Small Group

Pam and I will be facilitating a new "Small Group" from our church, Community Church of Chesapeake. We met last night for the very first time. We are a set of 4 families that all live within a mile or so of each other, so we share geographical closeness as a commonality. We all have children. Some are home-schooled, and some public.

We also hosted two missionary couples last night, because this weekend is missionary weekend at church. One couple participates in "church planting" in the inner city of Norfolk. The other couple is preparing to move to La Paz, Mexico to work at a youth outreach camp. Both couples were able to tell us about what they are doing and what their visions are for what they are doing.

The theme for this weekend at church is "How will they know...?" Our church is VERY mission focused; 30%+ of our church budget goes to mission work, both locally and abroad. Pam and I are very mission minded so, we feel this church is where we belong.

We'll try to keep updating about what's going on there.

Happy New Year!

Yesterday was Pam's Birthday! Yup, on Friday the 13th. She handled it well.

So what will 2012 bring?

• Leah is graduating from High School, she plans to attend a local community college.
  
• Joey has braces coming (to expand his upper palette), (his 3rd set of braces).
• July, will be our 3rd year in this house (the longest Pam and I have lived - anywhere).
• June will be my 3rd year at my job with the IRS. (Longest I've held a single job since retiring from the USAF) I still love my job, which is fantastic. And, Yes, one can be a Bible believing Christian and be a tax collector at the same time. Trust me, I prayed about this.
  
• We're praying on whether we want to home-school the younger ones in the next school year or not. We know plenty of the pros/cons. It's a matter of whether it's something we really WANT to do.
• We've been keeping our eyes open for a rental home that would be better suitable - our "Wants" are to stay in the same high school district, larger kitchen, larger dining room, and a bathtub in the master bath. Of course, we're hoping the keep the cost of it down. That last part is what's keeping us in this house.

I'm watching these kid-lets grow and mature (mostly). It is absolutely amazing to watch God at work in their lives. I love to watch or hear them play and/or work together while Pam and I are in another part of the house. I still love to hear their stories from school. I'm sad when one of their friends move away or when they lose a friend who has become less of a friend. I laugh at the silliness that kids get to be. I try to ease their tension on upcoming events - like the ACT for Leah or weekly tests for Zoe. Spring soccer season is coming soon. Busy, busy, busy.

I want this year to be a memorable one. I want it to be one the kids can hang memories on and say I remember 2012 because... Not all years can be like that, sometimes that's good, sometimes not. When I try to think back, there are plenty of years that just blended in with the rest. That's why life seems so short as we get older, because the years just blend in with the day-to-day grind. The sun comes up, the sun goes down, and the man works to feed his family.

I guess it really boils down to me trying to do things that will help them have memories to hang on to, huh? Well, I better get started then.

Blessings

Juan

Memories can be helpful

As a "second time around" dad, I try to use my memories of being a kid and my memories of parenting my first set as parenting tools. I remember being clumsy and quiet as a kid, so it helps me to be patient with the kids (most of the time). I remember getting into trouble for various things, and I try to remember what it was I thought I was doing or the reasons behind them. That helps (most of the time.).

One vivid memory I have helps me to understand how children can be playing so hard, that they completely miss what's going on around them...like darkness falling upon them. When I was about 7 years old, we lived in Landover MD. My dad was active duty Army during the Vietnam conflict and at the time he was in-patient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He had cancer in the femur of one of his legs. I don't recall which leg (that's a good thing, I think) He and his legs survived the ordeal and they are all still here to tell the story; though at 71, I'm sure his legs argue with him at times on the points of survival.

My dad, like many other dads had a few rules we were diligently taught to obey. The following were some of the key rules: 1) be in the house by the time the street lights come on. 2.) Tell them (our parents) where we were going before we left. & 3.) If we left the first place, we were to come back and notify said parents about the change in location.

Summer time was a time that these three rules would come into play daily. On one such day, my brother and I decided to go catch tadpoles and frogs. My brother is only one year older than I am. He and I were joining a bunch of friends on "a frog hunt." The usual place to go was in front of this large rain pipe thingy that water from the various street drains lead into and deposited out and developed a stream (river during heavy rains). The pipe was large enough for a small child to walk in it standing up. I don't know how I knew that, because no one was allowed to go into it, and besides it had a large grate in front of it that was designed to keep kids out of it. Yeah right! Anyway, we (a group of about 6-8 boys) were catching frogs and tadpoles, but there weren't enough to go around. So we decided to go elsewhere. Now, we did follow rule number 2, but for the life of me, I don't know why we forgot rule number 3.

