Rainy Season is Here!!!!

This is where we had Thanksgiving dinner! Thanks to our friends Lou and Miranda (and in turn their friend Amy who hosted) Josie and I got to have a real North American (is there any other kind?) Thanksgiving dinner complete with all the trimmings. I got to play the wii!!!! There was even pumpkin pie and it was amazing.

The rainy season has arrived I think. It has been rainy every day and it seems the rain is falling harder every day. It's actually really nice unless you have to go out in it as we did today. Everything has really greened up just in the 3 weeks I have been here.

Today, we went to the orphanage. We were supposed to meet one of the girls' birth father, but that ended up not happenening (probably for good reasons), but we stayed for a few hours and played. It was so good to see them again. I really have missed them. It's also exhausting to go there on a day when it's raining and all 11 (12 children if you count Josie) are stuck in the house playing with the same 4 or 5 toys. I felt like they were going to smother me, but it was so good to love on them and they all seemed glad to see me again! For the girls, we painted fingernails and they LOVED it. I can't wait to get that committal order and have our two home. There's even some hope that may happen this week. Please pray for that!!!

So we are driving back from the orphanage and our driver slows down. He says really loud, "JOSIE! Have you ever seen a little Bushman?" As he starts to roll down his window I look out and see what appears to me to be an African midget. The driver's yelling "Little Bushman!!!" out the window as I try to slink down and pretend I'm not there. People just call it like it is here. Everywhere I go, they just say "Muzungu" which is literally "white person". Hahaha can you imagine doing that in America?

So anyway, I told the driver that we had indeed seen "small people" in America and that he certainly didn't need to stop or even slow down on our account.

So I got home and googled "bushman zambia". Apparently this is no ordinary midget that I saw. Bushmen are a really revered tribe of people here in Africa--they are thought to be really wise or something. Not many live in Zambia. They live in---the bush. By evolutionists they are thought to carry some kind of gene that caused humans to evolve or something like that. (whatever) Anyway, these people generally still live in a tribal setting so...I guess it's not common to see them in Lusaka and my driver just really wanted me to take note of my experience. Well Noted!

I made an apple crisp today with some apples that Kat gave me before she left and some oatmeal cookie dough I didn't use yesterday. It made the house smell good. Later, Josie and I are going to put up a Christmas tree and maybe walk to the store to get a handful of groceries. Should be a pretty quiet weekend, but please that I have something to blog about Monday!

Give Thanks

Overall I would use one word to sum up my African experience to date…HARD! Not completely bad,non-educational, or non-productive…just hard. There are some bright spots on a daily basis, though:

1. Having access to the Word. I watched the movie
Luther last night (from James and Megan’s movie collection) and was reminded
that to have the blessing of reading God’s Word in my own language is something
to be thankful for.
2. Our caretaker’s name is Limited. He’s a very nice man. Josie has gotten very comfortable with him and I love hearing her say his name because she says “Lemonhead”. Bahahaha that’ll make any bad day seem betterJ
3.
There’s quite the assortment of animals to keep you on your toes. I had to chase a
chicken down on Saturday, we have bunnies, I’ve already stepped on a roach, and
found numerous lizzards in the bathroom. The lizzards seem to be getting bigger…I hope that’s normal.
4. The food here is actually pretty good. I was worried that I would be forced to eatsome really weird stuff. So fareverything has been tasty.
5. Josie is awesome. Terrible sometimes too, but I love talking to her about the "Yidzzards" and she gets excited when we "Pray Jesus" every night. Right now she is playing with play-dough at the table. It's fascinating to watch her mind work. I don't think I am thankful for her as much as I should be. She's pretty great.

Today was a day of blessing for sure. My attorney told me on Monday that we should
meet with Elizabeth together on Wednesday (which is today) to iron out some
things. I never heard back from him…I tried calling and e-mailing. By last
night I was furious because I knew I had to get a babysitter, but she would
need to know by last night if she was coming and what time. So I told her 9 a.m. and prayed like crazy. This morning, still livid and fed up with the entire process, I e-mailed the attorney at like 7 a.m. and told him that I had a babysitter for the day that I had already hired so we needed to meet and I needed to know what time.

