Safe and Sound! :)

So, last you all heard, we were getting ready to fly home from Uganda. I'm so excited/relieved to tell you that  we've made it home and that this transition time is going quite well. We've loved being back in familiar territory and most of all, seeing so many of you. So, here's the skinny on our long journey home!

The day before we left, the U.S. embassy granted us our visas to travel to the United States. However one slightly alarming thing happened. They told us we would need to give original copies of our court ruling and guardianship order to customs in Entebbe and in Chicago. This would have meant that we would have no original copies of these documents for our dealings here in the U.S. However, upon reaching customs in Entebbe, we found out this wasn't true.

So, we were off! Our flight took off from Entebbe around midnight. We'd been talking up the airplane for about a week with the kids, so they were excited to see what it was like. All in all, we couldn't have asked anything more from them. When we reached the plane, they just kept pointing at it and staring, wide-eyed. When we got on the plane, both kids were very excited about having there own personal TV's in the their seats. Gideon slept about 90% of the flight to Brussels, Belgium, but Viola was far too fascinated with flipping between different movies to go to sleep. She didn't end up going to sleep till about 3 a.m. However, when she went down, she slept like a rock until our descent into Brussels. Around that time, she got a little motion sickness and spit up quite a bit of whatever was in her stomach. Of course, I got to be the one to catch it all [in my hands, naturally]. Sorry if that was too much of a visual for you.

Brussels was about a four hour layover. Gideon was all ready to go and explore the airport since he had 7 hours of sleep under his belt. Viola, however, was still very tired. So, Kristen left with Gideon to go to the transfer desk [we transferred to a different airline] and I got to sit with sleeping Viola, sip coffee, eat doughnuts, and watch the sun rise. It was quite pleasant. Even though we weren't home, that was the first real moment when I got to stop and think about the gravity of what we were finally accomplishing. I was overwhelmed with gratitude to our great God for the place he'd brought us to.

After Kristen got back, she informed me that I needed to take Viola over to the transfer desk as well to have them check our passports and paperwork. After all this was done, it wasn't too much longer before our flight into Chicago.

When we boarded the flight to Chicago, we were delighted to find out we'd been assigned the row right behind business class. This row has extra leg room and no seats in front of us for the kids to kick. Gideon was battling a little bit of a head cold, so the take off and landing for this flight was quite uncomfortable for him. After we were in the air awhile, both kids wanted their mommy [which is fairly typical]. So, I took a screaming Gideon to the back of the plane and rocked him in the bathroom for awhile. When I came out, the two flight attendants talked to me for around 15 minutes about our adoption, saying how awesome it was. After we went to sit down, they both came over and told us that the kids could sleep on the floor in front of our seats! They said 'We'll just tell the other flight attendants not to bother you.' Then, they brought us blankets and pillow from first class! For the rest of the flight, they were extra accommodating to us. The kids got to sleep for around four hours on the floor right in front of us.

The last scare of the trip was in Chicago. Upon reaching customs, they checked off on all the passports, but mine. A security guard came over and had us follow him to a back room. Mostly, this made us nervous because we only had about 90 minutes to land, go through customs, get our luggage, take a train to a different terminal, go through security, and find our gate for the flight to Cedar Rapids. After about 25 minutes, a security guard called me back and asked me a series of questions about the nature of the trip to Uganda and my job in America. I was glad when I learned he'd spent time in Waterloo. Once we made this connection, he let me go. I went back out to the waiting room to find a screaming Viola and a vehemently angry wife. After we left, I learned that Viola had run into an office where a meeting with several important-looking people from the Dept. of Homeland Security where seated. She got a BIG little swat for that.

All things considered, we made it to our gate, only to find our flight delayed. We got back to Cedar Rapids an hour later than expected. But it didn't matter because all of our family was there to greet us. For an hour or so, the kids played with their Grandpa's, Grandma's, Great Grandpa, Great Grandma, and Aunts. We were very happy to see how quickly they warmed up to all of them.

