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.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Where to stay in Cali, Colombia

Anyone trying to decide where to stay in Cali Colombia? Because of the legal strike, we ended up staying there a really long time. I want to recommend:

Hoteles Suites House

Yolanda Godoy
yolandagodoy@hotelsuiteshouse.com
cell phone 310 226 3122

The accomodations were absolutely great and the staff was very friendly and helpful. Staying there made all the difference in our unexpectedly long stay in Cali. Several of the staff speak English. The accomodations are 2 bedroom apartments with 2 and a half baths, equiped kitchens (no oven) with 4 burnner cooktop and microwave oven, fridge and living room. They will pick you up at the airport and they take you on an outing every Friday at no cost.

This place is three blocks from a mall that has a small grocery store. The baggers will push the grocery cart all the way to your room if you ask for about 2000-3000 pesos.

Very pleasant stay and I recommend them without hesitation.

Home

Our blog has been very quit the last few weeks- sorry. I do want to let everyone know we are all back home now. Anyi, Jose, and Betty arrived home last Friday. We are not able to talk about how this happened other than to say that God granted us a miracle. We paraise Him and give Him the Glory.