbor for the t-shirt design. Haiti is our neighbor, but these children live in every corner of the world. It is a message for today – to look after orphans, to share our food with the hungry, to provide the poor with shelter, when we see the naked to give them the shirt off our back, to not turn away. It’s our turn. Isaiah Chapter 58 speaks of doing these things and then God tells us, if we spend ourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed – then our light will rise in the darkness. It goes on to say The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ruins of the cities and will raise up the age old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. I was reminded just last night at church that we are blessed to be a blessing. That like the woman at the well in John Chapter 4 - I need to leave my water jug that runs dry and stay connected to the Spring of Life whose waters never fail – only then do we not only quench our own thirst, but it flows out of us to others. This is our prayer – that in our son’s life time they will see a difference in Haiti, that we will see a difference in our own country, our own cities and neighborhoods– that we will Relate to people, that we will go when we are called to help Restore the places in need, that we will rightly restore our own relationships, that God will Rejoice over how The Titus Task is used and that He will get all the glory as the Giver of all good things. The design on the t-shirt is an abstract of the country of Haiti. We hope you will enjoy wearing the shirt and have many opportunities to be a voice for orphans, like Titus, around the world.

Please prayerfully consider making a tax deductible donation to The Titus Task Fund. Simply write a check to the Northwest Arkansas Community Foundation for any amount (minimum $25 for a t-shirt). You will receive your t-shirt and tax deductible receipt within 2-3 weeks. See the enclosed card for the t-shirt design, size chart, and further instructions. Thank you for blessing our family during our loss in this way and for the difference you will make for another child and family! We are excited to see what God has in store for The Titus Task and will make sure to update you as funds are received and gifts are given.

Thank you friends ~ for sharing our lives and for all your love, prayers, and support.
We love you all!
Lori – for our family
Noel, Lori, & Lily ~ Louis & Silas in Haiti

Check out our family news at www.tuglor.blogspot.com and www.thetitustask.com


Titus Calvin Tugwell
Our mighty warrior, our son – you never grew to walk this earth,
but you run in Heaven. Thank you for the way you changed our lives.
December 20, 2006 – September 19, 2007