We decided that a great place to go for frogs would be in the water hazards at the nearby golf course. (Now that I think about it, that probably was a very stupid idea all by itself...imagine 1967, and a bunch of "Negro" boys sneaking out on the country club golf course to catch frogs). So, we were having a great time, playing in the water, catching frogs, getting each other wet and muddy, etc. At some point one of us happens to look up at the sky. "Uh, oh!" It was pitch black dark. None of us had even noticed it because we were having so much fun, and our eyes were becoming slowly adjusted to the dark, I guess. Well, there went rule number 1. So if your kid comes home late, and gives something of this type of excuse think about it first.

Anyway, we started back home with all of us trying to get a good lie straight between us. I don't even remember what it was. It didn't matter anyway... As we were getting close to home we had to pass that place we went to originally. You know, the place with the kid sized pipe that we're not supposed to go in, but kids do anyway. As we approached the place we see LOTS of flashing red lights. Yup! Fire fighters, search and rescue, ambulance, police and a street full of parents, family and lookers on! The men were in the pipe looking for us lost kids! Whatever lie we were going to try had just lost its strength by 100%. We all meandered through the crowd looking for our respective parents. I found my dad and quietly tugged on his pant leg. My dad is an imposing man of 6'4", with keen features, a river deep voice, and a steely stare. He looked down at me and my brother and silently pointed in the direction of our house. Needless to say, even though we tried to get a good cry going before we got home, it didn't stop him from whipping us both at the same time!

Ah, fond memories! Don't you love 'em? They make us who were are, and hopefully make us better parents. (most of the time).


Care to share one of your growth memories?

Jesus & The Passover

Today, we went to church and there was a guest speaker. I'm terrible with names, so I'm not going to even pretend to remember. He was however a joyous blessing to listen to . He is a Messianic Jew, who is a missionary to Jews (JewsforJesus.org). The subject was the passover meal that Jews celebrate (The Seder), and the meal that Jesus celebrated just before he gave his life for me/us. He told us all the significance of each element of the meal, and all of the actions involved. He had samples of just about everything that would be involved in the meal, as he was explaining it. The neatest part is how he was able to show how things pointed to the Lord Jesus.

For some reason, I always find it a blessing when I meet a practicing Jew and a double blessing when I meet a Messianic Jew. I guess it's a triple blessing when I get to sit and listen to one tell of how the they love the Lord Jesus and how they are being lead to lead other's to His salvation.

It reminds me to pray for salvation for "The Branch" that was taken out so that we could be grafted in.

We're all doing fine

Our son "C" is doing well. He called me on his way home the other day and was happy to be out and about. His doctors will have to ascertain whether it is best to keep him "in" and work with him or put him before a medical board and perhaps medically retire him. We'll see what the Lord decides.

Thank you all again for all of your prayers.

Our landlord had to pull the carpet out, and Pam talked him into just leaving the old vinyl flooring the way it was. We'd much rather put out area rugs that we could roll up in future flood situations. We finally got the kids computer hooked up and running last night, they missed it terribly. We had moved it out of the family room and didn't have anywhere to set up a temporary station for it.

We lost a lot of momentos in the garage. That was the thing that hurt the most. We've been slow about moving things into the house to hang up, and had much less room to put them around to display...now they're gone. Oh well, on to making more memories!

Report cards came out. We got 2 honor roll kids, and 1 that had all highest marks (too young for honor yet). We have one that's struggling fiercely. The new ones are all progressing well and working hard.

Funny story:
"A", our 8th grade daughter, was in line to get her H1N1 flu shot at school. The person at the desk asked for her name. For most people in 8th grade that's normally not a problem. Well, we changed all of the children's first names when we brought them home. However, we'd been dragging our feet about re-adoptions, so their legal names are still their birth names. They have to remember that when asked. The school uses their legal name. Ok, still not a problem, if you've spent your life spelling your name in English letters...which she hadn't. She hesitated first because she couldn't remember it, then again when she was asked to spell it. She saw the name on the paper and pointed to it and said, "There, that's it." What made it even more difficult for her is that the school had had it misspelled for the first couple of months before we finally got someone to correct it, so she wasn't sure if they had it right or not. Then the lady asked for her birthday! LOL She knows what day her birthday is, but couldn't remember what year it is because she just used to responding with how old she is. LOL (With the Ethiopian calendar being nothing like ours, it makes it hard for her to transition)

By the way, we just finished our re-adoption of our first 3 (L, H, & J) and are waiting for some letter from the Dept of something or other that allows us to get their new birth certificates.

