Miracle visas full posting

So, here it is the long awaited blog about yesterday's post.  We have visas, as many know.  We received a call Thursday night that the consulate wanted us to sign paperwork.  They would not say if we had received visas or not.  When we arrived, we signed the paperwork and were told that we would have visas within the hour.

For a celebration, we went to the Hassan Market to buy groceries.  There was a hope that our information could be passed onto the authorities here so we could receive our exit paperwork, but unfortunately they did not make it in time.  After getting our visas we returned to our current home and spent the rest of the time with Sheresa's family.  Saying goodbye was bittersweet, but it was time for them to leave.  It was truly a blessing to hang with them for so many weeks.  As I write this, they are about 5 hours from landing at their final destination.


It is a national holiday this weekend, so of course Monday is also a holiday.  Our paperwork will be turned in on Monday night and hopefully we will have our exit visas from the DRC on Wednesday and we can get out that night.  We have sent an email to our travel agent to see if he could get us out of here on Wednesday, but won't know till after the weekend.  At least we can get out of here by Thursday if all goes well.

This process has always had road bumps and still does, but we are believing God that He will get us out of here quickly.  He has shown His faithfulness to us so far, so we are fully believing in what He has promised in Ezekiel.  (There will be no delay)  

The girls are doing great and we are becoming quite a family here in the DRC.  It will be interesting to see how we do once we are home.  I suspect we will do rather well.  I know there will be moments, because there are moments here where we are asking how did we get into this?  This has been a wild ride and we are so grateful for those who have come with us.  Thank you to everyone who has taken care of our animals, watched our girls, cleaned our house, walked our dogs, cleaned the cat litter, etc.........   We could never have done it without you.

We know that you are ready for us to come as we are ready to come home.  Please continue to pray for us this week so that we can get home without any hitches.

Helping the grounds people

Visas in hand at Hassan Market

Natalie with our driver Patrick

Natalie and Amber day of leaving

Hanging with Eli one last time

Play time this morning

Miracle visas

Here is a quick update.  Will fill in later, but we have visas.  

A balmy 75 degrees with miracles

So I write this mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted.  Today was a normal day.  Hang out at Sunny Day guest house and try to keep the kids entertained.  Normally, this is an easy task.  However, today was the toughest day so far.

After breakfast we started out with devotions and prayer.  I have to say it was one of the most challenging devotions, as during it the girls were interrupting and attempting to gather our attention.  I opened the Bible as though I was going to thumb through it, but could not get past my thumb.  Though I tried, the place where my thumb was just stuck.  I eventually gave in and opened to see what the passage was.  As I scanned the page I noticed 5 words at the top of the page.  These were the five biggest and brightest words I have ever seen.  What are those five words?  "There will be no delay."  Look for yourself in the book of Ezekiel.  The last part of chapter 12.  God says that he will no longer delay His actions.

Now this could have been a random chance, but the way that this adoption has gone, I believe it was God speaking to me.  I had been asking for Him to speak to me.  I probably had not been quiet enough to listen.  I have had dreams and feelings beginning this week that this will work out.  I woke up Monday feeling that this would end soon.  Two nights ago, I dreamed of returning home.  Now this.  There are 1140 pages in my bible and I end up on the one page that talks about God not waiting on what He says he will do.  Coincidence?? I think not.

God has provided miracle after miracle on this journey.  One example is that Sheresa was not able to leave today,  and there was a room available for one more night.  Every time someone associated with us on this journey has hit a roadblock, God provided.  Sheresa might disagree, due to having to stay a little longer, but God's presence has been evident daily.

News regarding our adoption.  It sounds like the phone calls have been made to the various places.  They are asking us to come in and sign a piece of paper that we did not sign before.  Our adoption agency thinks this is good news.  We are to arrive first thing in the morning.  Please pray with us that this is the last steps toward them issuing our visas.  If we can get them by Monday or Tuesday we can be on the plane by next Friday.  I know I have asked for this one before, but it is getting really hard here.

Let's back up to the beginning of the blog.  Why are you so tired?  You had the breath God come into your life.  We also had the powers of Satan released on us.  Our children did everything they could to disobey.  We had to tell them no so many times I am sure that we went backwards with them.  It was as though the moment we read the passage out loud, a host of demons stepped in the room and took over the world of Sunny Day.  Laughter was few and far between.  Crying, yelling, fighting and fit throwing took over.

I know.  We adopted 3 year olds.  This was different.  Everything was a fight.  Every adult commented on how long the day seemed.  It was overcast and a balmy 75. (In Africa, that is sweater weather).  There was no pool available due to the cold weather and the kids looked bored.

I hope I am not painting a picture of gloom, as this was a beautiful day.  The fact that we can give them consequences and they still say I love you means we have come sooooooo far.  Just as Sheresa leaves tomorrow, we are ready to come home.  We are ready to begin the adventures of life in Durango together as one big family.

This has been a life changing trip in so many ways.  Thank you for walking along side of us.  We have needed it.  

Pizza Wednesday with a kick

Today was rather uneventful.  We spent the morning with Sheresa's family.  Breakfast and all.  We did our norm, eat, sleep and pool.  We are now waiting for our pizza that we ordered.  We have changed Friday pizza to Wednesday pizza, because Sheresa and company are scheduled to leave the country tomorrow.  So we party with them one last night.  

