Passport to Nowhere

You know, in our world, when someone doesn't know something but is asked about it, the person often flippantly responds with "God only knows". I think in my entire life, I have never uttered this phrase. I try take seriously the holiness of God and try not to so easily dismiss Him. I can safely say, and with no casualness intended that God only knows when we might be given permission to travel.

I would love to post the email Maren received today from the director of the India program at our agency. Perhaps someday when our beloved little girl is at home, I might go back and edit this particular post to include the full text of the email. I want her to know about it. I want her to someday understand that we did everything we could to bring her home as soon as we could and that so much of the delay came down to shenanigans on the part of others.

In keeping with the norm for the past year, nothing is happening during the expected time frames. The latest hang-up is her passport. The passport was supposed to be issued within 10 days from the date of application. I have lost track as to where we are at this point, but it is right at about a month. The email we got today indicated we can probably expect to wait several weeks more or even longer. If I understood the email correctly, the problem essentially seems to be coming down to government employees attempting to make themselves look good by doing nothing. Yes, you read that correctly. Somehow or other, there seems to be some sort of twisted interpretation of self-pride that is keeping people from doing their job. Basically, if they don't do their job, they cannot do anything wrong. Only by doing one's job can one make a mistake, therefore, better to not do the job at all. Really. That is honestly the way it seems to come across. I want to be clear that I am talking about employees on the India side as the goverment employees on the U.S. side really have been quite accomodating and swift (child abuse checks aside).

This passport slow-down is affecting several different adoption agencies and families waiting to travel. The part that really gets my craw is that we are now her legal guardians. We are legally responsible for her. We have never met her. We would love to meet her. We want to bring her home. And yet, we can't go because they won't issue a passport for her. There is nothing that needs to be decided. There is nothing that needs to be investigated. There are no documents that need to be produced. Someone somewhere simply needs to take a funny little booklet, imprint her picture on it, slap some official lingo on it, and get it to her social workers in India. It is tough to be patient with that sort of thing. I can understand a mistake. I can understand a misplaced document. I honestly can't understand someone not even attempting their job. That is just flat wrong. It is made even more wrong when the life of an innocent little girl hangs in the balance.

Happy Birthday to.........Us???

Today is Elijah's birthday, but we all got a bit of a present today. As noted yesterday, we decided to take a flyer to see if we could get our fingerprints redone (or is it rerererereredone?) early. This would accomplish several things. One, they can be being processed at the same time our daughter's passport is being processed. Two, there is still a very real possibility that the prints will be rejected as we did not have all the typically (but not completely mandatory) paperwork redone. Getting these prints done sooner will allow for extra time if there are problems.

The story about today is a rather neat one. In co-op this morning, Maren had one mom ask if we were taking the boys with us to the printing. We really didn't want to for ease sake and hoped to pass them off to someone. This mom (thank you Amy) was interested in taking them but the logistics just weren't going to be easy to pull off. Maren then was able to ask another mom (thank you Kris) who would be able to take the boys skating with other kids but would not be able to be fully hands on to help with Elijah. The next person sitting with them was able to provide the extra attention he would need with skates (thank you Katy) and happily rounded out a multi-mom effort to make our trip easier. It turned out to be a bigger deal than any of them realized at the time.

Once I got home from work, we blazed down to the federal building, and found a spot on the street just about a block away from the building. Because we were kidless, we could briskly walk down the sidewalk and cross the streets to get to the building. We quickly determined that the police officer looking through the bushes using his baton immediately in front of the federal building was not exhibiting enough alarm to keep us from entering the building. After I got a preview of what TSA pat-downs might be like (don't forget to put your phone in the bin...it makes the bomb- checkers a wee bit tense), we rushed into the room at approximately 3:43pm.

