Why "Eight Is Not Enough"?
When we were younger, there was a television sitcom that was called "Eight is Enough". The television watching world was entertained with the thought of a family with eight children. Most of us were shocked at the prospect of such a large family- myself included! Then ever so slowly, God began to work on our hearts, until we surrendered to Him all of our lives- yes even gave Him sovereign control over the size of our family and He has blessed us immeasurably, with eight biological children. Each of these children have been an amazing gift to us and we cherish each of them. And we praised God for them and felt to ourselves "eight is enough" - at least for a time.
Then God began to stir our hearts. It was as if He spoke to say to us "these 8 precious children I have given to you, but what have you given to my orphans in return?" A burden began to build on our hearts to adopt. We knew that for us God still had other plans for us as parents if we would be faithful to His calling- that eight is not enough. And so, we followed this call to adopted and He has continued to blessed us through adoption. First a sibling group of three from Soacha, Colombia. They joined our family in November, 2008. In May 2010, we adopted twin infants from Texas. In September of 2012 we were privileged to return to Colombia and adopt a sibling group of two from Cali. At this time, we anxiously wait for our travel date to depart for China where a very special girl and boy wait for their forever family. By the time they all reach adulthood, we will have had the amazing privilege to be parents of children in our home for a half century. Our life is full beyond measure, beyond our wildest expectations, yes even beyond anything we could have ever hoped. Truly, eight is not enough. As of late we have wondered if God's plan for us as parents all along was not for eight children, but rather eight plus eight. Our heavenly Father knows and His word assures us "I know the plans I have made for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you." We trust He knows the number of His children He wants us to love and to nurture on His behalf, and whether that is eight or eighty times eight we stand ready and say speak Lord, your servants are listening and are prepared to be father and mother to your fatherless on earth.
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
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