Part of us leaves tomorrow.  We have grown to be a little family in our little compound.  We will be sad, but happy that they are going home to their family.  We are so happy, as this has been a long time coming.  (5 weeks for Sheresa)  

Things are well here.  Despite having malaria, Josee is doing well.  Natalie continues to do well, with no signs of malaria.  They are bonding well.  In fact we scared the heck out of them when we both walked out of the front gate to look at a house fire down the street.  They both started running around and screaming thinking that we had left them.  Poor kids, your parents are so bored that a house fire is worth leaving you.  Anyway, they are bonding and doing really well.  

So, I am saving the great news for last.  They started our investigation today.  They made one phone call today and they have one more to make.  We could possibly have our visas by Friday.  This would truly be a miracle.  This is a hard one to cling to, but I know it is possible.  This is the prayer request for today.  If this is possible, we can begin the DRC exit visas on Monday.  That would allow us to get out by Friday for sure.  Again another prayer request.  

Please pray that the investigation is quick and that they need no clarification.  They have one more phone call tomorrow and then it moves forward (at least as far as we know).  Tonight, life feels great despite not having any of our stuff yet.  I look forward to a day when I don't have to blog every night to keep people up to date with our lives.  

Wild and crazy day

Today was a wild ride.  We started our morning going to get photos so that we could extend our in country visas, should I have to stay beyond the 6th of July.  We did this as a precaution, because they expire on the 4th of July.  We then went to the hospital to pick up Josee's X-rays so we could return with them and let an American doctor look at them.

So we pull up to the hospital and there a lot of people standing in front of the hospital with signs.  Great! The hospital is on strike.  No luck.  We forgot to bring our receipt so they would not release the X-rays due to all of the staff not being there.  Strike 1 for today.

Now we have to go to the consulate so that we can pick up a piece of paper that was left out of Sheresa's visa packet.  Oh, did I tell you that she received her visas?  She finally did.  She leaves Thursday.  Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!  Now, we just have to talk them into moving to Durango.  We have been working it..

So while we are there, lets stop by and work on our visas.  Of course the lady is not there.  Maybe later.  

Well, with that done, we decided to go to the outdoor market for souvenirs.  This was fun and interesting.  We were able to get a few things, but not all that we wanted do to the necessity of David needing to take our photos to get our visas.

We dropped Sheresa off and headed back to the embassy for a quick check on the papers.  We have a quick interview where we find out that the consulate is not investigating our case due to not understanding that our paperwork has been updated many times in the US.  They are asking questions as to why our papers say Rwanda on them. Well we started in Rwanda, but changed, but our heads are reeling and we have been fasting today.  The fog surrounds us.  Our hearts begin beating so quick.  Oh, God, where is our paperwork?  What is going on?  We say we will contact our agency and get back with the consulate asap.

A quick call helped us realize that the only piece of paper we are missing is an addendum.  This is a simple fix.  Okay, fix it.  Oh, yeah, the agency is not open in the US for another couple of hours.  Luckily for us, our agency director is in the country and is able to call the consulate.  She is on the ball and working for our favor.  There are some other issues taking place with the paper work, but they will be resolved as soon as the consulate can download our national paperwork..

Things were crazy today.  The kids missed nap and we were starving.  Our blood sugars were way out of whack and it was so hard to think.  Despite the craziness of today, God was present.  There were many times today that He provided opportunities and happy endings.  Today was one of those days that I could say I had no control, and yet God met my needs every time.

These types of days are the worst and the best.  These types of days just serve to remind me that God is the only one who can walk me through life.  These types of days remind me that I need the love He provides.  These types of days remind me that when there seems to be no hope, there always is.

The best part of today came late tonight.  We found out that the consulate is going to investigate our case while everything comes from the US.  Our old neighbors had the opportunity to move back to our hotel, and we were able to serve them despite a rather tough and crazy day.  I think we felt happiest about being able to serve them as they were in need of a little pick me up by the end of the day.

So here is what we pray about.  Perfect paperwork.  Quick visas and quick exit visas from the Congolese government.  I have a feeling this will all pull together and we will be exiting as a family.  Should we not, God has a plan for that one too.  Albeit, I would rather leave as one big family.  

More delays

So Darren is tired tonight and actually asked me to blog. So many of you have expressed your support over the past few days and we wanted to update you on the events of the day.  I am sorry there are no picture updates today but I am a little challenged in the blogging arena.

The good and the bad news. The good news is that our friend Sheresa will be able to pick up her visas on Tuesday morning and hopefully leave the DRC on Thursday. She has been here for more than a month with her 2 adopted kiddos and away from her 4 year-old son and husband at home. We are praising God that Sheresa, her sister Amber and the kids are finally going home. However, we will miss them and pizza Fridays a lot!

The bad news is a bitter pill my friends. I called the US Embassy today and spoke with the Consul (a guy named Andrew) and let him know about Josee's recurrent malaria and probable broken finger. He  informed me that because of OUR error they had not received a file from US immigration and so had not started reviewing any of the documents or doing anything with our case in the last 2+ weeks. Now the really crazy thing is that our I171 was approved 9 months ago and had to be sent to the US Embassy to even schedule our appointment on June 8th. It took the Embassy all of 1 day to contact US immigration and have the form sent to them. The very same form that was sent to them previously. Not our error!   So, I was told that despite an ill child, the Consul didn't know when he would have a chance to review the documents or how quickly our visa could be issued.  If the Consul needs additional documentation or other information, we could be waiting weeks to months.

