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.
Integration Day
Integration Day was not nearly intense as we had expected it would be. We were only there for around 30 minutes. We were only asked if we wanted to continue to which we gave a huge YES! A couple of questions to Yeisson who told them "bien"! They were able to learn everything they wanted to know by the way the kids were interacting with us while we were there. Things are going well and we are conecting well. As we left Bogota proper and entered the town of Soacha where the kids are from Santiago's mood dramatically changed and he started crying. We had the interpreter tell them why we were going back before we got there, but he got visibly upset about returning to Soacha. Once we arrived, Tatiana was also much less happy. Once we left Soacha, they returned to their old selves- much better. We think they won't have to go back, but the Judge could request it if he so desires- we hope not!
Our prayer request is that the court date will come quickly. After the court date we can be on our way home in about 4 possibly 6 days- all depends on where the weekend falls.
After the integration meeting, we tried to stop by the Hagerty's to say good-bye, but theyr were not in their hotel so we left a note. It was very good to meet them. We spent a little time in a park and then went to lunch in a place called Carbona da Palo. We had a good time and experienced the language barrier at its best. We ordered a favorite of our new kids called empanadas (sp). We ordered 9 ORDERS of empanadas- or so we thought! Each order is suppose to have 6 empanadas in it. When the food came we got 9 empanads. Not much lunch for 9 people. They are small deep fried balls of dough filled with beef and rice and spices very good! They sent out someone with a little bit of English and then they brought us out more! You can't just point to the menu item you want and then say a number! It was a good time, but then we had a long walk back to our appartment. The pictures today show a couple of shots of Soacha ,where the kids came from, and then the family lifting high the empanadas.
God bless.
Jim and Betty
Integration Day was not nearly intense as we had expected it would be. We were only there for around 30 minutes. We were only asked if we wanted to continue to which we gave a huge YES! A couple of questions to Yeisson who told them "bien"! They were able to learn everything they wanted to know by the way the kids were interacting with us while we were there. Things are going well and we are conecting well. As we left Bogota proper and entered the town of Soacha where the kids are from Santiago's mood dramatically changed and he started crying. We had the interpreter tell them why we were going back before we got there, but he got visibly upset about returning to Soacha. Once we arrived, Tatiana was also much less happy. Once we left Soacha, they returned to their old selves- much better. We think they won't have to go back, but the Judge could request it if he so desires- we hope not!
1 comment:
Ohh that restaurant was a favorite of ours. You can not leave without tasting their sweet arepas. Also, I don't know the Spanish name but it was a chicken/steak shishkabob. Awesome. Have fun eating your way through Bogota. Thank heaven for the high altitude, it helps the metabolism burn off all that great food.
Post a Comment