One person was just leaving while another met us at the bullet-proof window. Well, I don't know for sure that it was bullet proof, but testing it probably would have made the bomb-checkers a wee bit tenser. Anyway, the nice but exasperated lady inquired about our business. When we made our very humble and very apologetic case, she hollered back "We've got another one". I don't know exactly what the unseen man several rooms over hollered back, but his tone of voice suggested it probably wasn't, "Oh goody. I hadn't fulfilled my desire to help humankind enough this week, and I was really hoping someone would rush in at the end of the day, on a Friday, the start of a long holiday weekend (MLK Day), WITHOUT AN APPOINTMENT, and ask us to do something we have already set aside time to do in several weeks." Maybe that was his response, but I really don't think so. While this was all happening, we looked on the wall to see a very clearly written statement that really did say something like, "There WILL BE NO fingerprints taken after 3:45 pm". We looked at our watch which said, "3:45". Well, technically it didn't say it, as I have graduated past talking watches, but you get the picture. At some point in this, the manager guy showed his face (not the rather unhappy man mentioned above), realized we were adoptive parents seeking our prints, and really did say, "We tend to treat our adoptive parents really well." He hopped the other two into high gear and had all three of them working super-fast to get our work done. Just as Maren's was getting finished, it was discovered that one of her social security number digits was wrong. The man commented that if that had not been caught, it would have caused major problems. Thank you Lord for all that went well today. By the time it was all said and done, we were actually there probably less than ten minutes! Apparently the end of the day before a long weekend can be a pretty powerful motivator!

Passports back! Next Step Please.

Our passports arrived back home today with some very cool looking Indian visas secured in them. It is good to get them back.

We are going to "wing it" tomorrow and show up at USCIS with no appointment with the hopes that someone there will have compassion on us and allow us to update our fingerprints prior to February 2 when our appointments are scheduled. If they will grant us this small request, it will save us at least three weeks. Three weeks doesn't sound like much, but we are ready to be done with this.

Visas and fingerprints

We got word today that the Indian consulate in New York has accepted our request to go to their country and awarded each of us a visa valid for the next six months. This is quite good news. We were somewhat concerned that Elijah's passport might cause a bit of an issue simply due to the fact that he was not born in this country. We had taken steps to secure an Ohio birth certificate for him as well as a United States passport. These things seem to have made his visa process the same as ours.

Additionally, we have gotten word that our next fingerprint appointment is scheduled for February 2...the same day our last prints expire. We aren't sure what that means. We are sure that it means we have no shot at traveling prior to February 2. We don't know if we could travel the next day if needed or if we will have to wait until something comes back from USCIS. Obviously we are hoping that we can travel without waiting for paperwork to be returned.

Good news! Bad news!

Short and sweet tonight.

First, the good news.
We got our written orders! YES!!! We don't know for sure, but this should also mean the social services agency in India applied for her passport. If that is the case, we could already be a few days into the passport process. There were internet problems on the India side so the written orders were actually given a few days ago. We are just learning of them this evening. The passport process is supposed to take 2-4 weeks. I will believe that when I see it. Once the passport is completed, we can contact the consulate in India to schedule the necessary dates. Once that is done, we can arrange our travel. In theory, this could take place in the next 4-6 weeks. Again, I will believe it when I see it.

Now, the bad news.
Those stinking fingerprints I have mentioned repeatedly expire February 2, 2011. We have gotten our homestudy updated but that update contains the old dates of our original Ohio and FBI fingerprints along with our child abuse background checks. Our agency has requested that we begin pursuing those updates as well. It is possible that USCIS will approve the federal fingerprint extension without these updates. If so, we can move on as planned. If they require these updates before approving the extension, everything comes to a screeching halt until those updates are returned. We heard word recently that the child abuse background checks which usually take less than 30 days are currently running about 3 months. That could mean that India would be ready for us to travel in perhaps 6 weeks, but that the US will not allow that travel to take place for 3-4 months. That would be crushing.

We have a simple, but clear prayer request.
That CIS will approve our fingerprint extension without needing the extra updates. If the updates are needed, that they would be processed quickly.

One year ago today

I feel like there should be some grand announcement related to this day. Strangely, there is not. On December 22, 2010 Maren received a call stating that our adoption agency wanted to send us a referral. They told Maren a little about the girl, then three years old. It sounded very promising and we asked for more information. The next day, we were emailed additional information related to her with the promise the following day of a video arriving in the mail. December 24, 2010 that video arrived. As if our hearts weren't captured enough by the still pictures, the video positively melted them. Thus, today marks one year since we officially began to adopt this very special girl.

It has been quite a year. The arrival of the referral came over a year earlier than we expected. At the same time, the courts in India are taking way longer than we expected. Their own Supreme Court had previously issued a ruling that adoptions should be processed within two months. Thus, when our hearing was first presented in May 2010, we should have been home with her by August at the latest. Well, here we are, one year from first "meeting" her. We still do not have written orders from the court. We missed her 4th birthday when that shouldn't have happened. We missed Thanksgiving with her when that shouldn't have happened. We now miss Christmas with her this year as well. We are disappointed but not disheartened. We are sad but not sullen. We are irritated but not incensed.