Poor man calls me 5 minutes later and apologizes and says he lost his
Blackberry. Plus he got married on Saturday so…I guess he has reasons for not returning my calls. I told him I thought he was ignoring me andhe said no and that he called Elizabeth (also at 7 a.m. for which she was not happy) and set up a meeting for lunch. He said he would tell me exactly what time.

In the meantime I wanted to take advantage of having a
sitter all day so I ran some errands. I got done early so went to the social welfare office at 11. Of course, Elizabeth was not in so I told the
other social workers I would wait for her. They talked to me for a while. About
an hour later, Elizabeth calls one of the social workers I’m in the room with
who tells her that I’m there waiting on her. The social worker says, “Elizabeth says she has a few things to do and that she will tell your attorney to reschedule.” Lord, my heart CANNOT handle a reschedule!!!!! So I send up a prayer, go
outside and call Elizabeth and say “I’m at your office. I have to take a taxi every time I come down here. I have a woman staying at the house with my baby all day and the taxi says he will wait as long as I need him to. So…I’m not leaving until you meet with my attorney and me. I've got all day” (Yeah, Mama bear came out just a little) so FINALLY at 1:30 all three of us were together. I
heard the attorney walk through the door and someone pointed and told him “The
white woman is down there.” By that point they ALL knew why he was there.

It was a great meeting! The attorney is wonderful. He knew what to ask and how to interpret what Elizabeth is telling me. Apparently, Elizabeth has been trying to get
a hold of the orphanage director who is the only person who can give the OK for
her to have the files. He won’t call her back so…we’re trying to work through that.
The paperwork I filed on Friday must have been approved because Elizabeth said she was cleared to work on our case and that the only thing standing between me and a committal order is the orphanage director.

The attorney even said that if I keep going to the orphanage to see the kids, that that will be viewed as bonding with the children and that the “3 month fostering” can be dated the first time we met the kids. That would be nice!!! I believe this is still up to the judge when he wants to make that date official, but the attorney seems very confident that it will happen that way. I do feel much
more confident in our attorney after today. I think he really knows what he’s doing.
I’m going back to the orphanage on Saturday to spend time with the kids
and to meet the younger girls’ father (for various reasons I won’t say here). I’m a little nervous about that, but I guess it could be a good thing. I
AM dying to see them again. I had been staying away because I didn’t want to get attached in case something went wrong. The attorney thinks it’s better
to spend time with them and that he can work out the paperwork so…I guess I’ll
believe him! I will definitely feel better when that adoption decree is signed
and they are actually ours.

So I got back exhausted.
I literally felt like I had been in a fight. Spiritually, this has been a very rough 2 weeks, but I also can’t remember ever praying this much…so I guess sometimes
sanctification happens in the dark. Ready for the lights to come back on, please!!! I just remembered the story about the persistent widow and as I sat outside of Elizabeth’s office for hours today I
just prayed that I would be fighting for the right thing. I don’t want to come off as rude or demanding (which is the assumption about Americans anyway) or that this whole adoption is just about me, but the Bible also has a lot to say about fighting for the fatherless and justice for the poor. Today definitely felt like a fight, but I knew that God was with me and I left actually feeling like Elizabeth, the attorney, and I might possibly be wanting the same thing…to see these 2 girls adopted. Praise the Lord, it actually looks like this
might work out.

The next step is to (get a hold of the orphanage director). I’ve got three different people trying so…Attorney said he will see Elizabeth in person on Monday again if she still hasn’t made contact and we’ll go from there. I’m not exactly sure what that means, but I think legally, they can go around this man if he refuses to cooperate. Hoping he will just call her back. Maybe he lost his phone too:p

I made pumpkin bread! Thanks to Katryn, I inherited some canned pumpkin and made some
Thanksgiving food!!!! We are spending the afternoon with some American missionaries here. I really hope they have REAL thanksgiving food. I would be so excited! Hoping to skype with Darren and one or both of my sisters tomorrow! YAY!!!
Thank you all for your prayers and have a wonderful day of special thanks to the Lord for the Great things he has done!