So, we are back to waiting. I have to absolutely leave the country by 7/8 to return to work by 7/10. It is non-negotiable. There is a Congolese holiday either at the end of this week or the beginning of next week and of course July 4. Naturally, the US Embassy is closed for both Congolese and US holidays. We are still praying for a miracle.  We know that God is able to change hearts and situations. We also know that sometimes God's purpose and timing is different than our hopes and plans. It is quite possible that Darren will have to stick it out alone with the girls in the DRC if this visa thing continues to drag out.  But in the midst of all of it today, there are so many things that remind us that God is faithful. So many miracles on this journey so far. We are weary but not defeated. I was so blessed to hear Josee and Natalie call Darren today a name they have made up just for him, "Papa-daddy."

So, dear friends, please keep praying for us here in the DRC. Please keep praying for Kate and Abby. We are so blessed to have you stand in the gap with us. We have felt you lifting us up in prayer and can feel your love from continents away. Although terrified at the idea of leaving my little girls here (which is the most unimaginable thing after they have already lost 2 mothers) as well as my husband, I know that God is bigger than this situation. And for this control freak/mother-doctor, surrendering this situation to him is so painful but it is the only way. I wish I had some great bloggy advice about surrender, some catchy phrase for the day. I don't. This whole surrender and obedience thing is painful. It is uncomfortable and scary. But when I come completely undone, to the end of myself, our heavenly father meets me there. God is always good.  He works things for good for those who believe in him. And I have no option but to trust.

Miracles

Today I hit my wall.  Just ask Brett.  We spent the morning in and early afternoon in the hospital.  We woke up to Josee's finger looking like a balloon.  She smashed it in the metal front door.  Lucky for us, my hand was also hit, so it did not amputate it.  This was 3 days ago and today it was looking like a ballon that you use for balloon animals.  We called our contact David and said we needed to go to the hospital.  While there we decided to run malaria tests on both of the girls.

Long story short....  Josee has malaria again.  Natalie does not.

Did you notice the title of today's blog?  Miracles.  It was a miracle that Josee did not cut her finger off. It was a miracle that Josee smashed her finger and broke it so that we could see she has malaria again.  It was a miracle that the medicine we received from the pharmacy was not quinine.  It is something that tastes like coconut and easily swallowed.  Many miracles wrapped up in one broken finger.  (Oh yeah, the doctor said it was not broken, but it looks broken on the X-ray.

This trip has been full of miracles.  First of all these girls are alive.  They should be dead.  They are not.  These girls should be afraid of us.  They are not.  These girls should not show us love at this point.  They do.  This trip could have been on air miles, which would make it hard to leave earlier or later if needed.  This trip was funded by money we never expected.  Natalie is not currently sick with malaria.

I could go on and on.  Finally, the last miracle;  the girls let me lay down with them to help get them to sleep.  This is the first time ever.  That is a miracle worthy of singing about.  Hope you can't hear me, you will ask me to stop.

It took some down time today after all of the events to realize how many miracles have taken place.  I felt so distraught today I had to take a short nap just so I would not cry.  I also reached out to Brett.  Something I don't do easily.  The greatest thing happened when I did.  The moment I hit send, all of my worries washed away.  Maybe I should reach out more.  I was truly amazed.

Maybe this is part of my new perspective.  Maybe I just needed to say that I was not big enough to handle this on my own.  Still trying to use my wooden spoon.  Still trying to be Rambo or the Avengers. (Ok, that would be cool.  I am not sure who I want to be though).

Thanks for fasting and praying with us.  I think we spent more time fasting than praying.  Today was tough and there were many distractions.  Anyway, it was a day of miracles.  Lets keep praying this miracles in to being.  Valerie is going to talk with the embassy tomorrow to plead our case.  Lets pray that there are soft hearts and quick typing of visas for both us and Sheresa's family.

One picture today.

girls in their new sleep caps (best time of the day) bedtime

A new perspective

Perspective.  What a tremendous word that it.  It can mean so much.  Most of the time we forget it, because we are lost in the moment.  So many times we forget to use it, because, well, because we don't want to.  This is where we are today.

Today I woke with a rejuvenated feeling.  Why?  I don't know, I just did.  Today was a tremendous day.  We played.  I went to the grocery store.  We played.  We did hair (okay, Valerie did hair).  We even had ice cream for dessert.  We had you fooled this whole time thinking we might be suffering and here we are eating ice cream.  Perspective.  Sometimes ice cream gives us perspective.

Anyway, I woke up feeling that there might be a possibility that we could get out of here next week, maybe the next.  Then I realized, I don't really care when we leave.  Don't get me wrong, I am not really on vacation, but I am bonding with our children.  We will never have this time again.  I really do miss Kate and Abby, but they will return home soon and all will be forgotten.  In fact, I give it a week or two before I am a bad parent in their eyes again.  Perspective.

Our two girls here will never have 1 full month of undivided mommy time due to Valerie's schedule.  They will never have undivided daddy time without life getting in the way.  What a great time we are having.  Locked down in our compound and working through one of the biggest challenges of our life. This is awesome.  Perspective.