She has gifts under our tree. We eagerly await her arrival. In the meantime, we celebrate the arrival of another very special child. Had Jesus not considered equality with God something to be grasped, had he not taken the form of man, had he not first adopted us as sons and daughters, we would have no hope for our daughter's adoption to our family. Thank you Jesus. Merry Christmas.

He can still pound salt

After I wrote yesterday's posting in which I made reference to Satan pounding salt to express my frustration that we are experiencing another delay and additional cost, I spent a good part of the day unsettled about the comment. It feels like a Holy Spirit type of unsettling. I suspect what this means is that this delay and the additional work actually aren't the result of Satan's attempts to throw obstacles in our way, but may very well be the result of God placing or allowing these things to occur now and at this part of the process. I have been experiencing a great sense of peace when thinking about it this way which further adds credibility that I shouldn't view this negatively. Perhaps we will never know the reason for the delay and extra work. That is OK. It is OK that we have to go through it as well. The pure frustration from last night has switched noticeably to a sense of contentment today. I can dig that.

When Reality Gives an Optimist a Swift Kick in the Pants...OR...Confessions of a Former Pessimist

Wasn't it Rocky and Bullwinkle that gave titles like that? I can't remember.

Aggravatingly, but not surprisingly, we got another call from our social worker in Eugene, Oregon today. He had some contact with the folks in India and learned that some Clerk of Courts is unexplainedly sitting on a document that moves the judge's order from a verbal order to a written order. It is really a basic step, but it is not getting completed. Anyway, our social worker is no longer comfortable with allowing us to forgo updating our USCIS fingerprints. The extension is free but the required home study update, the three OTHER sets of fingerprints (breathe Greg...breathe...you're not breathing Greg...it's just fingerprints Greg), and the required health physicals are not free. Many emotions have existed during this adoption process. I am having a pretty pure sense of frustration through this. The additional work on our part should not be necessary. The additional cost should not be necessary. We don't gain anything from it. It doesn't advance us any further than we are today. Errrrrrgh. Satan can go pound salt for all I care. We are going to see this thing through.

So, where does the confession come in? Well, I used to be a pessimist. (Right about now my wife is probably saying "Used to be...snort". She's wrong. I am big-time different from how I used to be.) I used to be a pretty big pessimist. Nothing was going to go right in my view. If things did go right, it was only to mask the larger thing going wrong...or so I thought. I spent years of very conscious effort to turn this around. This is not to say that I don't still have times where I don't expect things to work out. Actually, earlier this week when our social worker said he was confident we would get back before February 2, I very realistically pointed out the time frames involved. Realistically (not pessimistically) the time frames were awful tight, and I was not convinced it was wise to hold off on getting a home study update.

The confession is not that I used to be a pessimist. The confession is that when I used to be a pessimist, I often secretly loved it when an optimist got proven wrong...even if I meant that I also lost out in the deal. Pretty pathetic, huh? Well, I have no feelings of winning or superiority now that my optimist friend in Oregon had to change his tune. I am not even bothered by his initial optimism. Honestly, it was fun for a day or two. But now it is time to get back to business. It has been a few months since we juggled paperwork. Maybe it will be fun. Maybe Satan can go pound salt.

It's Easy to be an Optimist if it's Somebody Else's Life

The title kind of sounds like a Bluegrass song, doesn't it? I will probably lose sleep tonight coming up with the lyrics for it. I already have a bit done. What do you think so far?

Ohhh, it's easy to be an optimist when it's somebody else's life.
No need to sweat or hope or pray when it's somebody else's life.
"No worries sir, no worries ma'am, no way you will be late.
You will be there and back again by the end of the critical date.
There is no need to feel the angst, the kind that you call strife."
Ohhh, it's easy to be an optimist when it's---some---body---else's---liiiife.

Oh yeah, gonna lose some sleep tonight. Anyway, we got some encouraging news from our social worker in Eugene. He has been to India more than 50 times and knows the people and procedures there very well. He believes strongly that we will be leaving and back home again within the month of January 2011. This is quite critical because our fingerprints expire February 2nd, 2011. (Must...restrain...from complaining about FINGERPRINTS yet...again............beeeee strong....errgggh...pant pant pant....). Anyway, if we cannot get back into the states before February 2nd, well, honestly I don't know what will happen. But I am sure it is bad. Trying to redo the federal fingerprints is also a pain in the backside because it would necessitate a homestudy update. We stink at paperwork. So, we are really hoping the India traveler optimist is correct about our travel timing. But, you know, it is easy to be an optimist when it is somebody else's life.