Yay Monday!

So I know back home, everyone dreads a Monday because it means the beginning of a work week, but for me, there's nothing better than surviving a weekend and waking up to all the new possibilities that Monday brings! So far it's been a pretty good day. Got to chat with Darren on facebook and know that he made it home ok. I've already talked to our attorney about some of these issues we're having with paperwork. He assures me it will be ok. We are meeting tomorrow or Wednesday to visit some of these offices together and get things figured out. Trust God. Trust the Attorney. Take a deep breath.

Saturday, Josie, Katryn, and I spent the day in Kabanana where the children sponsored throught heir ministry had their Christmas party. They served lunch, sang songs, did a devotional, and opened presents! It was such a blessing to me to be a part of it all! These children are so precious. They all seemed to enjoy Josie even though she was a little grumpy from her nap-deprived afternoon.

We tried another church yesterday with our friends the Moralises. I was very excited because they supposedly offer childcare (which Kabwata Baptist does not). We tried the no childcare route with Josie last week and that experience was everything but worshipful so...we tried another church. Not 5 minutes into the service I see little Josie with a nursery worker looking for me outside the building. "What now!!?" I think to myself. The worker proceeds to tell me that Josie keeps walking out of the childcare room. I asked if they could just...close the door, but she said no and that there isn't a class for her age group. She said Josie was welcome to attend the 3 and 4 year old's class, but that she would have to sit down and listen to the curriculum being taught the entire time and that she couldn't keep walking out. I'm not sure I know of any 22 month olds that could handle that...especially not mine so Josie and I played in a large classroom together as I fought back tears at the news that even though they normally have the ability to pipe the sermon in through the speakers...GUESS WHAT!? The speakers aren't working. Of course they aren't.

I sat there watching my rambunctious daughter play with blocks and balls as she taught the other rather mellow child in the room how to throw them. I'm sure her mother appreciated that. It has certainly been a challenge to have Josie in this culture. She loves to be challenged, busy, and kept on a schedule. Those things are just not quite as available here. The children are different here. Much more quiet and mellow. Almost unnaturally so. So poor Josie is learning how to adjust like being thrown into a lake and being told to swim. Sometimes I get very frustrated with her, but it's hard enough being an adult and going through these things. I can't imagine what these changes must feel like to a 22 month old. I actually think it will help alot when her sisters come to stay here. Every day she asks if we can go "Play kids?"

So...I'm going to see if there is a Bible Study I can attend or some setting where Josie's disruptions won't be so obvious as a full on church service. I will try to download Shawn and Tom's sermons if my internet connection allows. I miss church community so much right now so you can pray that those things will be resolved.

Thank you all for your constant encouragement through e-mail and facebook. I appreciate it very much. Please pray that this week would be productive and that we can move things forward. Thanks!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly...

You'll have to forgive me not updating in a while, although, Darren has been sending out e-mail updates. I've been busy trying to figure out what the heck is going on!!! The Zambian adoption process continues to be an ongoing rollercoaster for us. Each day is typically met with a nugget of positive news as well as a major letdown. And we've only been including a fraction of that in our e-mails! It feels like a tennis match. Last night as Darren and I were talking on his last evening here, we were thinking back over the reasons we felt so strongly that God was leading us here. Too many things went right for us to question that God wanted us to adopt from here, but now so many things are going wrong! I continue to believe that even though this is harder than I imagined, that God is waiting for the darkest night to display His glory brightest. I'm really clinging to that hope right now. Our attorney assures as that what issues we have can be resolved...however, he's getting married either today or next Saturday and will be gone for 2 weeks! There continue to be numerous paperwork issues, infinate conversations that go like this "No...you have to talk to so and so about that. I don't know anything" then "so and so" says "No...I can't handle that. You are supposed to talk to someone else." All the while everyone at social welfare treats me like a 5 year old and try to make it out like I'm the one that doesn't know what I'm doing. There...I vented for the day.

