Kids Views

Well, I made it home from Spokane and 'Vanna made it home from camp and just in time for a week of VBS!!! Oh, God is funny sometimes! I need some sleep! I must admit that part of this is my own doing: not os much sleep over the weekend with my sister-n-law and good friend! Hey, come on, we all have kids and husband and like NEVER go anywhere without one or the other!! So, given the opportunity to have 2 nights of sleep-over well, we had some major girl talk to do! We had visits on the back patio with BBQ, lunch at a cute little lake view place, a walk around the lake, and late night talks. Ya, we had some great late night talks. It is amazing where we all are and have been in our walks and how we each can grow from another. And, of course, the young'ens can have a sleep over and still be up at the crack of dawn. I need sleep!!

Adoption: Hmmm, best estimate is about 24 and so ... still waiting! :):) The Coxs and Moles received a court date finally for 7/15 so keep praying for them and the next travel group is getting ready to head out on 7/05 so pray for travel safety for them. There are still about 7 or 8 families waiting for court dates, hoepfully before the closure around Aug. 8th. Pray that MOWA is able to accomplish much before this closure happens because less now is even more for back-log when they open in October which will make it even a longer wait for us to bring home our kiddos! Much to pray about!!

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin 5, and Ryan 3
The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake.
Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson.
'If Jesus were sitting here, He would say,
'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'
Kevin turned to his younger brother and said,
'Ryan, you be Jesus!'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A father was at the beach with his children
when the four-year-old son ran up to him,
grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore
where a seagull lay dead in the sand.
' Daddy, what happened to him?' the son asked.
'He died and went to Heaven,' the Dad replied.
The boy thought a moment and then said,
'Did God throw him back down?'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, once again, I am way behind on my own blog! I have been able to read about 20 of the blogs I enjoy today, done the dishes, finished up all the laundry, mowed yesterday and am watering today. Does any of that really matter to you? Not really, but it does to someone here I hope. Savannah got home from Portland on Thursday afternoon last week and then left again Monday morning for church camp for the week. I am leaving on Friday morning for Spokane to see Monica and Steve for the weekend: He is really doing wonderful at this point. I get to fly with one of my bestest friends and so will spend alot of time with girl talk! I so need that. Relationships are such a special thing (most of the time!) and yet require so much work and time. I know that I really do not keep up with some as much as I should and then where does all the time go when all of a sudden I haven't talked with someone in a month or two!! So please know I think of you often and no I am not mad at you and you did not do anything wrong when you have not heard from me for awhile, I am just being a bad friend!! :):)

I don't have much news of the adoption front for us. BUT the Tennants have received a toddler boy referral and the Gibson's passed court and are now waiting to travel with the Raymers and Ords!!! God is so good! There are also about 7 families right now waiting to pass court before the closures so that they can travel to get their kiddos!! Please continue to pray for the many steps in this process. We are about 25 to 28 in line right now and so still have a way to go but ... well, one day! I also found this on T-shirts and Onsies and so HAD to share it today!

Sorry Angelina

I am taken!

It is from the CafePress website on my blog roll and I LOVE THIS SITE!!! I could get into trouble. They have so many things for adoption and by country and for moms/dads/aunts/uncles/brothers/sisters/ and on. Check out this site!!

Malachi 3:3 Refine me, Oh Lord

Food for thought today:
Malachi 3:3 says: 'He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.' This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.
That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: 'He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.' She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?'He smiled at her and answered, 'Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it.' If today you are feeling the heat of the fire , remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

Well, I just can't seem to keep up with my own blog because I a to busy living life and then reading everyone elses! I know, I know! I just can't help but read and keep up to date on my "adopted" friends. Some have received referrals ~ Ducommun; Cox; Moles; Wempe; and Redferns: please keep them in prayer for a quick and successful court date! the Gibsons, Raymers, and Ords are waiting to pass court on the 06/07 ~ praying they pass the first time! These will all hopefully be able to go get their kiddos before the court closure begins in August. The West, Cordells, Kidds, Shaetz, and Gardners are all leaving this Saturday (the 7th) to go get their kids!!!!! Praying for safe travel and smooth transition in ET!!! These are my fellow laborer's in Christ in this journey we are on ~ I love you all!!!