We have hope that we will all leave together as one big family and return to the US, but if we don't the girls will be fine with me and will eventually stop crying for mommy.  We will play, watch television and hang out.  It will be fine.  They even cried when I left for the grocery store.  For some reason they now have found out that I am a necessity in their life.  Perspective.

Life here has made me realize how blessed we are at home.  At home, I never worry if I can run to the grocery store, I just do it.  Life here has made me feel the need to become resourceful again.  Life here has me trying 4 different languages all at the same time.  Life here has given me an understanding of how the world should really look like. (Sharing coffee with Italian neighbors who speak little to no English).  Thank you Google Translate.

Life here, has made me realize who much I love where we live.  Life here, challenges my existence of who I want to be versus who I am.  Life here, has made me much more dependent on God.  Life here, has opened up my eyes to the possibilities of what I can do to change the world.  Life here has made me shed excess pounds and realize that I can exist on less.  Life here has changed me so far.  I just hope I keep changing.

Now that I have changed, what do I do?  Do I go back to my comfort zone?  Do I live the way I did before?  There are still many challenges that lie before.  Such as, I love wine.  Not as a means to drink to get drunk, but I just enjoy wine.  Here I am in the middle of this despair and I check my wine site that sends me emails.  I quickly justify that this bottle is a steal of a deal, and yet the guy who cleans the grounds sometimes sleeps on card board inside the compound.  Does he have a home?  I don't know.  How can I even justify thinking about wine when there are millions of impoverished people just outside my gate?  This is the challenge.  This is the perspective I want to hold onto permanently.

Life is too short to be short sighted.  I must look beyond me.  I must take the gospel into the world and feed the hungry.  I must strive to deny myself and follow Christ.  I must give until I can give no more and still give.  This is the perspective I desire.  This is the challenge that lies before us as a family.  This is following Christ.  No more me.

I accept this challenge.  We accept this challenge.  Tomorrow we are fasting and praying.  I suggested that the girls do the same, but for some reason Valerie does not agree.  I can only imagine their poor little brains thinking we are starving them.  I do not bring this up to say we will be suffering, but I am want you to know that we are taking this seriously.  We are calling on the mercy of God and all He is to change us.  Not just to move our visas faster, but to change who we are.  If you can, or if you would, will you fast and pray with us tomorrow?  No need to comment if you are.  This is not a blog of who is doing what for God, but a blog of obedience, and sometimes frustration.

So I leave you with the challenge of perspective.  I leave you with a challenge of questioning who you are and what you want to become?  How will you know you made the world a better place when you are gone?  How will you know that you effectively reached out to the poor and the needy?  How will you know that you sold it all to have the kingdom of God?  (Mathew 13:44)

Italian Neighbors (coffee time)

Josee before the new style

Natalie before a new style

New Friday night routine

Tonight was our new weekly celebration of pizza and Primus.  Okay, Sheresa and Amber had water.  What were we celebrating?  We were celebrating the commiseration of being in the DRC for a month or less with no visas.  Actually, since we met Sheresa and Amber, this has been a weekly Friday night event.  We were celebrating living.  We were celebrating crying.  We were celebrating families.

What we were not celebrating is visas.  Sheresa did not get hers.  Hopefully, it will come Monday. If so, then she will be leaving on Tueday or Wednesday.  We are still waiting some a piece of paper from the US to come via internet before they can begin our investigation.  Guess we are back to pony express or the telegraph.

It was a hard day, as Valerie was half expecting to hear something about both Sheresa's visa and ours.  I told her that I thought there was no way ours would be close to done, but she had hope.  I love the hope, but hate the crushing feeling when the hope fades.  So, we wait.  No so hard, except for having the kids we left behind.  Oh, how we miss them.  I wish they could be here, but they would be sooooo bored.

So what do we do now?  We wait.  We wait with patience.  We wait with hope.  We play.  We pray.  What else is there to do?

Thank you for the continued prayers.  Thank you for the support.

Still no visas but bonobos are fun!

Hi all,

Darren has allowed me another guest appearance but has made me promise not to write a sappy post!

We still have no visa news. Our in-country contact David went to the US Embassy today and was told by the adoption liaison that she didn't have time to talk with him. So, David is to return to the embassy in the morning to see what the heck is up. We are praying for visas. Our friend Sheresa desperately needs her visas (she is going on 3 1/2 weeks in the DRC with 2 small kids and her husband and 4 year-old son at home).  We desperately need our visas.  Our big girls (especially Kate) are really struggling and we all need to be together on one continent. It continues to astound me that bureaucratic types at the embassy can prolong this process without any updates. Please continue to pray without ceasing that God will move mountains and all of our visas will be issued very soon. We know that he can change hearts and we are praying for mercy and compassion from the embassy very soon.

Tonight was the first night since we met our new daughters that bedtime was not a brawl!  No crying, no fighting.  They little twigas (that is the Swahili word for giraffe and has kind of become their nickname) actually lied down in bed and went to sleep after a short while. I am worried that their malaria is about to come back.  I mean bedtime is usually a 2 hour ordeal which involves lots of crying, flailing about and intense bouts of comforting. I feel like we gained 2 hours in our whole day.  Amazing!!!!