Since then, we've been making the transition into Iowa living. The kids were a little surprised with the cold weather and having to be strapped into car seats in the car. Other than that, they've loved all the toys and food they now have access to. They were pretty freaked out by the dog at first, but that's getting better as well. All in all, they're transitioning very quickly. We couldn't be happier with how this step of the process has gone.

Remember to pray for us next week as Kristen and I both go back to work. This will almost absolutely be a difficult time for them as they haven't spent time away from both of us at all since we got them.

Looking forward to seeing you all!

Derek, Kristen, Viola, and Gideon

Visas Approved!

Today was the day. Our interview with the U.S. Embassy was scheduled for this afternoon. I'm happy to say that all went well and our visas should be here on Wednesday afternoon!  As I said before, we had both sets of grandparents come and I'm glad we did. Both sets of grandparents were interviewed for around ten minutes a piece. Other than that, they asked us some general questions about the paperwork and the previous history of both kids. Before we knew it, she said that both had been approved and that we could pick them up on Wednesday.

I think because everything else has been so difficult, I expected there to be some small glitch in our paperwork or with our case in general. I'm so relieved to have had it go well and mostly, to be able to make our flight this Thursday! This means we'll be back in the great state of Iowa on this Friday afternoon :)

It's been a long haul and Kristen and I are super excited to be home soon. Sorry for the short post, but there are no other crazy details to include this time! We'll see you all soon!!!

Derek, Kristen, Viola, and Gideon

Embassy Appointment = Monday

The fun around here just never seems to end.

On Wednesday of this week, we headed to the Embassy to drop off our paperwork. We assumed this would be a simple step since we were pretty sure we had everything we needed.

There were 3 issues with our paperwork. Viola's passport had the wrong birth month and the documents stating that the grandparents were terminating all of their rights were not sufficient. She also said she wanted all the affidavits from court. She said that if we turned in all of these things by Thursday afternoon, we could stay on schedule for our actual appointment on Monday. This meant, we would have to go back to the dreaded passport office and make trips to both of the kid's villages on Wednesday and Thursday.

So, once again, we found our 'short' day turning in to a long one as we stopped by the passport office and headed to Mpigi to get another document signed by Gideon's grandparents. We were grateful when our contact finally came and met with us on Wednesday [of course we'd already been there for 3 hours]. We were thankful when she said it would be done on Thursday. With that, we took off for Mpigi.

Thursday was basically the same schedule as Wednesday. We stopped by the passport office to check on things. Then, we headed to Nakaseke, Viola's village. We were on a pretty tight schedule as we were planning on driving two hours to the village, then coming back and picking up Viola's passport. Then we had to scoot on over to the Embassy and get everything submitted, all before 4:30. I got even more nervous as we hit road construction on the way out of town and it took us another half an hour to get around it.

This would also be Viola's first visit back to the village since she's been with us. When we ask her about her jaja [grandma] she always shakes her head 'no' as if she doesn't want to go back. When we got there, she demanded to be held by Kristen and I the entire time. At first, she wouldn't look at her grandma and she never did say anything to her or anyone else in the village. We were worried that this would upset them, but they were happy to see that she had already attached to us so much. We were only there about 25 minutes before we took off, back to Kampala... like we were in the Indy 500.

To save time when we got back to Kampala, we split up. Kristen, Gideon, and our caseworker headed to our attorney's office to pick up all the affidavits from court. Viola and I hopped on a boda boda [motorcycle taxi] and headed to the passport office to pick up Viola's passport.

I was quite nervous walking into the passport office as it was already 3:00. We didn't have much time to make it to the Embassy to keep our appointment. After being [only slightly] pushy with the man standing in front of the passport office, I got in to see the lady who had Viola's passport. She ordered me to wait and within 5 minutes, I was signing the release for Viola's passport! All in all, I don't think I was there longer than 20 minutes, which is pretty much unheard of for us!