One step closer!!!

We received word today that the judge granted a verbal order allowing us to become S's guardian!! The next step is to grant a written order. That should be just a formality and should take place in the next couple of weeks. Following that, an application for a passport will be initiated. Obtaining a passport takes from 2-4 weeks. Those two things cannot take place concurrently. Next, a visa appointment needs to be scheduled followed by a medical appointment. It is unclear yet when we will be traveling, but the best case scenario puts it at least at 5-6 weeks away. It certainly could be a month longer than that. Needless to say, we are very excited and looking forward to hearing about additional progress.

"I just wanted to hear your voice."

"I just wanted to hear your voice."

I don't know the exact timing, but for the past several months, I have been wrestling with the concept of praying and fasting during our adoption process. The wrestling has been for an unusual reason, at least for me. Rather than questioning God, wondering why He seems to be delaying, or any of the other reasons someone might struggle with prayer and fasting, my struggle has kind of been for the exact opposite reason.

I was, still am, and expect to be, perfectly content that God will work this out however He wants. That includes being very aware that a thousand things can still go wrong and that our daughter might never be placed with us. I genuinely believe I mean it when I say I trust God in this matter. Our next court date is November 20. It might happen. It might not. We will all be OK regardless, including our daughter. We won't be together but we are and will be under the watchful eye of our Father. So, I trust Him.

So, if I trust Him, why pray about it? Why fast? I don't mean that arrogantly. Just the opposite. I trust, so why go to Him with it? To be sure, I have prayed. I have fasted several times as well, though to be perfectly honest, my fasting has been done as if I were saying "Ok God, you have people fast in the Bible, I guess I will fast as well. I don't particularly know why I would need to do this right now because so many of the Bible folks seemed to be pleading with you, and I don't need to plead with you." There has been a large part of my praying for this issue (and all of the fasting), that feels like I am trying to plead my case before Him. BUT, I don't have a case to plead. I am not worried. I am not concerned. I desire to go. I desire for her to be home, but if I trust and if I have faith...why pray hard? Why fast? I am finding it a challenge as I write this to convey accurately what I have been feeling. Let me try to sum it up in one sentence in prayer format: "I trust you Lord, so I don't understand why you would want me to pray. Doesn't that seem to convey that I don't actually trust you?" Ok, maybe two sentences.

"I just wanted to hear your voice." These words were repeated over and over by our Missions Pastor this morning as he gave the morning sermon. The very essence of the story is that his mom called him this past Tuesday simply to tell him that. "I just wanted to hear your voice." It was powerful to him. Two days later, he learned he would have to give this morning's message in a pinch hit situation as our senior pastor unexpectedly was not going to be able to preach. The message the Missions Pastor gave was focused on prayer. As he taught, he kept going back to his mom's statement, "I just wanted to hear your voice." He tied this statement into the Lord and into prayer. It was ultimately a simple message. It was profound for me.

After several months of searching, talking to my wife, talking to friends, talking to one pastor, talking to an elder, and praying a great deal about why I needed to pray about this, I got my answer this morning. God wants me to pray, even when I trust Him, because He just wants to hear my voice. Ponder that for a bit!

I get it, and I don't get it. But I get it.

Clarifying yesterday's title

After I published last night's post about what happened with court, my wife told me she didn't understand what the title had to do with the rest of the posting. The reason for that is what I started to write and what I ended up writing turned out to be two different things.

The initial tone of the posting was going to focus on my trust in God and the knowledge that though he has adopted us as sons and daughters, He has not yet returned to bring us into His home. The idea was that since He hasn't come to get us yet as promised that we need to be patient in this process as well. There are reasons He is keeping us here and there are reasons he is keeping our daughter there. I am OK with that.

What happened last night, however, was that by the time I got to the end of the posting, I was much more in tune with sadness I was feeling than I was in the similarity of the situation to my own life.

To God be the glory.

He's not getting us yet either

Hmm. What to think? Honestly. I have no idea. Today is October 22, 2010. The date that our next court date was scheduled. You remember, right? The court date that has been postponed four times already. Well, it has been postponed again. The courts keep finding new ways to bung this whole thing up. If there weren't a life in the balance, it would be kind of comical. Guess what is postponing the court date now for the fifth time? Bet ya can't (unless you have talked to us already). They scheduled this court date on a HOLIDAY in India. The courts weren't even open today. Whatever.

