Computer

Right now our compter is holding up. Pray that it continues. If it does crash there is a business center in the complex we can use, but may not post every day. All is well.

Walked much of today, linked up with the Hagerty's and hung out a bit and then had lunch at Crepes and Waffles. This is the place that everyone who has gone before us raves about. It was good- very rich. Not sure of our plans for tomorrow. We meet back with the social workers on Tuesday at 10:00 am local time to conduct our integration meeting. This meeting we are asked if we want to go ahead and so are the kids. Our overwhelming instinct is that it will go well. We have had quit a few run ins with one of them, we are working through it. This one is very strong willed and has never had to submit to authority much- but is making progress each day. Tests us but doesn't win! Although we had had to correct him alot, he still seems to love us much and loves to hug and kiss us. We have one who hugs and kisses constanly too and then one in the middle of these. Very sweet and loving all! They are playing together across sibling group lines - bit by bit as is to be expected. We expect the will blend together well in the long run.

We remain dependent on our Father. Pray for us especially that the time would be so short that all would recognize that the hand of God is responsible for how fast we get out of here. We trust His sovern will in this but plead daily for a swift return home.

God Bless
Jim and Betty

Just a quick note to let you know our computer is having problems and it may crash. Didn't want anyone to worry if this happens, we are still here and o.k.

A Day with the Hagerty's

 Today we went by bus with two other Children's Hope families about an hour outside Bogata to a combination ammesument park and zoo. We were with the Hagerty's (Alaska) and the Remers (Missouri). We were intially seperated from the Remers but really enjoyed talking to them on the bus. We spent the day letting the kids enjoy some rides and then visited the zoo portion which was great.

We have followed the Hagerty's blog for several months and have exchanged e-mail with them for a few weeks before heading to Colombia. It was such a blessing to get to meet them and spend some time together. Betty got a fix of adult female conversation! Great time for all of us. We so much enjoyed the time away. Pictures of our families included tonight. Kaitlyn made a new friend in Beau and Matthew told us he made a new friend (Hope), but she lives in Alaska and won't be able to see her anymore.

On the way into the park we also ran into a couple from Maryland that sat next to Jim on the plane from Atlanta to Bogota- they are here adopting a baby- it was so precious to their baby.

 

God Bless

Jim and Betty

Sights Around Bogota

Today we spent most of the day driving around Bogota seeing some of the sights the city is know for. First stop: Presidents palace, Senate palace and the Superior court. The main plaza was packed with activity and soldiers. There was to be a major march against the FARC (gorrila organiztion). Needless to say we felt VERY secure. The picture in the post was from the main courtyard and in the background is a church that dates back to colonial days of Spanish rule. Stop two: we visited the Gold museum, very interesting display of ancient gold artifacts from Colombiam history- very interesting for the adults not so much for the smaller children. Stop three: A beautiful church on the top of a mountain called Monserrate. We rode a rail to the top and had incredible views of Bogota below.

Tommorrow we go on a trip with all the adopting families currently in Bogota from Childrens Hope International. We think ther will be around fourty people- mostly Americans.

Children are still very sweet, but are begining to test our resolve to insist they obey- we knew from the start this would be the challenge and covet your prayers in to help us be firm, yet loving. They are crushed if we correct them but have not yet decided to always listen so they don't need correction. They are begining to take more of an interest in saying the English words back us if we ask. They also discovered that rock paper sissors is an American and Colombian game- allowed for a bit of cross sibling group interaction.

Hope all is well in the good ole USA.

God bless.

Jim and Betty

Thanksgiving day in Bogota

We spent our thanksgiving day in Bogota- we stayed very busy today, but did try to keep our hearts and minds on God our Father who is the focus of all our thanks. No turkey, but plenty of turkeys if you know what I mean! Our day started at 6:30 today - progress!

We had a much calmer day today. We, upon reflection, we relized we were so much to blame for the way our new kids were supercharged yesterday. We had been warned that you don't feed a lot of sugar to Colombian children- and boy did we feed them sugar yesterday. Our biological kids have never had the sugar rush that leads to hyperactivity. We eliminated the sugar today and we had a much calmer day.

These kids are enthusiastic about everything they do- We have never in our lives seen such enthusiasm for teeth brushing WOW We hope there will me enamel left when we get home.

We are begining to blend as a family. As you would expect the two groups are most comfortable with their biological siblings, but we are begining to see some coming together. Our new kids came with a photo album from their time in foster care. Last night each of them went around to all their new siblings and mom and dad and explained every photo to us- no idea what the said, but is was very special to see them reaching out and opening their hearts as best they can in addition to all the hugs and kisses! We don't speak the same language yet- however that does not seem to be too much of a barrier. These guys have the most expressive faces and you can read the expressions like a book. They are all beging to say a few English words back to us when we try to get them to- Santiago is the most receptive and Tatiana is the least. We expect to make the most progress when we get home and Spanish is not all around them.