Darren left for Home about an hour ago. Is it possible to miss him already? I know we both envisioned him leaving with some certainty and peace of mind about where this is headed, but God has other plans I guess. It would have been easier I think to see him go if I could start counting the days to when he comes back, but I really have no idea. Well, enough sad stuff.

Here's a photo we took at the orphanage the other day. This is Josie eating Nshima (think really thick sticky grits)

There's a lady at the orphanage that the kids call "Auntie Grace". She taught me how to make Nshima the other day. I burned my arm (ow). I agreed to teach her how to bake cookies so we are doing that next week. She really loves the kids there and they all love her back. Sometimes, with so much mess going on with paperwork and running from this office to the next, it's easy to forget why we came here, but when we go to the orphanage and see the kids there I'm reminded what we are fighting for. Please pray for us to keep up the good fight and look to Christ for our comfort. Thank you all!

Mumping...

I don't think Josie will be able to live in a house without a trampoline again. Every morning she says excitedly "GO Mump!!!!!"

So we have an attorney and we think we met our kids. Now that adrenaline rush is over...now what? We wait some more. Waiting is definately not fun. Especially when Darren goes home in 4 days. We want to spend every minute we can feeling like we are doing something productive and I KNOW Darren would love to be bonding with his new daughters, but...we wait. Yesterday, social welfare was supposed to meet with the orphanage big-wig director. That didn't happen. He apparently never called her back. Our attorney is supposed to be meeting with the social welfare big-wigs today to see what he can do, but we still don't know anything. We had kind of said that we didn't want to spend too much time at the orphanage until we knew the paperwork was in place because we don't want to get "too" attached to these kids (although we pretty much already are) in case something goes wrong. We definately don't want to tell them we're going to be their parents yet. That would be a premature step. And if they don't know who we are and why we are there then not much bonding can occur anyway. So...we wait.

Our attorney did tell us that we needed to choose between the three kids. It's a life changing decision to choose which children will be in your family and which on is left behind. You picture that one child growing up in your family back home...definately going to school, definately having enough to eat, definately being loved...thriving on opportunity. Then you picture what their life might look like if they stay here...maybe an education, maybe enough food, maybe learning a trade or maybe no opportunity to excel, hunger, crime, never knowing Christ. We do feel confident that where these children are living now is a good place and they are being loved, cared for, and told the Gospel. We have covered this decision in prayer beforehand and after we met the children, and since we both felt a connection to the girls,and 2 girls is what we had planned on all along, we decided to choose them. Our attorney does not believe that the younger one's paperwork will be an issue. He believes the court will terminate parental rights of the father and then we can move forward. We are praying for a family for the boy too. He is so precious and I wish I could adopt them all.

We are making many friends here in Zambia. We had a family from New York over last night and they live just down the street. Pastor Mbewe and his family (Kabwata Baptist) are coming over tomorrow night. I went to a market with Katryn today and picked up some souvenirs. That was fun! Everyday we take a little outing just to get out of the house and not wallow in despair when things slow down. Sometimes we walk a mile to the grocery store or the ATM or to look at a souvenir shop. Today is Tuesday and there is actually a really good pizza place about a mile from here that does BOGO pizzas today so we'll have that for dinner:) Thanks to Lindsay Edwards, we had pumpkin spice coffee yesterday with LIQUID creamer...oh the tastes of home are so sweet:)

As always, thank you for your continued prayers for us. We know that God is work and we have seen His hand work in so many things. We are praising God for the progress he has caused even as we cry out for more. We want so badly to hold ALL of our children and tell them they are loved. Pray for God to calm our hearts as we wait for those moments.

A Good Saturday!