We have to start on our next three. We did the 1st 3 in NC, the next 3 will be in VA. Is there anyone out there who've done re-adoptions in VA by themselves? I found this one web site that tell you how to do it (for Norfolk residents) and I just need a little help in understanding some of the steps and documents.
Thanks
Juan

Home Again, Home Again!

It's finally over - four weeks of training, sitting in a classroom 8 hours a day, trying to pay attention and retain so much information, and tests upon tests. Eating out 3 meals a day for fours weeks is not all what it's cracked up to be. I missed Pam's cooking, with a passion. Thankfully I was able to come home on the weekends; some of the students came from too far away to go home on the weekends.

Richmond VA (Virginia's capital - for the geography challenged among us) is an interesting phenomenon of beautiful buildings and old south charm, but it's downtown area is so many desolate empty buildings lining the streets. There are some whole city blocks of vacant buildings. Thankfully there are a few buildings being remodeled for re-use, but the city doesn't look like what one would imagine a capital city would look like.

I've got a long "honey-do" list to get into. I'm going to have to dig deep to make it up to Pam for being the great lone soldier while I was gone. I was as frugal as I could be in saving my travel per diem up to we could afford to take the kids to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg next month.

School starts a week from Tuesday. The kids are getting anxious to meet new friends and teachers. With 7 kids in 4 different schools, it's going to be a hard and long process to get into a comfortable rhythm.

Whew!

It has been a whirlwind summer so far. I know I have not posted as much as I normally have. There are lots of reasons...Our trip to Africa which just about did my legs in. (I have had horrible leg cramps since then), husband's loss of his job, and my hours at work changing and being cut back. Add to this 3 new little ones - 7 total. That has doubled all my life chores, i.e. laundry and meals - lots of meals!! We had my daughter and her family come with friends in tow.

Then Juan gets a new job and has training out of town - for a month! In the middle of this we moved to a new city, into another home. I had to pack the hold house, and change utilities. I had to do the entire move by myself because Juan doesn't have any vacation time yet. I had to register the kids into 4 new schools, talk with all the guidance counselors, set up ESL, set up testing, take the kids for physicals, and immunisations.

Now this obviously isn't my first adoption, but this adoption just sent me into huge postpartum "baby blues". Who am I kidding; I am (was) flat out depressed. Then, on top of the depression, I was feeling guilty that I was depressed. I was afraid to talk to anyone about it since I'm the one that wanted to adopt - so why would I be depressed? I was also afraid to talk about it because depression is so misunderstood. Well meaning people wanting to to say that it is a spiritual problem. "Just get right with God." I know that I am totally right with God and I'm still depressed! Depression is an illness and it can get better or worse - but it is treatable. I am so thankful that I have a good doctor and I am now being treated. I am also thankful for my closest friends who have been with me through this the whole time. I feel a lot better and I am not crying all day!

Each day I am becoming more and more like my old self. So if I've missed returning any e-mails - email again! I am on the road back!

What I hate about moving

One of the parts I hate about moving is looking for and starting over again in a new church family/group. We pray that the Lord leads us to where He wants us to serve. We try to stay out of the way of His leading, but I'm human... We try not to find a duplicate of the church we had to leave, that's the hardest thing to do. The music and singing worship will be good, but different. The children's church/Sunday school will be good, but different. The small group gatherings will be good, but different. As much change as we've endured over the years, it's still challenging to accept change. It's stressful, it's tiring, it's scary.

We went to Believer's Church today. I'm fairly sure they are a Baptist church without the denominational tagging. The people there were all very friendly and inviting. The music was good, the facilities were very nice. Unfortunately the lead pastor was out for vacation so, we'll go back again when he returns. We realize the pastor is not the church by any means, but we kind of get the jist of where the flock is by getting to know the lead pastor. You know, where is the leader going; how close is he following the LEADER?

We have a couple other churches in the area that were suggested to us, so we'll visit them as well. Please pray that our eyes and ears will be open to the Lords leading. We need a place to serve and a place for our children to grow and be nourished.

One month today!

It has been one month today that we met our babies - the new recruits to the Johnson Clan. WOW! If every month flies this fast, before we have a chance to get to know them they'll be bringing home their babies.

Spending all day, every day with a person, it's amazing how quickly can get to know each other. Now, having a language barrier makes it a little difficult, but that becomes part of the dynamic. We've been able to get around that barrier because Leah has been our resident interpreter. That has been such a HUGE blessing. A large part of the beginning stages of adopting older children from another country is the communication. There's getting them to understand where they are, why they are here, what are our expectations, what are the new rules they live under etc.