We want to share a bit about life in Bogota. We feel very safe here. There is a security guard at the front door of our apartment building and they are on many street corners. We have walked around a bit and everything is fine. Today we even went down some side streets looking for a park- couldn't find it so Jim asked in his meager Espanol Donde esta parke? We were just a block away and made it fine - fortunately the man we asked only had to point a block over and not give directions we couldn't understand. The streets are always filled with cars- they always seam to honk at each other in the traffic jams - the honking doesn't do any good to get things moving, but it must made the drivers feel better because it is constant!

We spent some time at a park today and we think the kids had a great time - was muddy after the rain so we were limited in the playtime. Still it did everybody a lot of good.

Our integration day with ICBF (social services) is on Tuesday. Once that is complete we are waiting on the courts.

God bless,

Jim and Betty

First Full Day Together

Well where should we start tonight- oh yea it all started around 4:30 am all three were early risers today. We will definately need to work on that wake up time!

Today was an incredibally active day. Everything we were told about how active these kids would be was an understatement!! We are learning to grow as a family - slowly. These kids are obidient even if they have a very short term memory of what they have been told to do. They are also the most affectionate kids you can imagine. I have had a months worth of hugs and kisses today.

Yesterday, when we told the kids to clean up the toys Yeisson went through the apartment like a whirl wind and didn't stop with the the toys- he oragnized the whole families shoes and stacked the suitcases for us.

Today it rained pretty much all day, so we were not able to get to the park to burn off some of that energy! We need to be sure we get them somewhere to run tomorrow. We the parents need to get out of the apartment a bit as well. Betty and I did get to meet another family from Missouri and visit with them We hope to get to spend more time with them while we are here. They were the ones who were to be in the appartment next door, but the decided to move to a bed and breakfast before we got here.

We walked to the mall (UNICENTRO) in the afternoon for some exercise. We stopped and bought ice cream for everyone. The kids really enjoyed the treat. They tured out to be two scoop cones! Santiago fininshed the whole thing and wasn't about to let us take it away as long as there was a drip left. Most of the adults couldn't do what our 4 year old did! A bit later he ate a full dinner- these kids can eat like nothing I've ever seen!! At dinner, Jim offered the blessing- not sure what they were thinking but when I finished with in the name of Jesus Christo Yeisson gave us a loud AMEN since I didn't finish with one. They folded their hand - so there is some sort of spiritual training to start with. Dinner was interesting as we discovered the microwave and the oven were not working. We made polo sandwhiches in the toaster oven!!

Our new ninos sing in the shower- very sweet. We finished of our night with a read aloud story in English- all three sat quiet and listened even though they didn't understand a word.

God continues to bless us beyond anything we deserve.

Jim's most common expression is a blend of one Spanish word and one English calmado down- yes it means calm down!

And Then There Were Eleven

Our GOTCHA day is here. And what a day! We can not begin to describe all the emotions of the day. We should be exahsted with the days event on top of the long day yesterday, but we are still very much feeling the rush of the day. All we can say is WOW. God is so great, we are not even sure where to begin. These three children are soooooo precious and we feel so blessed to be their parents. We got to the ICBF office in Saocha at about 10:45 am. We met with the kids social workers first. They asked us if we were still sure: ARE YOU KIDDING ME! We were so ready! A few minutes later they were sent into the room. Jim's first big blunder-- I was not expecting then so soon and I turn around to find Yeission jumping into my arm saying Mi Padre. What did I say Mi hijo Carlos. OOOPS. It happened so fast I thought Carlos had come in first- but I was quickly forgiven. In the briefest on moments we received the most unbelievable welcome from the kids. Hugs all around and around and around- and it still is going on. we are hearing Mami and Papi constantly. We like the sound of it. These children are very sweet natured and seam to be very eager to please us. We had been told to prepare for them needing to have some time to get used to us. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yeission was immeadiately talkative. He is most expressive and talks to us all the time. Tatiana and Santiago were very loving but took a few hours to warm up to talking with us. All it took was a stop for lunch at McDonalds! They have not stopped talking since! We are learning to walk the streets of Bogota with 8 of our kids 6 of them 9 and under- they all have been great! They all listen and respond instantly to no. As a surprise we discovered Tatiana has beautiful curly hair and also wears glasses- her and Ashley will have a lot in common. They are shorter then we anticipated - we may have misjudged the sizes. An incredible day- We could go on for pages on our day, buy this should give you all a sense of it. Incedible incredible blessing - we praise God for his goodness. All glory for this day goes to Him. God brings to our hearts James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change God Bless and keep each of you thanks for you thoughts and prayers! More Tomorrow. Jim and Betty

We are here!

it is 11:45 pm but we are here

we leave to meet the children about 8:00am tomorrow!