The above is what we have been doing! We still have our friends here and you can see that Isaiah and Landon have had some great bonding!! They are pretty cute together. They go and go and go and then (at last) SLEEP!!!! YEA, mommy needs some sleep sometimes too!

I wanted to share this information with you all to maybe better understand the process (though this does not make it any easier!) once we finally get to this stage.

The Court Process: After a family accepts their referral, some final papers are gathered. The file is then submitted to court once a court date is issued, reps submit the file to MOWA at least 7 days before the court date. Then AWAA informs the family of when a court date has been set.The Court's role is to finalize the adoption- either by granting it, not approving it (rare), or by requesting more information to allow them to grant the adoption. At the court hearing, the court handles things like relinquishment and establishment of the child as an orphan. They review MOWA's opinion and make a ruling on the adoption. Once they rule in favor of the adoption, the child is legally yours.MOWA's role is to investigate the child and family, and decide if the adoption should be granted. MOWA takes the file, reviews the paperwork, and issues an opinion (favorable or unfavorable) about granting the adoption, or requests more information. The opinion is usually issued the day before the court date, although due to recent power outages and internal changes in MOWA, there has been some hold up of late.

Steve update ~ Surgery was 05/20/08

Thought I would put in a note here for those of you still praying for Steve. They are both hanging in! Praying you home, We love you both!

Wed. May 28,2008
365 feet, one step at a time. That's how many steps Coach was able to take last night. Any of you who know him well, know that he is NOT a quitter. He is quite the overachiever, in fact. So, last night was his first night on the 6th floor after surgery. I had been sleeping next to him on a cot every night prior to his surgery, so I figured once we returned to the 6th floor, it would be the same. Not quite. You see, he is still in a lot of pain. He can't sleep in one position for long. The nausea is unbearable at times, and his coumadin levels are high right now. Last night at one point, I leaned forward to help him, and he had gauze shoved up his nose because he was bleeding (they are working on the levels). His lasix intake is high, because they are still trying to get some of the water off of him. From the waist up, he looks like he has lost about 20 lbs. However, because of his split sternum, he needed help getting his legs into bed because he had to guard his torso. He was looking for me to help raise his legs up into bed in a nice smooth manner... didn't happen. He kind of gave me the "what happened" look.... I nicely explained that he was sportin' about 20 extra lbs. of water in those legs, and nothing was happenin' smoothly at this point. WE LAUGH A LOT THROUGH ALL OF THIS!! I left the hospital this morning, after about only an hour of sleep. I went to my brother-in-law's house to climb into the bed that I call "mine" for right now. My sister-in -law, Katie, has been so gracious through all of this. She brings me healthy food, and walks with me, and lets me talk about "stuff". Our devotions today, were from Romans 12:2 .".Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." Frankly, my attitude stunk this morning. It's on days like today, that I have to make a conscious effort to change my attitude. I am competitive, and I don't like it when I allow Satan to control my thoughts. So, I had to get out of "isolation" today... and enjoy the sunshine and some alone time with God. Our I.V. therapy nurse has become such a terrific friend. She has invited Steve and I up to her home for a "date night" once he is discharged. She said something profound to me today. She said... Monica... Steve's needs are great right now... he is NOT your patient... he is your Husband. Let us meet his needs here... you meet his needs emotionally and physically. Wow! why hadn't I thought of that? God brought "Suzie" to us about 3 days after we arrived in Spokane. She just returned from a mission trip in El Salvador. She is an angel. God just keeps bringing them to us. Through the nurses, through the doctor's, and through all of you. Thank you for standing in the gap for us on days like today, when, at times, we don't even have the strength to draw our swords. We love you.... and we continue with victory. Our blessings are abundant!Love, Mon

Shots and Rain!

Let the shots begin! So this is my daughter and I with the first set of shots before we can go. This was a grand thing not only because it feels like we are doing something but also because Savannah HATES needles!! I was so proud of her!! Tracy will get his from the VA office so that will save us a little money. Saubi is all current on her shots and even has the HepA already; I thought this was a good thing but she was not happy that everyone got a shot but her. Go figure! So we will have another shot next month and then again in about 5 months from now. This will put us about November and I am hoping to have some very excellent news by that time!! Oh please Lord!

AND it is raining in ET today! Thank you lord!! You are good, all the time; all the time you are good!!

We have some very wonderful friends that we are blessed with. Right Beverly and Landon (16 months) are visiting us for a couple of weeks; daddy is in Iraq again. So I just thought I would share a couple of pictures with you all. They are a blessing to have around!!