Ok, I started out by saying I don't know what to think. I guess that is only partially true. Actually, I have a bunch of things zipping through my mind. In no particular order these things are:

1. How in the world is it possible that they scheduled our next court date on a holiday? I mean seriously. Have they never heard of computers that keep track of that sort of thing? Sheesh, people have been keeping track of holidays long before computers ever came along. Did no one have a pencil mark sliced through that date on their date book? This is simply a level of incompetence that I can't comprehend.

2. You are funny God. I have been telling people how I fully trust you with this. Good one. Now you are checking me out on that I see. (I think this sounds much more irreverent than it feels. I don't mean for this to sound as though I am copping an attitude with the Creator himself.)

3. There is a girl whom we have known about for almost a year. We have a family for her. Why does it seem as if the judge (in India) doesn't care?

4. I'm frustrated.

5. I'm disappointed.

6. I completely trust God.

7. I wonder if the delay is worldly-directed or God-directed?

8. Will this delay actually help the attachment process somehow or is it going to make it that much harder?

9. I specialize in foster care/adoption mental health. I know a thousand things that can go wrong with attachment, and I must admit that I am a little scared inside with each passing day/delay.

10. I might be more than a little scared, but I do not allow myself to think about the things I see everyday at work entering my home and my family. That would be close to intolerable to think about for such a long period.

11. I'm confused.

12. I desire to better understand God through this process, and I desire to better understand myself through it as well.

13. I know God is in control. I know God's ways are not my ways. I know God's thoughts are not my thoughts. I know His timing is not my timing.

14. We are only really ready to hear from friends and people who care..."We are so sorry and know this must be terribly frustrating." See #13 for things we know and don't feel like hearing right now.

15. I want my girl home. She is named and she is known. And she is loved. I just want her home.

16. This hurts more than I was expecting.

If I were Mark Twain...

Mark Twain supposedly once said, ""When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Cincinnati because it's always twenty years behind the times." Well, in the spirit of Mark Twain and completely tongue-in-cheek, I say "If I ever find out I am going to die in a certain number of days, I am going to take a job with the court because then I can just keep delaying the date of my death."

Well, unfortunately the court in India has yet again delayed the hearing for our daughter's court date. What was supposed to have occurred today is now set for October 22. If you are keeping track, that is now the forth delay for the same court date. This is only the second court date, and we have been told to expect 3-5 appearances in court. What looked in January 2010 to be completed by perhaps the summer of 2010 now has the potential go many more months.

I just can't help but wonder what the rest of the world would look like if we all operated our lives and businesses the way the government runs theirs.

Thankfully, the God who sings over me also sings over her. We love you "S" and will be there to get you as soon as we can.

Rock. And Roll?

Today we received in the mail the culmination of a research project undertaken by someone in China we have never met, and likely never will. Several months ago, in a step of faith that perhaps only other parents of internationally adopted children may understand, we sent $250 to a different lady we have never met. Maren read a posting of hers on the internet telling about this lady in China that does research for families who have adopted a child from China. For $250, she would do several things for us. She would go to the finding city, take pictures, try to locate the finding spot, gather written material from there, try to get some correspondence from the orphanage, mail us a postcard from that city, and a few other things. It was several months ago that we parted with that money on a whim that we might be able to add just a small piece of our son's history. Several weeks ago, we received the post card mailed from his finding city. Today, when we arrived home from our 17th wedding anniversary get-away weekend, we found a package on our porch. It was not until we opened it up that we realized it was from this research project we had started. I won't go into all of the details of what was in it, but one of the things sent me to sobbing. I have only done that a few times in my adult life. After looking through the entire package, we somehow missed one piece. In a small red bag, we found a rock about the size of a large grape. A note inside the bag indicated it was from his finding location. Now, to be perfectly honest, it may have been a rock from in front of this lady's home. Based on everything else we received, I would highly doubt she falsified this part of it. For whatever reason, having that in my hand quite literally overwhelmed my senses and left me struggling to understand so much about my son's journey.