We left our box today and went on a fantastic outing to a Bonobo sanctuary outside of Kinshasa. Bonobos are primates, more closely related to humans than chimpanzees, and are only found in the DRC.  They were fabulous. We had a wonderful time and were excited to see these amazing creatures in the wild.  We did not expect, however, that the girls would be terrified of the bonobos. Absolutely terrified. Tears streaming down their face with high pitched wails terrified. Refused food terrified. So, we had to sort of backtrack and look at the bonobos over our shoulders but they were still awesome. Thanks Sheresa for the picture of the bonobos as are camera battery died on our excursion!

I am reminded tonight that God tends to the sparrow and has clothed the wild flowers. His love is infinite and his plans for us beyond comprehension. As I sit beside my precious sleeping daughters tonight, I cannot believe the crazy path that he has led us on that started with a simple yes. The heartbreak of failed adoptions, years of waiting, the finances.  Two little girls with severe malaria that should have died. This visa stuff is not too big for him. Please join us is continuing to pray for Sheresa's visas and the visas for Natalie and Josee.  

Still waiting!

Today was the day we were hoping to get news on our visas. No news!!!! I can even say if it will be this week. Poor Sheresa was hoping to hear something since her sister leaves Saturday. We were just hoping so we could get back ASAP. Anyway, we kind of feel like the Israelites waiting for the promise land. There is almost this since of aimless wandering here in the DRC. The cool thing is that the Israelites were eventually allowed into the promised land. Guess I know what that means for us. We were all looking for a miracle. We were all praying for a miracle. Personally, I believe there is one. We can't see it, nor do we know what is, but I believe something good has happened. Go ahead and call me naive, but I fully believe in a God who does thing underground sometimes. We may never see it, or even know about it, but it happens all the time. Honestly, we feel horrible for our comrades. We know they want to go home now. Not hearing for us was not a big blow, as we just turned our paperwork in last Tuesday. If it were not for the week of hospitals etc... we would not be here that long. We did top the evening off with a trip to a restaurant. It was okay. The stress of trying to reign in the girls all night kind of takes away from the joy of ever going out. Tomorrow we may do the bonobos adventure in the jungle. Depends on whether we can get a driver. Here are the prayer requests. Continued prayer for Sheresa and her visas. Prayer for Kate and Abby. Kate is beginning to find this tough. Prayer for a quick return of papers from the Congolese government. I'm signing off tonight as I am about to swallow a horse pill (anti-malaria) pill. For those looking at this, I have been posting small videos of the girls on Facebook. Look me up if you are not a friend. Ps. Wondering about Valerie, (Gracie, Karen, Gretchen, etc......). She is fine. Just worried about Sheresa and our daughters at home. I would let her blog, but we all know how sappy it gets..

Special Prayer request from the DRC

Tonight is a special blog report.  To start off, our girls are fine, we are wonderful and life is great.  Now let us just get home so it can be greater.  I want to take tonight and forget about ourselves.  I know all who read this are looking for an update regarding our progress in this adoption.  Tonight I want to focus on our ex-neighbor, Sheresa.  She reads this blog and she won't mind me sending this out.

So here goes.

She has been here for 3 plus weeks.  She was hoping to leave this last weekend, but has been delayed.  She is praying and hoping and weeping that she will get her visa from the US government tomorrow.  She can then wait a couple of days and get her exit paperwork from the DRC.  She needs this desperately.  She is tired and worn out.  Her little boy at home is suffering with his mother being gone.  Her husband has probably gone batty knowing that he can not control any of this, and he is at home working.  If they are delayed past this weekend, then he will have to fly back here and her sister who relieved Sheresa's husband will have to fly home back to work.  She was supposed to be back to work sometime this week, but was able to get a temporary extension.

So, as you can see we have a serious prayer issue on our hands.  We love them, but it is time to say goodbye while in the DRC.  We can always meet up in the states.  Here is the prayer request.

1.  Pray that the women in charge has a softened heart to finish the paperwork.
2.  Pray that the DGM will give the exit paperwork almost immediately.
3.  Pray that Sheresa is able to sleep tonight and that she is not overcome by anxiety.
4.  Pray that she is able to return home to her family this weekend.


Pray Psalms 86 with me.  We are weak and poor in spirit and only through God can we be redeemed.  This is a tough place.  It would be a tough place to live on a daily basis.  Of course knowing the language might make it somewhat easier.  Anyway, thank you for taking the time to pray for someone you do not even know.  We care dearly for them and want to see a miracle in their life.  Thank you for everything.

Raya

Eli with the girls 

Amber in foreground and Sheresa in background

A picture update

Natalie (Katie)

Josie

The wooden spoon

I have taken back the reins of Valerie's blog she started.  Yes we did allow one guest appearance, and yes is was rather gushy, but now back to serious business.  I did appreciate all that she put on the blog and the fact that I did not have to do it for a day.  Sometimes it is rather tiring, by the time we get the little ones down.  The true reality is that I could not do this without her.  She has inspired me throughout our years together and I am who I am because of her support.

Without further waiting I will move on the the pressing matters of the day.  Today we fasted until dinner.  Okay, Valerie made it all the way, I had to snack, because I thought I was going to play in the pool with the girls.  By the time dinner came we were so thankful for all that we had to eat.  I must say I am rather impressed by the Muslim culture and how they fast for 30 days each year.  It is a hard thing to do with children.