Compassion Article

Last November as I was to deliver the address at Compassion's first Leadership Development Program (LDP) graduation in Ethiopia, I remembered a tearful promise uttered from the depths of my broken heart.We were honoring 16 outstanding university graduates who were among the first Compassion-sponsored children there in 1993. As I watched these young adults speak with poise and confidence about their accomplishments and dreams, it was obvious that even though they had been born in poverty, poverty had not been born in them.For the graduation program, two Ethiopian leaders and I took part in a foot-washing ceremony as a charge to the graduates to follow Christ's example of servant leadership. It was expected that I would wash the feet of a male graduate. But as I walked onto the platform, I looked into the soft, dark eyes of a young woman graduate named Abaynesh and felt strongly compelled to kneel in front of her instead. Her eyes, filled with a calm dignity, were mysteriously familiar.Suddenly a flood of memories transported me back to 1985, the year Abaynesh was born. Ethiopia was suffering from a devastating famine.Communism ruled and the Ethiopian Church was enduring great persecution. Compassion's Child Sponsorship Program was not operating there at that time, but we did provide relief funds. Our president Wally Erickson sent me, his assistant, to Ethiopia to make sure the money was allocated as intended "in Jesus' name."I flew to a refugee camp in the country's Gamo-Gofa region. As I stepped off the small plane into this crowded tent city in the wilderness, I found myself face to face with the sadly familiar TV images of the emaciated masses. But now I met them as the brave individuals they were, hoveringon the brink of survival with as much dignity as possible. Having grownup in Africa myself as the son of missionaries, I had lost many boyhood friends to poverty's cruelties and I thought I knew poverty. But I had never experienced anything like this.My guide took me to a tent reserved for severely malnourished infants.Dozens of young mothers were sitting on the ground with babies in theirlaps who were too weak to cry. The mothers were skin and bones and their breasts had no milk for their little ones. But they were dipping their fingers into bowls of infant formula provided by the relief efforts and were patiently trying to force it, drop by drop, into the slack mouths of their starving children. I sat down in the dirt and joined a small circle. One frail mother, still a girl herself, handed me her baby girl. She must have thought I was a doctor or at least might somehow produce a miracle. Her daughter was slipping away and this was her last desperate grasp at hope.I took the child, limp as a doll, and held her. I too dipped my finger into the formula and placed a drop on her lips. Through a blur of tears I beggedher, "Please swallow, sweetheart. Please live." I watched in dismay as the nourishment — too little, too late — dribbled away. Then her half closed eyelids opened wide, clear and serene, and our eyes met. Her tiny,protruding ribs slowly rose, then fell, in a silent sigh. Then nothing more.Her head rolled slowly to the side … and she was gone. This precious little princess died in my arms.I will never forget that moment as long as I live. It galvanized God's callingon my life. I whispered to her, "I'm so sorry I couldn't save you." This was wrong! Through tears and clenched teeth I added, "I promise you, one day Compassion will come here." Deep sorrow enveloped that young mother as I gently handed back her lifeless baby. As she rocked her daughter's body, we cried together. When I left and the tent-flap door fell behind me,I could still hear her anguished weeping and it pierced my heart.Eight years later, during my first year as Compassion's president,Ethiopia's Communist government collapsed. After 17 long years the persecution ended and the Church of Ethiopia sent the message: "Comequickly now. We are free. Our children need Compassion." It was my first decision as president and an easy one to make. After all, I had alreadymade it years ago in my promise to a dying princess.So on this special graduation day, as I knelt with towel and basin before another Ethiopian princess — one who had grown and thrived because of her caring Compassion sponsor — I remembered where I had seen those noble eyes before. Abaynesh could have been that sweet infant girl who had died in my arms 23 years ago; that little baby could have grown up tobe like Abaynesh, a Compassion LDP graduate with a bright future. And while I had the profound privilege of washing Abaynesh's feet that day, in my heart I was also washing the feet of that tragically lost baby girl, and I could have filled the basin with my tears.Today Ethiopia is beginning to prosper and the Church is strong. I am so grateful to God for enabling us to keep that promise made long ago and to our Compassion sponsors who are enabling more than 65,000 Ethiopian children to be rescued and released from poverty in Jesus' name.