So, what does that have to do with our daughter? Well, after yet another court delay, there is supposed to be a date tomorrow. We still have had only one court date in India. The second was supposed to be in August. Then it was pushed back to September 6. Then it was pushed back to September 30. Then it got pushed back again to October 4. As we are getting ready to go to bed soon, it is just the first part of the working day there in India. When our social worker called from Oregon to tell us about the latest delay, he also stated that the lawyer in Monday was expecting a positive outcome in this October 4 date.

We only got a message about this information. Thus, we do not know if the lawyer meant "positive", as in things should go well and get us moving towards the next court date, or if it was meant as "positive" in that the lawyer has some expectation that we might get legal guardianship tomorrow.

When I began to pray tonight before bed, I began to pray that we would gain guardianship tomorrow. Part way through it, I switched to an honest prayer that court would simply go the way the Lord wants it to go. And the thing is, I meant it. While I struggle to see how delaying things helps our daughter (particularly being an adoption-focused therapist), I also know that I don't "see" a whole lot.

There are a few reasons why obtaining a favorable result tomorrow (actually while we sleep) would be pretty cool. After the 9-11 attacks from 2001, I picked up the phrase of the husband and father on the Pennsylvania flight when he helped to lead passengers in an attempt to overcome the terrorists. "Let's roll" has become now a standard phrase for me. So, it is possible that in this 24 hour period we will get a rock for my son and be able to roll for my daughter.

Let's Rock. And Roll.

Nothing to do but wait

It is hard to come up with anything pithy, profound, or even personal when talking about court dates. So, I guess I won't much try. The first court date in India has taken place. The judge then promptly went on vacation. It was hard not to think that it sure would have been nice if he had taken vacation during the entire month of May when court was closed. Our daughter sits in foster care while people who control her life shut down or go on vacation. Ok, so apparently there is something personal about the court dates after all. It is kind of weird, as I type this, I didn't realize how much frustration is floating around in my head about the whole thing. As is tradition in our family, we can't come up with a common name that we agree on. I could say that my wife can't agree with any of the great names I come up with, but she might read this! Anyway, we keep trying out names with the letter magnets on our refrigerator. We recently added our daughter's picture next to the list to "inspire" us. This helps us in our naming process but makes it harder to know she is waiting for mommy and daddy and siblings while a judge takes yet another break. This is one of those times to talk about God's timing. It's true. It is also true that He is with her. It is also true that those too previous statements aren't always as comforting as they should be. Obviously that is my issue not His, but there you go. Ok, so going back to the title of the post, there is nothing to do but wait...and pray. Oh yeah, and trust. Geez, this walk with the Lord business is always a teachable moment. Oh, one final thing. The first court date was August 7. The next court date is September 6.

Coincidence? I think not.

Last week, I walked into my company's administrative office (consisting of a whopping two women). I walked in and muttered a quick "hello" as they were previously engaged in conversation. I went about my business, and their conversation soon ended. One of the ladies asked me if we were going to be traveling soon. I brought her up to date on the very little information we had and said our best guess was that we would be traveling in the Fall sometime. The other lady politely interrupted by saying, "If you don't mind my asking, how much..." She completed her sentence but not before I already finished what I assumed to be her question in my mind. I was sure she was going to ask how much it cost to complete an adoption. It is probably a mark of our world and society that we get that question just about more than any other (except for "Do you know when you will get her.") Anyway, when she completed her sentence, I learned that my assumption was completely wrong. In fact, what she said was, "If you don't mind my asking, how much time do you plan to take off when you go to get her?" I told her that we had to be in India for about two weeks and that I hoped I would be able to take off a third week once we returned.

It turns out that I am VERY glad she interjected herself into our conversation. You see, part of her job is to portion out the company benefits. She told me that she was just getting ready to send out the next round of checks and that with the new fiscal year upon us, company policy stated that no one can carry more than two weeks of vacation into the new fiscal year. For those with more than two weeks, they are to be automatically paid out the remainder. I have been at our company for over 10 years and never realized this policy was in place. She said it hadn't really been an issue before but that this year it would be carried out. She then said she suspected I preferred to not be paid out but to be able to keep the time I had accrued. I absolutely told her that was the case. She told me she was sure she could make that happen for me.

This was a pretty big deal because I have been saving vacation time like crazy for over a year in preparation for this upcoming trip. I would have been crushed to have worked so hard to save it only to lose much of it just a few months before I could use it.