Even with Leah, we don't get a lot of communication from their side of the relationship, but they're kids. They're still trying to get through the shock of it all. Well, a trade off for having someone here to interpret everything for us is that children - and probably adults - tend to slow down their language learning process. The boys still have not learned to put any sentences together on their own. We still get one word responses and requests - "TV, toilet, bicycle, play, water, etc." Zoe, on the other hand, is making three and four word sentences, both in responses and requests. Obviously, that has a lot to do with being a girl, and some to do with her character.

Zoe is extremely extroverted. She tends not to want to be by herself. She thrives on being the center of attention, and leans toward being a drama queen. Her expressions are grandiose, and her voice loud and bubbly. When we have our family time at the dinner table, you can see that Zoe is just busting at the seams waiting for her turn to say something. (Waiting your turn is a constant learning subject with all three). She's quick to shed a tear if she feels offended or is hurt while playing, but she will quickly change gears when she sees it's not getting her anywhere. So that tells me she's adaptable. Zoe loves to laugh and will frequently laugh so hard, tears come streaming down her face - it's a delight to see. With so many new big sisters and brothers around, she's learned that she's not the boss anymore, so that's subsided greatly. Her tiny stature sometimes makes me forget that she's eight and not five.

Davis is very quiet, even among his birth siblings. He loves riding his bicycle more than anything else. He has no problem asking for things. Of course, I have no problem saying, no. We're working diligently on getting him to use full sentences - or phrases. Because of his extremely dark complexion, other children teased him a lot so he's a little more sensitive than most. He tends to be a whiner, something we have to work on - we're not family that puts up with whiners and tattle-tails. Davis loves to laugh, and is ultra-ticklish. You even look like you're going to tickle him and he starts shrieking with laughter. He was the first get his medical physical done and he's in very good condition(still waiting on lab results). With only one good pediatrician on this beach, getting an appointment is hard. The funny thing is, Davis is matchstick thin but his weight is "average" on the growth chart. You can count his ribs and the boy's knees are wider than his legs, people! Ethiopians have denser bones and muscle tissue is all I can say. I don't see this as being a life long problem, because this boy can EAT. He'll eat as much as I do, and eats faster than anyone at the table. That is a habit formed in Ethiopia (a long story that we've not quite gotten the grasp of yet)

Justin's extreme shyness is his major character trait. When he does speak (which is very infrequently) you can barely hear him. When he speaks or when we talk to him he looks down at the floor. He's slow to try new things (other than food, he's a good eater). He has a quick and easy smile, that will keep him out of trouble at school. I think he's going to be our atheletic one, and he loves soccer. He's a bit air headed (we say blond) so we're continually having to remind him of the family rules and expectations. He's also a bit clumsy when playing with the little ones, so we have frequently remind him to be careful.

I've started a reading program we found on-line, "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons" So far, so good. It's supposed to be able to teach them to read at the 2nd grade level by the time you get to the end. That will be great for Zoe and Davis. Justin will have some major issues, obviously. We are going to have some major education issues with all of them because they can't read, even in their own language. But hey, what good is a roller coaster without a few loopy-loops? Right?

We're ready for the ride of our lives. All hands up! WHOOOOHOOOO!!!

How can I say no?

12 years ago when I took Jesus serious at His invitation, I said "Yes" to Him and gave Him my life and my life has never been the same since. I have chosen this road I'm on and I can not say no to Jesus. Oh, He allows me to choose to say yes or no, but how can I say no?

At times people ask us why we are doing what we are doing. People sometimes think we're crazy or foolish. What they don't understand is that to say no to a child in need is to say no to Jesus. To turn my back on someone I can help is to turn my back on my Lord.

I spent my first 44 years living my own life to please myself. My goal was to be successful - in the world's definition of success - and at times I was very successful, but I was so unhappy inside. I knew deep down inside that there had to have been so much more to life than just what the world viewed as success.

As I matured in my walk with Jesus, I got serious about what it was He wanted out of my life. He was serious when He said, "Take care of the poor and defenseless orphans." How could I say no to a beautiful little boy that had special needs as he languished in an orphanage in China? How could I say no to these two sibling groups of brothers and sisters as they struggled for survival in Ethiopia? So many others had said no to them. I would be saying no to God. My God is big enough to help me. He pours His love and nurturing through me so that I can be a loving and nurturing mom to these older orphaned children. I will not say no to God. I have to say yes, even if He places more kids in our hearts and minds.

Sure, I would love to travel the world as I did before them. I would love to buy another sports car. I would love to live in a swanky loft in the big city. That would be me all the way. But it's not about me...is it? That is not what I am called to do. My life is not my own. I am bought and paid for, I belong to Jesus.

