September 12, 2009

Even though the picture is blurry- you know that you are in small town when hay bales line one side of the soccer field!

Elise at Elijah's first soccer game.

Graedy at Elijah's first ever soccer game.

Elijah on the run.

Watching the ball.

Posing for pictures instead of listening to the coach.

Picture-cheese

So proud to be playing soccer! We didn't think he would ever be able to play sports, but his head is healing and he is running so well with his brace. The surgeon ok'd him for basket ball and soccer, he just can't be goalie because of the chance of hitting his head. He had an excellent first game.

No news on our Sneha, we are just waiting for our Article 5 letter from the embassy and our letter to confirm a consulate appointment. I just hope and pray that she will be home now before Christmas!!!!

Missing Montana and remembering how our journey began- Sept,08,2009

Montana is the most beautiful place with lots of fond memories, but once a time is finished that chapter of the book of our life closes for good, never to return to be the same. I have to say I loved our time in Montana, but without moving back to Colorado we wouldn't have Elijah. We would have never been pursuing our Sneha in India. I am just so ready to travel and get Sneha out of the orphanage and into a family so she can begin the life she deserves as a child of God. She needs love, attention, and place to call her own.

How do we know that adoption is right for us? Let start start at the foundation of all of our knowledge of right and wrong-The Bible. "Once our eyes are opened we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know and holds us responsible."Proverbs 24:12 Now that we have the knowledge of suffering and know that God's children wait and are waiting for us to be the hands and feet of our savior. Faith without action is ...........? I know everyone is not called to adopt, but we are all called to help ,give, and act.

How do I know that we are not done with adopting after our Sneha comes home? There is an epidemic comparable to the Holocaust happening in today's age and times. AFRICA . How can we ignore the cries of people suffering and devastated by Aids and HIV? Maybe it is the myth that they did this to themselves and they deserve it-aids is preventable? Knowledge sets us free with-out the knowledge of how the disease is spread how can they stop it and what about the orphaned children? Is it their fault that someone made a bad choice for them? What about the myth in Africa that a virgin's blood kills the aids virus? Was it the virgins fault? How can we turn our backs on those in need?Jesus went and healed, fed, and loved those in the greatest need."He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien giving him food and clothing." Deuteronomy 10:18

What will I sacrifice do to help a starving and suffering child? Do we in American sacrifice the daily latte? The price of a daily latte can save a child from starvation? Do I really deserve the new car and new clothes with every season? We are sold the lie the we in America deserve because we have worked hard to earn it. We buy the lie daily and we being the privileged need to take care of those who can't care for themselves.

This all may seems harsh, but when my time to die comes I want my life to have made a difference at least to the life of a few children. "A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling."Psalm 68:5

And so we will wait and be filled with a hope of better things to come.

First Day of School 08/26/2009

Elijah's first day as a second grader


Elise as fourth grader

Graedy my sixth grader who dodged the alone photo. Sneha is still missing from our family and she needs to go to school since she has never been and is 8 years old. So we are still waiting, it is a good thing we aren't holding our breath while waiting or we would be long gone.

August 19,2009

We are still waiting for a confirmation of our consulate appointment for Sneha's visa. I think once that happens we can buy our tickets and plan a trip. The good news is that the temperature in India will continue to go down and not be soooo hot. The airline tickets are also more resonable out of the summer travel season.

School starts here on August 26th. At least I will be able to get the kids settled in to their new schools. Graedy is already in 6th(middle school) and will start playing the Baritone. Elise is now in the 4th grade. Elijah is in 2nd grade and cleared to play soccer. The ability to play sports was his goal after the cranio-plasty and he is cleared by the surgeon for soccer and basketball, he just won't be able to be goalie because of the risk of direct hits to his head. He is so excited and we are just waiting for the coach to call.

August 13, 2009

Sneha after she had been cleared for adoption and living at the orphanage in 2004.

Sneha right after she was found and brought to the orphanage in 2004.

Sneha the big girl that she is today.

Elijah and his first pony ride at the fair this August.

August 11, 2009 Legacy of the Adopted Child

Once there two women who never knew each other
One you do not remember, the other you call mother

Two different lives shaped to make one
One became your quiding star, one became your sun

The first one gave you life, and the second taught you to live
The first one gave you a need for love. The second one was there to give it.

One gave you a nationality. The other gave you a name.
One gave you talent. One gave you aim.

One gave you emotions. The other calmed your fears.
One saw your first sweet smile. The other dried your tears.

One sought for you a home that she could not provide.
The other prayed for a child and her hope was not denied.

And now you ask me through your tears,
the age old question, unaswered through the years.
Heredity or environment, which are you a product of?
Neither, my darling neither, just two kinds of love.

Anonyomous

India here we come!!!!

We knew we loved you before we ever met!!!