It is so good to be taken care of in such a way. I am thankful to all of my parents who instilled in me a strong work ethic that sets me up to have people go the extra mile for me when I need it. I am also thankful for that God-ordained meeting where I just happened to go in on that day (not usually at that office), and where a coworker just happened to ask me that question, and where our benefits person just happened to follow up with a meaningful question of her own.

The Army Men and the Dolls: AKA The Fish and the Loaves

Jesus once took two small fish and five loaves of bread, prayed over them, feed over 5,000 people, and had food left over. We had a smaller version of this play out at our house over the weekend.

You may recall that several weeks ago, our kids came to us with a small collection of toys stating they wanted to have a yard sale to help defray the costs of bringing S home. I am grateful that I didn't shoot down their idea like I am so prone to do. If I had, we would have missed a tremendous amount of blessing and watching the Lord work. In addition, untold numbers of other people would also have not had a blessing.

The small collection of toys turned into a massive yard sale. We had two side yards, a front yard, and a driveway filled several rows deep with things to sell. Many of our friends donated things for the express purpose of helping us to raise money in this sale. Some people donated a few things, some donated many. The number of things donated was irrelevant. What was so special to see was how people gave. The final amount of goods to sell was pretty amazing.

The sale was a fantastic success. Though the final total is not yet in, we are just a whisper below $900 in sales...for a yard sale! What a tremendous blessing. We are so grateful.

The story does not end there, however. In addition to the amount of money we were able to raise, a friend of ours was able to take two full van loads of goods to her ministry called Even Trade. This ministry is designed to meet some of the physical needs of the financially poorer members of our city. This ministry gives things away to families in need in return for some variable requirement. For example, for this past month's disbursement, the families taking advantage of the free goods had to enroll their kids in VBS. If they fail to bring their kids, they will not be invited to the next disbursement. This means that they get many of the things they need but also give back in terms of their time or talents. Thus, the small box of toys our kids brought to us not only brought in about $900, they also are directly in the line of helping to bless many other people that we will never even meet. None of that would have happened without their faith.

Oh Lord, please give me faith like that. Please give me the faith of a child. I miss out on so much and others miss out on so much because I am so foolishly "knowledgeable" about things that can and cannot work. Teach me your ways and help me to put faith into action. Thank you for my children who help me to remember.

The sale before the sale

I am very curious how our Priceless Yard Sale is going to turn out. I go back and forth on what I think will happen. For those that know me well, you know this is par for my course. However, I can tell you this. The movement of our children to begin collecting some of their things and gathering a few things from some neighbors has already produced its first tangible fruit, well, dollars. A friend stopped over tonight to donate some things to the yard sale. She had not received the email until late this afternoon. Ironically, her family had just participated in their own neighborhood-wide yard sale. She came in from that sale and learned about what our kids have started. She loaded the unsold things up in her van and brought them over. I knew this was going to happen because I got the answering machine message she left. Maren had no idea she was coming. What I completely didn't expect is that after we unloaded her van, she turned to Maren and I and handed us some money saying, "And here are the proceeds from our sale". Can you believe that?!! Needless to say, we were very touched. The kids are thrilled. It was another example of what we saw during our first adoption. We knew God was going to move us during the adoption. What we were not initially prepared for, and watched in awe over, is how God moved others. Thank you friend for your gift today. May the Lord bless you for your generousity.

C.A.R.A. and the Book of Life

A few days ago, we received a PDF document from the Central Adoption Resources Agency (CARA) in India. Their website states: Its mandate is to find a loving and caring family for every ophan/destitute/surrendered child in the country. That night, while lying in bed, I was struck by the strangeness yet odd excitement of seeing our names and address printed on some document created halfway around the world. Our names on that document meant that the country of India did not object to our adopting our little S. In other words, at the right time, we will be connected and be able to be one family. I laid in bed and thought about the amazing reality of our names on that document. So far away. Just for us. Simply amazing. And then it struck me. India is not the furthest away that our name has been written down somewhere. Further even than China when we adopted Elijah. Our name has been written down in the Book of Life. I have no concept where that book is kept. Obviously under the care of God, and obviously not in some agency on the face of this earth. If our name being written on a document in India is amazing, then the only way to describe our name being written in the Book of Life is "awesome". At just the right time, our name there means that our own adoption will be complete. Our Heavenly family will be connected. The Creator of the universe has no objections to us joining Him for eternity. Whoa! God has found us as orphaned/destitute children and has paid a much higher price than our adoption of S. He gave it all. For me. For my family. It boggles the mind.