Maybe when my little ones are grown and gone I'll see that sports car or that loft, or maybe not. My reward may wait until Heaven. But, I'm not taking this journey for a reward. God has called me and I'm being obedient because I love and trust Him. How can we say we love the Lord God but live in comfort while the unloved go unloved? How can we say we love the Lord Jesus while the orphaned stay orphans, or while the street kids roam the streets? How can I say I love the Lord and stand idle as the poor become poorer and are exploited by the rich? Loving the fatherless, loving the abandoned and loving the seemingly hopeless requires a sacrifice.

This road will be long, lonely and VERY difficult. I may be misunderstood, unappreciated, and maybe even scorned by the very ones that have been put into my life. But Jesus NEVER said that it was going to easy, full of songs and flowers and earthly rewards. I know this, but how can I say no? The true Christian walk is not a walk in the park, picking flowers and singing love songs to the Lord. He put his here to love Him. To love Him is to serve Him. To serve Him is to serve those whom He loves. Parenthood is a life of service.

How can I say no to them when they need me - He did not say no to me.

Trip to Ethiopia (Part 5)

While we were out we went to visit a compound for one of the African Widows and Orphans Projects (AWOP). http://www.awop.org/ It's known locally as the Firewood Woments project. The women here make a living weaving long scarves on manually operated looms. We had been blessed to see this place the last time we were here and now they are much bigger and doing more. There were many tiny preschoolers who came out to greet us and each took turns shaking our hands and saying "Hello!"

The women, prior to coming to this place, used to earn money walking miles up the side of the mountains next to Addis, to gather firewood to sell on a daily basis. They would be fortunate to make the equivalent of about $1 a day. They would then have to figure out how to feed their babies and themselves. The project has come from the Lord to give them a way of making a better wage and having a safe place for their babies while they work.

This project now has a little school and few other buildings that we didn't see the last time we were here. The loom frames were made from slender, rough hewed poles. Now they have metal frames. The buildings are still rather dark and arcane, but I'm sure that can be remedied as funds become available. Each of the scarves sold will pay for so much more than the women could ever make selling firewood. It gives them a little more independence and provides a learning place for their little ones. This is Pam's passion - women supporting women - doing for themselves rather than backbracking labor, begging or selling themselves in order to survive.

Many Westerners are reluctant to help other countries when they believe that they are perpetuating a problem. I understand that feeling, I used to feel that way myself. Until the Lord showed me what real need is, what real compassion is and what people will do if given an opportunity to help themselves. This project is one of the best examples of people who are in real need, receiving real compassion and doing something positive about.

Trip to Ethiopia (Part 4)

The first night together was quiet. Davis was a restless sleeper, which I'm sure was due to nerves. Zoe was rather restless as well, but it is so cute to watch her wake up. She bends and stretches, moans and hums like an infant. Justin sleeps like a rock.

In the morning, we enjoy cereal and bananas together with the other couple of families here at the guest house. One family is adopting a little 3 year girl who is lively and active. The other family is adopting a 10 month old little girl. We have mothers, fathers, some grandmothers, and kids all together; it was great!

Pam and I take a few hours to go shopping for the kids. Before we leave we have the nanny try to explain to the kids where we're going and we try to assure them of our return. That didn't go over well with Zoe, because she tears up and starts clinging to Mommy. When we get back she's the first one to run to Mommy for a hug. Davis is more of a copy cat than a hugger, but it's all good because he gets hugs whether he understands why or not. Justin comes in for a hug out of politeness; he'll be the one that will take the most work on bonding - or so it seems. Appearances can be deceiving, we found that out through experience.

While we we out we got to know our interpreter, Aki and our driver, Yosef. These are wonderful Christian men who've been working for the guest house for a couple of years. Yosef gave us his testimony. Yosef grew up on the streets and one day was taken in by a Christian group and was sponsored by a Christian family here in the US. He came to know the Lord as a young teen and has been serving Him ever since. In his own words he said that he was "the fruit of my sponsor's labor, and I want to serve him like he served me for so many years." He and his sponsor still communicate and his sponsor even bought him a car.

Yosef's wife currently works with a Christian ministry that helps street people come off the streets. They clothe and feed them, and try to get any young ones back to their families, if possible. They teach them the word of the Lord. If they are unable to go back to their families they try to teach them life skills and independence skills. They even help them start self employment, like selling items in the city. Yosef's dream is to expand on this some where in Addis Ababa. He needs a bit of Bible teaching and leadership training, which is something he's working at now. We are praying that the Lord will guide his path in this. Yosef's heart is so big and tenderhearted for his people, it made us cry to hear his story.