Dear friends and family! Thank you for your fervent
prayers! We thought we would be really bored this weekend and not be able
to accomplish much. Well, Saturday turned out to be the best day
yet! This morning, we met with a Christian lawyer here who has spent time in the U.S. and even teaches law here in Lusaka.
He is very young to be so successful. We had lunch with him to discuss how
he could help us and what his fees would be. His fees were remarkably
lower than we had even dared to guess!!! He is very well connected, but
also very ethical and honest. He understands Western culture very well as
well as “timelines” and “schedules”. We felt very blessed to have
“coincidentally” heard about him from some other missionaries yesterday.
The Lord’s providence has been clearly seen today!

So after our meeting with our lawyer, we rode with Steve and
Stephanie Allen (Missionaries who have adopted from the Kids Alive orphanage
and got the names of 3 possible children for us) to the Kids Alive Chikondi
orphanage. We had an amazing meeting with the man who runs the
orphanage and his wife. They have poured their lives into loving the
orphans in their home and it was clear that they want what is best for the
children. They felt much more at ease to talk about the children’s
histories after speaking with us. They expressed that when Stephanie
first told them that they knew some Americans looking for children to adopt
that they felt resistant as these children are like family to them.
However, they said that they know the children need to be in families and that
they were encouraged to know that we are Christians and would raise them in a Christian home. There are about 12 children who live with them right
now. The three we are most interested in are a 4 year old girl, a 3 year old boy, and a 3 year old girl. The first 2 were abandoned at birth and would
be very easy to adopt. The youngest's father came to visit her once when she was
about 5 months old so we may encounter some resistance from social welfare with
her. The youngest was very friendly and we feel like we would like to pursue
both girls, but if the youngest is not available we will take that as a sign from
the Lord that the boy was meant to be in our family and we will go on a massive
shopping trip for boys’ clothing:)

Here are some specific things that you can continue to pray
for:

1. That our social worker would be able to meet with the director of the orphanage on
Monday. She has to get the children’s files from him.
2. That our lawyer would be able to speed things up for us in the paperwork
department. We would be especially happy if we could have a committal
order before Darren leaves although that would be quite a miracle.
3. That it would be clear which two children were meant to be in our family.
4. That Josie would do well adjusting to this new culture, lifestyle, siblings.

-Darren, Jacky, and Josie

Our friends would be so proud...

We have backyard chickens!!! It's been nice to have fresh eggs. We also have bunnies, a swimming poo,l and a trampoline where Josie likes to go "mumping". We are very thankful for the blessing of being able to rent this house. It has been great.

In adoption news, there are two girls at an orphanage in the city that are 4 and 2 (or 3.. not sure). We have not been able to meet them yet, but have seen their photos and man, are they cute!!! We have requested that social welfare review their files to ensure that they are adoptable and if they are we would be able to meet them. Our social worker is going to speak to the director of the orphanage on Monday so we are praying that that meeting goes well and that if these are our girls we could meet them soon. We are hoping to meet with an attorney who was recommended by some missionaries here. It is Saturday here, but he was willing to meet today so we are hoping that goes well. He could really help us alot with filing paperwork and moving things along. I have a feeling it is going to be a long weekend waiting for Monday.

So I got attacked by a SWARM of flies the first time I used the kitchen. I learned very quickly to leave the door closed when cooking even though it is so hot here we normally leave them open for air flow. These are not just your normal run-o-the mill lazy, annoying, flies either. Folks, these African flies are vicious!!! They go straight for your head and buzz around like they're on steroids!

We saw a giraffe in a crate going down the road the other day. That was pretty cool! I would actually love a pet giraffe to go with our chickens, bunnies, and flies.

It's hard to believe that Darren is leaving next weekend. In some ways, the past five business days have gone by so fast and then in other ways it seems like we have been here longer. We thank you all for your continued prayers. We know that we serve a mighty God who holds the world in existence by "the power of His word". We know that that same God cares for us and is a comfort to us in our struggles. Pray that things would work out smoothly and that the aching of our hearts would be comforted by meeting our children, but also that we could "count it all joy when [we] encounter various trials."