Tired- more tomorrow

Jim and Betty

23 Nov 1 day to our GOTCHA date.

Wow we fly in the morning. The time has finally come. WE have peace that can only come from God our father the giver of all good gifts.

Just wanted to make a short post to say all is well and we are eager to be in Bogota. We just finished meeting with our small group for a prayer filled send off- thanks guys you mean the world to us and our prayers from a continent away with fill us with such encouragement and confidence while we are in Colombia.

Next post will be from Bogota!!! Yeeeeeee Hawwwwwwwwww

Jim and Betty

A Day for Tears (of joy)

21 Nov - Three days until our GOTCHA day!


When I rose up this morning, the last thing I anticipated was a day sprinkled liberally with tears of joy. But then, God is like that often presenting us with unexpected surprises.

We received the last administrative thing we needed today before we leave for Bogota- Thanks Julie! We are beginning to feel that "last minute we'll never get ready in time" kind of felling! Those of you who have gone before us know what I'm talking about! :-) But like each of you, we'll pull it together just like you did, mostly thanks to the most amazing woman I know- my wife Betty. (she doesn't know I'm writing this entry, shhhhhh don't tell OK?)

We are mostly finished packing and hope to wrap everything up tomorrow and then try to rest a bit on Sunday before we head to the airport early Monday. We plan to meet with our small group (10 adults and around 26 kids) for a time of prayer and fellowship before we leave. These have been the people who have labored in prayer with us all along this journey. They have been there with us when we wept with disappointment and when we wept with joy. Thanks to all of you for your support along the way and for simply being our brothers and sisters in Christ. Special thanks to: Kurt, Sue, Steve, Terry, Kameron, Carol, James, Dana, Dan, Nancy, Robert and Mimi and all your families for your support each time we met. The prayers of the righteous availeth much- thanks for praying for us and with us. Robert - your leading all of us in Children of the Living God is always in my mind and will be on my heart as we complete this journey.

A bit of explanation for the title of this entry- A Day for Tears (of Joy). The obvious part I have mentioned- I have reflected on all who have come along side us on this journey over the last year and cannot help but be moved to tears. So many have given of themselves through gifts, prayers and encouraging words. My deepest thanks and know we will never forget. We listened to Focus on the Family today which was about adoption - yep my eyes were all leaky again. I must figure out what causes this and see if I can fix this leaky thing. We are following the blogs of two other families who met their kids in the last couple of days, reading their entries not only fill us with anticipation, but also make us feel as if we are along side them. I must confess I was also move to tears of joy when I read the Woods entry today and saw we were mentioned by name that they are praying for us when we have not even met. We do though I think feel a sort of kinship through the shared experiences of our adoption journeys. Thanks guys for lifting us up before the throne of Glory. We have added your Tatiana's sister to our prayer list and will keep our eyes open while we are down there! But mostly it has been a day of tears as we have looked forward with anticipation to to meeting Carlos, Tatiana, and Yeisson on Tuesday. The reality of this for me is becoming more apparent with each passing hour. We love these guys though we have not yet met them. We long to hold them in our arms - to whisper to them mi hijo, mi hija.

I wonder what they are thinking tonight. They must surely know about us by now. How I hope their hearts are filled with eagerness and anticipation. My simple prayer for tonight is:

Father help me to love these little ones as you have loved me.

Blessings to all of you.

Jim

19 November 5 days to our GOTCHA date!

God continues to answer prayer. Today we have been told where we will stay. CHI has arranged for us to rent an apartment while we are in Bogota. We are happy to know the arrangements and have a bit more of an idea of what to expect while we are there. We were also told there will be another CHI family in the apartment next to us. They will be adopting a sibling group of 5 and their gotcha date is the same as ours. It will incredible to have someone from home to share the experience with us. They are from the state next to ours.

We were able to get the boys room more or less in order today. The girls room will not fully come together until we are in Colombia. The beds for the room Ashley and Tatiana will share will be delivered while we are gone. Other than these beds we will be set by Saturday. We still have not started packing, but since we don't leave for 5 days, what is the rush! :-)

We also were blessed with an unexpected e-mail today. It turns out there is a couple in our church we had not met who are from Bogota. They sent us a note and offered to help us out with travel information and also understanding the children's culture. We will try to meet them before we leave for Bogota. This is amazing that God would place this couple in our life as we are sure they will be a great help. All thing work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

Your continued prayers are both appreciated and greatly coveted!