Aki's story was very similar. His beginnings were in the streets, but he was a gang leader that went about robbing and stealing for a living. One day the Lord shown a light into his life that brought him to group of Christians from SIM (Serving in Missions) that lead him to the Lord and he has been serving him ever since. He had a sponsor who helped him get through school and he now works for the guest house. He spends every spare cent (birr) helping a few families with small children in his neighborhood.

It was people like Aki and Yosef that actually helped reassure us that those commercials that you see on TV are real. The children actually do receive this help. They actually live full and blessed lives and are able to carry on the Lords work. So if you have the opportunity to sponsor a child through Compassion International or some agency like that...Do it!! Like that movie "Pay it forward", your blessings will be paid out exponentially.

Trip to Ethiopia (Part 3)

When we get the kids back to the guest house, the first order of business is to get them into some better clothes. That was easier said than done because we weren't terribly sure what sizes they were actually wearing. Even though CWA care takers tried to give us measurements, the measurements weren't the same way we do it here. Justin is skinnier and Davis was shorter than we anticipated. Zoe was about where we thought she was. So we had to go do some shopping the next day. Meanwhile we sat around the room and watched them play with toys we'd brought along for them.

It was a delight to listen to them talk among themselves. They are typical kids with animated speech, and they all talk at once. It didn't take us but about 15 minutes to figure out that Zoe was in charge and the boys bowed to her will. She's much more extroverted and has already shown a talented grasp for learning English. (I think it's part being a girl and part being competitive) She and Analyse will be a great deal alike.

When we try to gauge their grasp of English, it is Zoe who tries to answer all the questions, even for the boys. They do have a larger vocabulary than our first three did at the very beginning, so that will help some. Unfortunately, we can tell that their vocabulary is disjointed because the boys can't form sentences with the words they know. Zoe can put two simple words together to form sentences. At one point she holds my face in her hands to get my attention and says, "Daddy toilet". By Wednesday, she was putting several words together as two word sentences to tell me she was looking for a specific toy and believes that we left it upstairs after nap time. After we looked for it for awhile, she told me to forget it and we move on to something else. Amazing!

Lunch and dinner were fairly uneventful. Praise the Lord!! They eat what was put before them without too much of a fuss. Another lesson learned from the first set - eat American food, right away! Davis is our enthusiastic but messy eater, Zoe is the very picky eater, and Justin fits somewhere in middle. We get to introduce them to our family tradition of holding hands while we ask the Lord's blessing; then we rhythmically squeeze hands as we say, "I - Love -You."

The kids play out in the yard with balls that are just laying around. They seem so non-plussed by the whole deal. I wonder if they are really as calm and content as they seem (something we've been praying about ever since the Lord showed them to us to choose). We shall see.

Trip to Ethiopia (Part 2)

Monday morning, we were to meet our little ones for the very first time. I'm so nervous, I want to throw up. I want everything to go perfectly and I don't even know what "perfectly" would be. The man from CWA who came to take us to meet them was the same young man that helped us three years ago when we brought home our other three little ones. Our oldest daughter, Leah had had a schoolgirl's crush on Mesfin, and we teased her about him on occasion. Unfortunately for her, he was just about to become engaged. So we caught up on the each other's lives. How the children had grown and how they were doing in school etc. He had graduated from college and was working full time for CWA now.

We arrived at the CWA office, when we drove up close to the building beyond the gate, I could see Zoe peeking around a door. She had that angelic smile (the one that's going to keep me in trouble for sure). When we got out of the van all three children came out and the two younger ones had their arms wide open for a hug. I scooped Zoe up in my arms and just held my baby girl. Her little body is so tiny, but her grip was strong. I smelled her hair, kissed her face, squeezed her some more before I finally set her down to meet her new Mamma. Pam was holding both Justin and Davis. We can see and feel the shyness in Justin. Davis is grinning ear to ear when I pick him up. I can tell he is going to be the family comedian/clown. (He's already fitting in at home with silly antics) Justin tries to be the mature young man and offers me a hand to shake - I grab him up! He'll never be to big to hug. We all exchange more hugs, and close inspections. After a few pictures we go in to fill out a little paper work. Zoe is already aware that she's Daddy's Little Girl, because she comes right over and sits in my lap as I'm sitting down.

