My Little Fish

Ethan and Jesse are in the midst of two weeks of swim lessons. It's their first time, and I think they're doing pretty well. I don't really know though, because Ethan won't even get in the pool if I'm watching. I always knew he was shy, but Heath and I are struggling to figure this one out! So I have to go hide somewhere and spy on them. From what I can see, they've been cooperating pretty well, and I think they're even learning a thing or two. Today we also went to another pool (because we had a free pass from the library reading program). I got to see some of their new swimming skills in action! They're still a long way from being safe on their own, but it's fun to see my little "fish" in "school." =)

Disappointment

I think I've been fairly patient through this adoption journey, and haven't complained TOO much about the redtape and ridiculously-long process. But tonight my patience has reached its end. On my last adoption post I said that we were hoping to go to China in late August/early September. So in my head, I've been planning everything out around that. It's only been a week, but that's enough time for my subconscious to have every aspect of life and all my emotional energy poured into that certain timeframe. (This is a situation where being a very planned and scheduled person is NOT a good thing.)

Anyway, we got an email from our agency today, and one of the things it said is that we'll probably travel in late September or early October! What?! That is not what my internal calendar has programmed!

It turns out I misunderstood something in the timeframe the agency had given us. We're in between LSC (the letter I wrote about in the last post) and TA (our permission to travel, which comes about 3-4 weeks before the actual travel dates). I thought it was 3-4 weeks from one to the other, but it's actually 3-4 weeks after CHINA gets back the LSC that we signed last week. The problem is that before our agency can send that back to China, we have to have pre-approval of our I-800 (the USCIS form we just sent in that "classifies an orphan as an immediate relative"). Each step in international adoption is dependent on something else. You can't do one thing until another thing is completed, and there's no working ahead while you're just waiting. So it's like this big tennis match of paperwork between China and the US, with us intercepting balls at the net and forwarding them on to the other side. The only problem is we have to keep waiting for the government agencies on either side to actually serve the ball.

Nothing has gone apart from the norm for us, but it feels like a huge setback just because of how my mind and emotions were geared up for travelling in a month or so. I've handled all the redtape, jumped through all the hoops, and not complained about it too much, but tonight I'm really irritated with the whole ridiculous process! We were approved for international adoption, and we said we wanted her back in March; she was needing a family long before that. And yet she's stuck in an orphanage another 6 months because of paperwork!? Why on earth should it take so long to get a child into a family!?

Anyway, I know it'll all be worth it when we have her home, and we'll forget all the hassles and delays. And I also know that God's timing is best. It's in his hands, and we can trust him to work everything according to his plan and purpose for all of our lives.

Two good things about the later travel: 1) Hopefully the swineflu quarrantining will be a non-issue by then, and 2) the weather will be cooler!! That is definitely something to be happy about! =)

Well, despite how upset I sound, I really am doing OK. Writing this blog is cathartic even if no one even reads it. =) Thanks for all the prayers and support. I'll post again as soon as I have any updates!

Fun on the Water!

This Saturday the Jerore family (from our church) invited us to their lake house. We had a great time with them! Our kids love their kids, and their kids (who are older than ours) are so good playing with our boys and entertaining them! I just rode in the boat, but the boys went tubing for the first time, and Heath even tried wake boarding! He managed to get up on the water easily, and he did very well for a first-timer. But . . . his body is still recovering from the couple of fights between him and the water. (The water won.) We all stayed safe, and we had a great time, beautiful weather, and a delicious dinner. Thanks, Dan, Lynn, Emma, & Nathan! =)

Psalm 148

Reflecting on the beautiful day today, and the beautiful, non-humid summer we've been having . . .

Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord from the heavens,
praise him in the heights above.
Praise him, all his angels,
praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies.
Let them praise the name of the Lord
for he commanded and they were created.
He set them in place for ever and ever;
he gave a decree that will never pass away.

Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,
you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,
kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,
young men and maidens,
old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the Lord
for his name alone is exalted;
his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
He has raised up for his people a horn,
the praise of all his saints,
of Israel, the people close to his heart.

Praise the Lord.

Thought-Provoking Book

I've decided to start posting about books I read. I love to read, but I often don't do anything with what I read and tend to forget it quickly. So I thought if I make myself do a "book report" on my blog, it will help me think through and remember what I read, and maybe give you all some reading ideas too.

I just finished this book today. It was not very long, probably nothing destined to become a classic, but it was quite thought provoking. I've heard before of the awful things going on in Sudan and Uganda, but I'd never read a first-hand account of it before. Sam Childers is a former drug dealer, gang biker, mean, tough guy. Now he's a Christian preacher who no longer uses drugs, but is still very tough and mean--at least to the bad guys. He is passionate about saving the precious, helpless children who are caught in this war zone. I don't know what to think of him. He's certainly a lot different than any Christian I've ever known. I mean, how many pastors travel with an AK-47 on their laps?! His tactics don't scream love and forgiveness to these terrorists, and at first I think it can't be the way Christ would want. But then I think, how does Christ feel about the apathy of most of us as we sit in our comfortable American homes, reading books and typing blogs, complaining about our little inconveniences, while His children are being brutally terrorized on the other side of the world? I know we're not all called to go do what Childers is doing, but reading this certainly gave me pause to think about what I can do, and why I'm not doing it. I don't have the answer yet, but I hope God will give me chances to help in someway, and that I'll be willing to do it. If you want to stay comfortable, don't read this book.

We have LOA!!

As much as I use email to communicate with anyone and everyone, getting REAL mail--you know, the kind that is delivered to your house and you can actually hold it in your hand--is always more exciting than getting email. And certain pieces of real mail top the list--birthday cards, rebate checks, letters from old friends, and . . . LETTERS SEEKING CONFIMATION FROM ADOPTER! This is the official title of China's Letter of Acceptance saying that we can adopt our daughter! It actually says we were matched with a child, and we have to check the appropriate box (either "accept" or "cannot accept") and return it to them. Hmmm....let me think, which box should we check?

The packet including this letter actually arrived at our house early this week. But I was out in the midwest for Carrie's wedding and visiting friends, so I had to wait until I got home today to see it for myself!

Now we have to fill out our Form I-800 which is the "Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative." IMMEDIATE RELATIVE!!!!! That is so cool! We also had to fill out her visa application form which had a spot for Father's Name--Heath Ray Runkles, and Mother's Name--Jennifer Erin Runkles. Wow. We also needed to write her Chinese name and her soon-to-be name, Tabitha **** Runkles. It's the first time I've ever written it out. (I left out her middle name because we'll use her Chinese name, and I'm not sure if we're allowed to post that yet.)

So, what does this mean for our timeline? Well, unfortunately, it's now Friday night so not much will happen during the weekend. But we'll mail everything to the appropriate places, USCIS will send our provisional approval of our I-800 to our agency (Living Hope), and then Living Hope will send our Letter of Intent back to China, saying that we accept the match. Then they will schedule our travel dates! So it looks like the earliest would be the end of August, hopefully no later than the end of September.

One concern that we'd appreciate prayer for...China has been quarrantining people coming off international flights for 7 days if they have an elevated temperature or any flu symptoms, in hopes of ending the swineflu problems. This is espcially concerning because we're bringing our kids with us. Please pray that we will be able to bring our whole family safely, without having to worry about possible quarrantine. I'll send a longer list of prayer requests once we get our travel dates. Thanks so much for your prayer and support.

I can't wait until I get to post that we have confirmed travel dates! We're getting close!!

Carrie & Lcas!

My little sister is married! Carrie & Lcas' wedding was on Friday, and it was beautiful! All of us siblings were in the wedding party, and Jesse was the ring bearer. My cousin Ben officiated. A lot of other family and friends helped out with things too, and we've all had a busy week here in Omaha. I'm so excited for Carrie and Lcas as they begin their new life together.