{"id":1370,"date":"2019-07-08T15:21:29","date_gmt":"2019-07-08T15:21:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/?p=1370"},"modified":"2019-07-08T15:24:46","modified_gmt":"2019-07-08T15:24:46","slug":"miracle-six-year-old-inspires-familys-faith-fitness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/?p=1370","title":{"rendered":"Miracle six-year-old inspires family’s faith, fitness"},"content":{"rendered":"

What started as a well-baby check to find the gender of her yet-to-be-born son a little more than six years ago turned into a very somber test of faith for Jamie Swan, of Middleburg, and her husband, Rob.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were told it was a boy, but something was wrong. We were sent to a specialist in Harrisburg, and everyone came in to look at the ultrasound and then took us to a room to talk,\u201d Jamie remembered. \u201cThey shared that he wasn\u2019t moving his arms and legs properly and most likely wouldn\u2019t survive birth. They recommended we consider termination \u2014 but that wasn\u2019t an option for us. We figured this was part of God\u2019s plan for his life.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few months later, on June 20, 2013, Griffin was born.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe was perfectly healthy. He was born with some physical limitations, but he has found ways to adapt and continues to inspire us and everyone around him with his positive attitude ever since,\u201d Jamie said. \u201cYou rarely will find him without a smile on his face. He\u2019s so happy and enjoys trying to make others laugh. He wants to do things for himself and pushes himself, and that really inspires others in their own lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rob agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were encouraged to terminate because they didn\u2019t think he would live, but here he is inspiring change in our family and friends,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Griffin was diagnosed with arthrogryposis, a condition involving lack of muscle and joint stiffness at birth that can affect daily functioning. Griffin uses a wheelchair, although he has built up the ability to walk short distances with a walker.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has no biceps muscle, so he can\u2019t actively bend his arm,\u201d said Jamie. \u201cHowever, he pushes against table and that is how he bends the arm. He does it with a smile, adapts and figures it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Griffin\u2019s perseverance has inspired his family in a similar way. Jamie decided to start running 5K races for Griffin in 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made a vow to him that I would run for him until he could run for himself,\u201d she said. \u201cMy husband has started running and we, as a family, have become more fit because Griffin is there cheering us on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The inspiration for better fitness didn\u2019t stop there. Rob and Jamie decided to pioneer a CrossFit-style workout program at their church, New Hope Baptist near Middleburg, they call \u201cChristFit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe program runs a few days a week and is free to both members of the church and the general public,\u201d Rob said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lead off with prayer and a scripture reading, then work out and encourage each other and then end in prayer,\u201d Jamie added. \u201cIt is like strengthening both your soul and body together while helping to encourage others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sessions run 7:30-8:30 p.m. Mondays, 7:40-8:40 p.m. Wednesdays, 5-6 a.m. Fridays and 7-8 a.m. Saturdays.<\/p>\n

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Griffin has endured five surgeries already, and more may be necessary as he gets older to help offset growth in joints and bones.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that as he gets older, we may need to be stronger to help him adjust. We try to do everything we can to make sure he is included in all our activities, and we are an active family,\u201d she said. \u201cHe really has motivated us to lose weight and get ourselves in shape.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family, including Griffin\u2019s five older siblings, does everything it can to raise awareness for arthrogryposis and has created a Facebook page called \u201cTeam Griffin,\u201d in which they share photos and videos in an effort to inspire others.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of people that follow the page and it helps them through their own struggles,\u201d said Jamie. \u201cWe share milestone moments for Griffin, showing him working hard in therapy, and people often comment or tell me in person that they may go to the page having a bad day, but then they see Griffin doing his thing and it lifts them up and motivates them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jamie admits that her role as Griffin\u2019s mother over the past six years has not always been easy, but that her faith grounds her and has helped her overcome the most trying of moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite verse is the one that encourages us to \u2018be still and know that I am God,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cI spend a lot of time in prayer, especially during his surgeries and the moments when things are harder to deal with.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout our faith, I don\u2019t know how we\u2019d get through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What started as a well-baby check to find the gender of her yet-to-be-born son a little more than six years<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[1026,1027,1030,1031,1029,1028],"class_list":["post-1370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christian-walk","tag-arthrogryposis","tag-griffin-swan","tag-jamie-swan","tag-new-hope-baptist","tag-rob-swan","tag-team-griffin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1370"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1376,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1370\/revisions\/1376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}