A Time For Thanks

16 Nov 2008 8 days until our GOTCHA date!

Why is it that as a nation, we tend only to stop once a year on a Thursday in November to give thanks? I can truly say that this has been a year when we as a family have pause many times to give thanks to a God of power and majesty. I can not help but reflect on how blessed we are as a nation and as a family of this nation.


This is a time of year when we as Americans pause to remember and give thanks to God for His protection of the founding fathers of our country. Since we are leaving before Thanksgiving day, we decided to gather as a family on Saturday for a traditional thanksgiving meal. We had a very blessed time together as a family. Our whole clan was able to get together as you can see from the picture that is now posted on this blog. Betty's mom and dad, our eight children, daughter in law, two grandchildren and our daughter's fiancee. It was GREAT! Our 4 youngest children have birthdays in December before we get home from Colombia, and so we also celebrated those birthdays before we leave for Bogota. We capped off the day by putting up a Christmas tree so it will be there when we get home around the 19th of December. A very busy day!


We have also received our visas back from the Colombian consulate. We now have plane tickets, shots AND all the paperwork we need to head south. We now just need to get our bags packed and rearrange bedrooms - we bought the last of the beds and such we still needed- you guessed it- that was done on Saturday too.

The blessings have continued to flow with each passing day. Today our church hosted an adoption shower for us. We are truly overwhelmed by every one's generosity. We pretty much have all the clothes we need now to get started for all three children- wow this has been amazing. We cannot begin to express all of our thanks to everyone who came along side us today and blessed us with so many gifts. I know beyond any doubt that these three children are not only joining our family, but they are also joining a large and loving church family they can depend upon to encourage them and help them grow towards Christ.

Some of the cards from this shower help us to keep our motivation and our focus. One person wrote, " we pray that God would grant wisdom and patience as you seek to love them, teach them and walk with them." That was so encouraging - we have been thinking about so many things and anticipating so many things, but it was so good to know that so many are praying for us in the big things and little things. This note spoke to us deeply - as we do so long to simply walk with these precious ones. Another dear friend closed their note with Matthew 6:31-34. This was a reminder that we needed as the time grows closer. These verses read:


31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.


We pray that our hearts will seek after God above all else. We continue to trust God in the details for tomorrow, knowing His plans are perfect far beyond anything we devise on our own. At this point we don't yet know where we will stay in Colombia- God knows and has it all under control. We should find out the details sometime this week. We trust He has it worked out for our best, but it sure would be nice to know what the plans are....

Jim and Betty

Mad Dash to the Starting Line

10 Nov 08- 14 days until our GOTCHA DATE!

If we have learned anything through this process, we have learned that adoption is not for the faint of heart! You must truly have calling on your heart to persevere in the process. The road to the airport to go and pick up your children goes over the continental divide of the paperwork mountain. The pass through this great divide is higher than anything found in the Rocky Mountains! We sometimes feel that the pile of paper work exceeds even Mount Everest! But... when our strength begins to fail in the climb, the power of God carries us on.

OK maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit.....

We are beginning to feel like maybe we are starting to go down hill on the far side of the pass. We spent Thursday, Friday and Saturday completing all the documents for our request for our Visas. The request is on its way to the Colombian consulate in Chicago. You feel a bit nervous about putting your passports in the mail, but as much as God has taken care of us in our journey so far, I think we can easily trust Him on this one! We hope to have our Visas back by the end of this week since we overnighted the packets and provided an overnight return envelope. We will be glad to see the package back though. We have now also put together all our documents (sometimes with 9 copies) we need to take with us to complete the court requirements in Bogota.

We feel like we are in the eye of the hurricane. We notice the stormy winds have subsided, and realize in about a week we will feel the stormy winds again as we frantically go through the last week before our departure. Should be fun when we get to the airport in Bogota with seven people and all the luggage that goes with us! We eagerly anticipate the "minivan" that will drive us to the hotel :0) I imagine being stacked in like chord wood! All part of getting to our destination.

We find ourselves wondering what is on the minds of our new children. Do they even know yet that we are coming? We pray that God will prepare their hearts for this union and that they will rejoice in us as we have already rejoiced in them.

The next task at hand? Figuring out bedrooms! Five of our eight kids still live at home- how hard can it be to figure out where three more will sleep? If two's company, and three's a crowd- what does that make 10??? In our hearts, it makes for lots and lots of love and we can't wait.