Afterward we met with the counselor and nurse who go over their lives a little for us. There was nothing new that hadn't already been relayed to us in the updates sent to us over the past six months or so. Then we were given the opportunity to visit the houses that they had been staying in since coming to Addis Ababa almost 2 months ago. They are basically group homes with care takers watching over them. The boys and girls live in separate houses down the road from each other. The girl's house also has all the babies. I guess there were about 20 or so children in each house ranging from infants to about 12-13years old. Each home is protected within a walled compound. We were able to meet the caretakers; Pam and I conveyed our heartfelt appreciation for all that they have done and are doing for these little one's of God. We're not allowed to take pictures (To protect the privacy of the children). We were able to bring 3, 35gallon tubs full of donated items. There is so much still needed at these homes. Please, if you want to help, give financial donations to CWA.

After a short visit, we head back to the guest house with OUR children!

Our Trip to Ethiopia (Part 1)

We started out on Saturday the 16th. Linda and Gary took us to the Norfolk Airport, where we stood in a seriously long line. The whole time we're in line, I was watching the confusion going on at the counter. I felt that things were not going to go smoothly, but instead it was a piece of cake.

God slips in treats for His children ever so often, just to keep us moving. The airline's web site said that overweight charges would be $150 for anything between 51-75lbs. We had three huge tubs full of stuff donated by our church family and friends that were between 50 -75lbs. Plus we had our one check suitcase that we had at around 50lbs. The lady only charged us $150 total! So the extra money that was donated for excess baggage, we were able to donate to the orphanage.

We flew from Norfolk to DC and from DC to Ethiopia. We met quite a few families on their way to Ethiopia to adopt children, mostly babies and a few youngsters. The trip to Ethiopia was fairly forgettable (Which can be a good thing). I'd almost swear Ethiopian Airlines must hold beauty contests for their flight attendants. Amazing.

We arrived in Addis Ababa on Sunday, midday. Going through customs and immigration in Addis Ababa was long and tedious, but fairly uneventful as well. We met a Church group from Montana that was coming into Ethiopia for a couple of weeks on a short term mission trip. They were really excited to get to work. We were met at the airport by an Interpreter/Driver from CWA, who took us to The Ethiopian Guest House.

We had a suite that took up the top floor of the guest house, it was a beautiful and welcomed sight for very tired eyes. Thankfully we arrived at the guest house right at bedtime, so our bodies didn't have to struggle to get to sleep. Of course because of the 7 hour time difference between the East Coast and Addis, that was the last night of restful sleep for either of us. The only negative of the room (I'm American I have to complain about something!) was the bed - hard as a stone.

But, sleep we did because we were going to meet our little ones in morning.

We're HOME!!

Well, here we are...Exhausted but elated none-the-less. Our "babies" are home in our arms. Justin, Zoe, and Davis. I'm going to make this brief and then the details will start coming in, in short quips as I have time.

Suffice it to say that the trip though short, made profound impacts on our lives. This was not only because of the three new lives joining us, but for the experiences we had in Ethiopia. The Lord had several divine appointments for us while we were there. We met some beautiful Christian people. We saw some heart wrending scenes. We took in some very interesting experiences. And again, our lives were changed because of all of it.

Ethiopia is full of beautiful people - both poor and rich, living basically side-by-side. We met many adoptive families in Ethiopia, that was heart lightening - even if there were 20 some crying babies on the plane ride home!

We got to experience the deep, deep love of a church family that does not hesitate to step in and do whatever is needed - Brenda, Linda, & Nancy - took care of our babies while we were gone. We will forever be indebted (a debt of love) to them. May the Lord pour out tremendous blessings on them.

Nancy kept up our blog for us while we were gone. She writes better than I do.

Much, much more to come.

Why the name changes?

We've been asked why do we choose to change our children's names. Adoptive parents have a choice to change or not change their children's names.

• When Pam and I bring our children home, changing their names gives us as parents that sense of primary parenthood because we named them. (That may sound shallow to some, but it's meaningful to us)
• We try to parallel the Lord's adoption of us. When we became Christians, we became new creatures with new lives, new cultures, and new languages to learn. Several times, He gave his newly adopted children new names (i.e. Abram/Abraham, Jacob/Israel, Saul/Paul)
• Some of our children have fairly difficult names to pronounce (There are people who still screw up my name). We wanted to ease their problems in school. Try on Netsanet, Tseganesh, Bereket, Fujian, Meron, Efraim, and Tsegahun. A couple of them are not too difficult.
• We have retained their birth names in the legal names. Their birth names and family names will become their "middle names". So once they reach adulthood/college they can go by any name they choose.

Some adoptive parents change names, some don't. We know one family that has changed some of their children's names and not the others.

Life is Good!