We had our typical day minus our lovely neighbors.  They moved on due to overcrowding in our quaint box that we are renting.  That is a fancy way of saying they were no rooms available at the inn, because they had to stay longer than anticipated.  It was pretty much  a bummer for all.  At least we can still email and call on our local phones to stay in touch.  Unfortunately for them their new pad is not as nice.  We really were sad to see them go.

We found out today that our agency is pushing for our visas to be done quickly.  We don't know what this really means.  We know that that the lady in charge of our case moves from her post on Wednesday or Thursday.  We are hoping that it does not get lost in her her absence.  As always, please continue to pray for this.  The quicker this is done, the sooner we move towards home.

Please also pray for Sheresa, our ex-neighbor.  She is long over due for going home and needs to be reunited with her family.  She also needs to wash her clothes.  I am not sure which is more pertinent at this point, but she just needs to go home.

So here comes the spiritual side.


In our room we have a kitchenette.  We cook here daily.  Now I can not say that we have the most up to date cooking utensils, or cookware, but we can cook.  As I have noted we eat Indian food most nights.  Sometimes we have eggs in the morning.  Eggs are great.  Eggs provide a lot of nutrition, but of course you need a way to cook them.

We have a skillet.  We have a wooden spoon and a few other assorted utensils, but no spatula.  When I make my eggs I like to fold them as I would an omelet.  They get really thick and the egg seems to go further when dividing it up.  Kind of like the feeding of 5000, but way smaller.  Okay, just 4 of us.  Anyway, I normally use the wooden spoon.  I works, but it is not very appropriate.  In fact it is rather clunky.

This challenged me the other day.  I thought, how many times do I try to use something in my life that just does not work?  How many times do I try to man handle it into working and yet it just falls apart?  Its like taking a screwdriver instead of a key to the door.  It will work, but you are really going to mess things up.

So here I am working with my wooden spoon.  God, how many times do I try to use this in my daily life?  Why don't I use you to walk through life?  Do I really think that I am in control enough to leave you out of my daily life?

Now I pray, but do I pray enough?  Why is it that I pray for just the big things?  Does not Jesus tell us to pray for all things so that they can be submitted to his Father?  In Luke 18:1 Jesus tells his disciples to pray and never give up.  Never give up?  How many times have I thrown the towel in?  Maybe it was not God's will for it to happen, or maybe I just did not do what was needed to get it done.  If you think too hard about God's will vs yours it can be a challenge.

I am guessing that there are many times in which he just allows us to go our way until we finally see that He has been standing right next to us all the time saying "come follow me."  He won't push us.  Will he let us fall?  Heck yeah!!!

So here I am in the DRC with 2 little girls who don't know if they can trust me and I hold the wooden spoon

Happy Father's Day

Okay,

So I will set it straight from the beginning of this post. This is Valerie and I have hijacked Darren's computer and blog while he is napping with the girls. It has been a very exhausting day on the potty training front with at least 5 wet pairs of panties and 3 outfits. Which I might add is a lot of laundry when you are doing it in the sink!

I just wanted to take a moment and blog about my husband who except for God the Father is the most amazing father I have ever met.  I'm not sure I can even do this justice but here are some of the things I love best about my husband not his Father's Day:

1) His unwavering trust in God. When I am freaking out and wondering how we will deal with the "what ifs" and "what next," Darren is enjoying and living in the now. Trusting that the answers will be revealed in time, even if they aren't what we would want them to be.  There is no way our family could survive this current uncertainty without his faith.   When I am undone, he gently reminds me that the God who created the heavens and the earth has us in his hand.

2) His love for our girls, his choice to have 4 daughters. Granted, our two oldest daughters were made the old fashioned way so that is a bit different. Kate and Abby were desperately wanted babies and we were thrilled with them (still are and darn proud every day) but we knew these youngest two would be two more girls in our family and Darren still said "yes."  He says yes to all of us every day with his life.   He is our girls' biggest fan, always ready to step in and help out, the ultimate soccer coach and best friend. Willing to catch snakes and lizards of any variety, he is always up for the adventure, for the fun. I have never regretted that our girls have had their father at home with them when they were small.  He is the greatest!

3) His love for the broken.  Darren is already saying "the next time we come to the DRC" while I am saying "Lord get me back home."  He is already dreaming up ways that our family can be involved with loving orphans (besides the two crazy girls we hope to bring home soon) in the DRC.  Anyone who knows Darren isn't surprised. He would give the shirt off his back, his last 5 bucks away and still give more. It is the only explanation for how he has stayed married to me for 18 years!

4) His love for me. I don't deserve it, could never earn it and have at times taken it so for granted. But this guy continues to love me sacrificially, continues to forgive my daily shortcomings and freak outs and continues to make me feel like he would rather be with me than anyone else in the world.

5) His ability to hang in the Congo on a gated compound with two little Swahili speaking, traumatized and spirited fodder girls.  It appears that our girls have not spent a lot of time around men and were fairly afraid of Darren for the first few days. They would only let me take them to the potty, hold them when they were scared and put them to bed at night. Well, they have figured out where the fun really is and are both quickly becoming daddy's girls. So, in addition to the other 2 daddy's girls in our families, we will have a crazy group of 4 girls who think he is the greatest think since peanut butter (did I mention that the twins think peanut butter is the greatest food in the entire universe...except for M&Ms).