Assignment and Gotcha Date

We began this journey last November (07) when we opened a dialog with Children's Hope International. We now have our referral for 3 beautiful children, praise God for His greatness and blessings. We have accepted our referral and have received our official gotcha date. Rejoice with us as we make preparations to leave for Bogota Colombia to be united with:

Yeisson Davian (7 year old boy) Born March 10, 2001; Jasleidi Tatianna (5 year old girl) Born December 25, 2002; Carlos Santiago (4 year old boy) Born April 27, 2004

As of today, our plans are to fly to Colombia on 24 November and be united with our new children on the 25th. We will be in Colombia for around a month, but expect to be home for Christmas.

We covet your continued support and prayers. God bless.

Jim and Betty

PS only 20 chaos filled days of frantically trying to get ready to go but then who's counting :-)

When the Course is Difficult, Let God Choose the Path

These are some of the e-mail notes we have sent to friends and family as we began our adoption journey:


From: Jim and Betty Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2008 7:42 AM Subject: Adoption

Dear Friends and Family,

Betty and I wanted to take a few moments and give you an update on our progress in pursuing the adoption that God has laid on our hearts. First, we would just like to say that we have never felt so confirmed by God in anything we have ever endeavored to accomplish. Every obstacle that has arisen has been torn down by His mighty hand. I am pleased to report that we have now completed all the requirements to submit our dossier to the government of Colombia for their consideration. To get to this point we have, by His grace,

1) completed the application and been accepted by Children's Hope International
2) completed our home study and had the home study approved for up to 4 children
3) been approved by immigration to bring children into the U.S.
4) assembled the mountain of documentation required for our dossier
5) along the way have been declared sane by a licensed clinical psychologist to adopt (no small accomplishment when you have 8 kids trying to adopt 3-4 additional children! We have always wondered about our sanity, but now know we aren't crazy after all!

We now anxiously await approval from the Colombian Government and the referral of a specific sibling group. We want to not just share the good news that we have completed the administrative requirements, but also want to share some of the testimony of the power of God in the process so far. We could not have accomplished all that we have in less than 3 months but by His intervention. Here are but a few of the ways that we credit our great and mighty God in getting us to this point:

1) Jim's birth certificate from Canada was to have taken 6 weeks- it came in 2 weeks
2) Passports that were suppose to take 4-6 weeks came in 8 days
3) Approval from immigration can take up to 90 days- ours came back to us in 10 days
4) Jim's U.S. Citizenship papers were lost by the passport agency. Thanks to the prayer's of many it was found and returned to us.
5) Our psychiatric evaluation was to have taken 2 months just to get an appointment, was completed in about three weeks because of an ice storm that shut down all the normal business in our area- I know that doesn't make sense, but it does to God.
6) Documents have been assembled from many states in the US. All the while God has shown us He is in control of every little detail.

People have touched our hearts and often brought us to tears as they have prayed for us and with us. They have come along side us in this effort as encouragers, prayer warriors, friends, and even in giving us money to help with the costs of this process. Some of these who have come along side have made known who they are, while some have done so anonymously being content to give of themselves in secret where only God can see. For example, a family friend wanted to help and gave us over $1000 to help with the costs; also on 7 January we were in our basement when the doorbell rang. We went to answer and found nobody was there. We did however find a red stocking on the door knob. Once inside we found it contained a copy of the story Nicholas, a large number of chocolate "gold and silver" coins to represent the gold coins Nicolas threw through a window to help a family as his first act of benevolence. The stocking also held $600 in cash. Someone felt led by God to come along side our efforts to adopt- we still don't know who to thank - but we are so grateful. When I discovered the gift I could only thank God and wept at this act of generosity. A family member on hearing the story of Nicolas asked to help and then sent us a check for the exact amount we needed for our next payment to the adoption agency. And I could go on but as you can see we are greatly blessed as we have followed after God's leading in this adoption- these blessings are really what I want to share and I invite you to rejoice with us in all that God has done.

We still have need and desire your continued prayers. Please pray:

1) that our dossier will be approved
2) that God will prepare the hearts of the children that He has for us- and our hearts as well
3) that we will learn more Spanish
4) that these children will assimilate into our home quickly
5) safety both in travel and while in Colombia
6) that God would provide so we can take all our kids living at home with us to Colombia
7) that the many grant applications we are submitting would be favorably considered
8) that we will continue to see the very hand of God on each detail, and have opportunity to share the testimony of what He has done in this entire adoption process.

Thanks for reading this long note and for loving us enough to keep this matter in your prayers. God bless each of you.

Jim and Betty