Spring is here and summer is around the corner:

• I spent last Saturday at 3 different kids' soccer games.
• Our schedule calendar had only about 3 days with nothing on it for this month (No wait, that's just being a big family!)
• Yesterday, Pam went to watch the sunrise at the beach with a couple of her close friends (Imagine a beach chair, some hot coffee, warm sun, a cool morning breeze & good friends).
• Our dog, who normally hates the outdoors, (We sometimes call her Miss Princess) takes about 10 minutes to do her business now before she decides to come back in.
• The boys are wearing shorts and sandals to school.
• Kids at school are starting to get into more and more trouble (The girls are telling us about drug busts, bomb scares, fights- and these are "good" schools)
• I'm wearing shorts and sandals everyday now.
• We only have 3 weeks before we go to Ethiopia!!!

Closer & Closer, Day-by-Day

Friday we received an e-mail from CWA telling us that the 3-2-B ours were being moved from their orphanage in Soddo to the foster home (Think group home) in Addis Ababa. Normally this wouldn't happen until right before the court date, but the orphanage needed more room. This will be good for the kids because it's quieter, smaller, and they get a little bit more adult attention there. This should help their psyche's as well because it will make them feel closer to leaving.

Prayer needs...Recently the State Department held a meeting with the adoption agencies working in Ethiopia and gave out some new guidelines (rules). One was that the Embassy appointment dates will be every other week instead of every week, so that will slow up the processes some. Please pray that the timing of our appointment won't be delayed too long.

Another change came from the Center for Disease Control (CDC). All children will be retested for diseases following their court appointments. The major concern was for HIV (of course)Hepatitis A, and TB. If a child tests positive for TB (even if it's non active/latent- a common occurrence), they will have to be treated in Ethiopia before they leave the country. This is a minimum 6 month treatment. Please pray that all 3 test negative again on everything.

We were planning on taking our oldest daughter to Ethiopia with us (built in interpreter), but we're having a problem getting her American passport. We hadn't re-adopted our last three children yet so we don't have an American birth certificate. Please pray that there's some other way to get this done.

Praises...

• We received a grant from an charitable foundation in CA (Thank you again to them).
• I have two job interviews this week. One in Norfolk VA, and one in Herndon VA (DC Metro area). The job in DC is a Federal job; that one I want more, for obvious reasons.
• Pam has a friend she's known for 30 some years, she and her husband are coming down from upper Pennsylvania to visit us for a week in April
• Pam has another friend she's known since high school, she and her husband are traveling from Oregon to DC for vacation in June and we might be able to go see them.

Well, I gotta get to church. PRAISE THE LORD!

The Joys of Parenthood

Pam and I are part of a "Home group" that meets weekly for Bible study and fellowship. We're a small group of 5 couples, all married and all have children at various stages in life. As part of our study we are currently watching a video series that is covering 1Thessalonians. Last night's topic of discussion was mentoring young Christians (young, meaning new to the faith). God asks us through Paul to mentor new Christians to help guide them in the early stages of Christian life. This helps them to recognize pitfalls and detours that they may not have been able to readily recognize on their own. It also helps them to learn to become mature, wise, strong, and to find their purpose in this life. We can also be there for when (not if) they need help with anything - spiritual or just to help with everyday life.

When you look at the examples of mentoring in the Bible, it readily loans itself to being like parenthood. Because all of these things are needed for our children as they go and grow through the early stages of life. And our goal is to help them to become mature, wise, strong and purposeful. With mentoring our children, we not only get to help shape their little lives now, but their futures. A wise and strong child will make different decisions than a hapless child left to live life without a rudder. And some of those decisions have monumental and eternal consequences. It saddens me when I hear parents say, "Oh, I'm going to let my child make up his own mind about God and the Bible when he/she gets old enough." I think about all the decisions that child will make between now and then...and then after.

God brought our 2nd youngest son, "D" to us from China. From the first day, he has seen his parents living the life of Christian people. We live, we grow, we laugh, we cry, we fall, we soar. And in all things we give glory to God and our Savior Jesus Christ. We faithfully attend church family gathering, we participate, we faithfully give of ourselves and our finances. We talk about our faith openly with our children and we try to share it with our friends and family. We pray together as a family regularly. We connect life lessons with God's word in hopes of watching their lives soak this all in. Then one night, after nighttime prayers, "D" turns to me and says, "Dad, how do I become a Christian?" Absolutely nothing else in life makes me happier than hearing words to that affect coming from my own children. We prayed together that night and I baptised him in the Sound some weeks later.

Mentoring a young Christian is challenging and time consuming. Mentoring your children is challenging and time consuming. The joy of watching the fruit...PRICELESS.