We are planning to cook Indian food again for dinner to celebrate Father's Day in the DRC since barbecuing isn't really an option..... Please continue praying for our girls' visas so that we can return home and have all our girls together on one continent. Please pray specifically that the paperwork for the orphan investigation would be complete and that our case would be processed without further delay.  Love and miss everyone!

A trip to the fabric store with an unknown ending date

Today was an interesting day.  A text message at 6:30 from David woke the girls up.  He was saying he would be here at 9:30.  Great, an early wake up call.  Just what we needed.  Okay, early start today means we get ready, look good for an outing and we act, well, we act 3.  Mama, papa, mama, papa for 3 hours.  Now we wait.  9:30 comes and then we find out that it won't be until at least 10.  Need I remind you that we woke up at 6:30.

Finally around 10:45 our car shows up.  On the way to the fabric market.  Our 1st stop wast this great place where they make original patiks.  It was beautiful fabric, but very expensive.  We chose not to buy from here yet and decided to go to another cheaper fabric store.  I wish I could have taken pictures of the different places, because one was like shopping on the Magnificent mile and the other was like shopping in the slums.  A very interesting experience.

So, here we are with two tired girls in a shop that must be close to 100 degree and we are trying to keep them under wraps.  No fussing, crying etc......  You can't cause a ruckus while out in the public, because the people might think we are stealing these two girls.  So, anyway, we spent at least 40 minutes in this store and what I did not mention is that Natalie is afraid of mannequins.  Deathly afraid. To the point of high pitched squeals when walking by one.

Finally we finished at the material stores and on to the grocery store we head.  The girls are still being good.  They are holding strong, doing well.  Especially when we see the car carts at the grocery store.  Okay, you want in.  Okay, you are squealing to get out.  You don't want in.  Okay, we get the regular cart.  Okay, I will hold you as we push the cart.

Now the store is a marathon event.  Get what we need before they scream, run, etc.........   Valerie and I decide to break up the store.  Run, grab and get the heck out of here. Oh, did I mention that they tried to ride bikes that are for sale in the grocery store? The owner of the store even came up to Valerie and asked if they were our kids. Kids here don't act like this.  They are very reserved.

Finally, we stand in line to check out.  Squealing is on the verge.  Valerie takes them to the car.  Peace at last for me.  I get to check out, pay and then wait for the rest of the people with us to check out.  

Back to the car, and the girls are crazy.  We are now past lunch time, nap time and and sanity.  We are luckily headed back to the room.  We are now headed to craziness for the day.

Anyway, as you can tell, we had a crazy day.  The girls were pushed beyond the limits.  They are really beautiful girls who want to be loved.  They are definitely still afraid of being left by us.  They push our boundaries and challenge us daily, yet they are so worth it.  They definitely make the class for sin by nature.  So cute and cuddly, but so naughty at times.

Unfortunately, this day has pushed my poor wife to the brink of despair.  She thinks she will have to leave before the case is done and I will be left here with the girls.  She fears that they will never be ours.    I keep trying to remember that we are only here because of a miracle.  The whole thing is a miracle.  We should not even have these girls with as sick as they were.  Please pray for her.

Hopefully we get our visas this week and we get the exit paperwork by the next.  We really need a couple more miracles here.  I don't mean to beat my drum about the miracles, but we need to get these girls home.  So please beat the drums so God hears the pleas.  I know He is listening, but it is just hard not knowing an ending date.

I will add pictures tomorrow of our experience, as well as pics of the girls.  

Happy in the DRC

Today is update day. We have all of our papers turned into the embassy. Hopefully they have started the investigation. We did hear that we could have our visa by next weekend if all goes well. This is a prayer request!!!!!!!!! If this is the case, then we could get our exit paperwork in a couple of days and be on our way before July. Again, another prayer request. Getting back a few days beforenvalerie has to work 14 days straight would be a miracle. Since this has been a story of miracles I think this is possible. Our computer has been messing up and doing the blog on the iPad is hard, so we have missed a couple days. I also have felt way too exhausted to stay up until midnight to get one out. I must say I forgot what it was like to chase twin 3 year olds. Oh, wait, I guess this is totally new. Anyway, we are exhausted. Multiple languages to negotiate and 3 year olds. I can hear Jenny laughing all the way from Durango. How ever, they don't squeal as loud as Ethan, but they do run away and laugh. Here are some updates. The girls are doing well. The fits are lessening and they are assimilating english. We are also assimilating Swahili in bits and pieces. Thank God for google translate. I really tired of looking at the Swahili word book every time I ask the girls not to do something. Name changes...... Katie is now named after her namesake aunt Natalie. Judith is going back to Josie. Both respond to the names well. Sometimes it sounds like a vey southern home when we say "Katie Natalie or Judith Josee". It is also confusing for the brain at times. Sometimes I just say "you". Anyway, that covers the name thing. We did get sad news that our neighbors have to move Monday because the hotel is booked up and they have overstayed their reservation. We have even floated the idea of moving akk of us into our 20 x 20 room for three days. Ther are only 4 of them and 4 of us. The rest of the world lives in smaller places than this. Pray for them as they have to negotiate the process of moving elsewhere. We may get to go to a bonobos sanctuary tomorrow. That will be an ice change from our lovely gated compound with no view. There are only so many pictures you can take of them in the pool, on the swing or just running from you... There is also an opportunity to do a boat ride on the Congo river, but we are guessing that could be like going to the San Diego yacht club and renting a boat for the day. It does come with a driver at least. Potty training... They are both doing well with this one. Natalie is a little slowere with this, but hey when you get tamutamu when you pee on the potty who wouldn't go? By the way tamutamu is candy or m&m's in this home. The girls are eating most everything we feed them now. They drink maple syrup from their plates after eating French toast. We are finding that most things are edible to them, especially the spicy Indian food. We will be headed to see the Quayle family for some recipes once we get home. It seems the spicier the better for these gals. Thanks for the comments and prayers. We are well and hope to be returning soon.

Here's to our girls

Today is a blog for our girls in Oklahoma.  Today is blog of fun.  I wanted to show you that we have good times, even in the midst of the rough.   In fact, as I write, we have just spent 30 minutes struggling to get the girls to go to bed.  Strike that we are now working on 1.5 hours and no luck.  This involves a lot of "leave me alone" in Swahili and sometimes getting out of bed.  Next comes the screaming and the holding and the rocking and the screaming and finally silence.  Just ask our neighbors.  Just don't ask the french man across the quad.  He already hates us.

By the way, we are now unveiling Katie's new name.  Her new name is Natalie.

Josee

Natalie (aka Katie) 

Abby taking 2nd in her division race before we left

Kate taking 2nd place in the race before we left

Anyway, here is to our girls.  Those here and those far from us.

The Refrigerator

So today I was looking at our refrigerator that the girls constantly open and look in.  It is pretty sparse comported to what is at home.  In fact, what is in there pretty much sums up our food situation.  Yeah, we have snack foods and boxed foods, but without the fridge foods life would seem much harder.

Now imagine our girls.  They have probably never eaten like this ever. To see a hole that holds food must be unimaginable to their 3 year old brains.  I really wish I spoke fluent Swahili.  I could ask them what they think about this whole.  Now I don't know if they had a fridge where they came from.  They don't necessarily acted mesmerized by it, but they know that it holds the food that feeds us.  They know there is sustenance that comes from this box.  They know that their bellies get full and they feel better.

Eating is a strange thing.  I have never really thought about food except for times when I am exerting a great amount of energy or I forget to eat.  I have never been in a situation in which food becomes a dire issue.  That's where I am spoiled.  I live in a large home, with a large refrigerator, with large food boxes.  I am truly spoiled.  Our girls do not understand this yet.  They do not realize that they will be coming to a place where food is not only plentiful, but rather cheap as compared to here.  This is where I must diverge.

I have been reading the book of Job while I am here.  I am reading it slowly so that I can grasp the fullness of the book.  The way it goes around here, a sentence or two a day seems like a lot.  Okay, so this is not the most uplifting book to pick out of the bible, but I wanted something that would challenge me.  Something that would feed me, as my belly says "I'm hungry."  I have never felt hunger for more than a brief period of time, but now that I am here, I feel it constantly.  Being locked in the confines of our compound means we do not overeat.  Yeah, we get to go to the store 1 time week, but it is hard to get what our bodies are used to.

So today I began thinking about the refrigerator and what it means to the lives of people around the world.  I began to wonder if we use God like a refrigerator?  Do we ask that He open up and give us something to satisfy us and then we ask Him to close up until we are ready for more?  Living in America, I believe God has turned into a convenience for us.  He is just like the local 7 Eleven where we can pop in and get a good dose of food and energy drinks and then mosey on our way.  I know that I have used Him this way.  "God get me through this and I will do ________________(you fill in the blank).

Recently our pastor Brett talked about John 10:10 and about how Jesus has come to give us life to the full.   His interpretation was that the full is Heaven.  Although I will tend to agree with him, I would also add that Jesus lets us get more out of this life than just a drive by.  You see when I read this, Jesus is saying that he is more than a 7 Eleven.  With him you don't need to stop by the 7 Eleven because he is already with you.  Not only is he with, but the spirit of God is with you.

Now my belly may be saying it is hungry.  It's not starving.  My mind might be exhausted by negotiating 3 different languages.  It's not broken.  My muscles may be withering.  I'm not dying.  In fact we are thriving.  We are well despite all of the challenges that are presented daily.  We are growing as a family and making memories that will last a lifetime.  We are living the life more abundantly.  We chose to follow this path that we were called to.  We knew it would not be easy.  We knew that there were risks associated with it, and yet we heeded the call.

If this is what it takes to live more abundantly sign me up.  If it means that we forsake all that is comfortable to make a difference in the world, sign me up.

 When I started this blog it was meant to be a tool to let our friends and family know how we are, but as I as have gone forward with it has turned into an expressive psalm to God.  This is the hardest thing we have ever done.  I would never have been able to do this without a great marriage and friends and family praying for us.  There have been times that this has seemed beyond us and overwhelming.  The fits before bed can make you feel like this.  The fits over not wanting to share another kid's toy can make you feel this way.

So I leave you with this?  Do you want more abundant life in this world and beyond?  Do you want to accept the challenge of sometimes having to walk down the hard road?  Do you want to open you life to unexpected ventures?  There is an adventure waiting, are you ready?

PS:  Our paperwork will be delivered to the embassy tomorrow.  Please pray that the investigation begins immediately and it goes quickly.

Josee

Katie (possible new name coming)

Our afternoon latte

Reading time

Playtime with Eli