We went to the Embassy and everything looked good! We got out right as they were closing and headed home in high spirits :)

So, we've managed to maintain our appointment at the Embassy on Monday. The last detail we're ironing out is the transportation for the grandparents for the Visa interviews. It isn't a requirement to have them at the interview, but at this point, we're taking no chances.

Its been another whirlwind of a week, but theoretically, the tough stuff is over. Our flight leaves on Thursday night at 11:59 p.m. So, hopefully, we'll be in familiar territory on Friday!

Derek, Kristen, Viola, and Gideon

Passports? CHECK!!

We'll take the good with the bad.

The Good - WE GOT OUR PASSPORTS TODAY!

The Bad - The U.S. Embassy doesn't have an available appointment for us until next Monday. This means we have to reschedule our flight [again].

The Story - We were told we would get the passports by 10 a.m, but of course, these things never actually happen on time. Upon entering the Commissioner's office, a man scolded me sharply, saying the passports wouldn't be ready until after lunch and that we could not wait outside the Commissioner's office. After this, we got a hold of the lawyer's assistant and she was TREMENDOUSLY helpful.

She answered all our questions, phone calls, and worked very quickly. Around 11, she told us our passports would be in the next batch of those being called! Sure enough, they were. We had to leave to make copies of our passports for their records, but they squeezed us right in when we came back and we were out the door [forever!] by 1:00.

Unfortunately, the U.S. Embassy doesn't accept paperwork for immigrant visas passed noon, so we missed the cut off there. They're also only open on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Lastly, their next available appointment isn't until next Monday. Therefore, we won't be traveling until Thursday, November 1st.

So, that's that. We'll see you all in November!

10 hours... in the dirt.

My o my we've had a heck of a week. And as you may have guessed, this week ended with a bang [not a literal one of course]. For those of you that can't handle the anticipation, this story ends on a somewhat good note, so hang in there!

Today we arrived at the immigration office at 7:30, thinking that we would be issued our passports around 9:00. Our plan was to rush over to the U.S. Embassy and set an appointment for Monday. This seemed fine and dandy since that portion of the Embassy closes at 10:30 on Fridays. From there, we'd planned on taking the children to the park and watching them play while we proceeded to drink ourselves into oblivion [just kidding].

Around 9:30, we finally got a hold of the person who had been helping us. He took us to a waiting room where he said we should wait 20 minutes. With that, he left. As time went on, we became anxious since it was almost for sure that we would miss going to the Embassy. Around 11, we decided to take matters into our own hands and go to the commissioner's office and inquire about our case. To our surprise, the secretary said she'd been waiting for us and we were ushered in to see the commissioner!

The commissioner had very little to say. He asked us a few questions and then asked us to send in the man who'd been helping us. Of course, we could not find this man anywhere. He wasn't answering his phone either. In desperation, we reached out to another contact that we've made at the immigration office. This man is a lawyer and also a former classmate of our adoption case worker. He sent his assistant to retrieve the files from the commissioner, but he was unsuccessful.

Finally, a couple hours later, we found the person who'd been helping us and sent him to the commissioner. When he came back, he informed us that the commissioner wanted to review the files and that he would call him later. Once again, a couple hours passed and we had not heard from the man working on our case. Also once again, we finally got him on the phone. He said he was coming to meet us and that we should just wait for him. After 20 minutes, we went to where he said he was previously - still no sign of him [needless to say, we're quite frustrated with him]. Now, we're approaching 5:00 p.m. on a Friday afternoon, so we're pretty sure he has left and we've basically given up hope of getting anything done.

On one last walk around the premises, we ran into the lawyer that had tried to help us earlier in the day. He was upset that the commissioner held our file and told us to follow him. We went to the commissioner's office and he asked us for the case file numbers. We gave him a blank look, telling him that we were never given the case file numbers. At this, he walked into the commissioner's office and closed the door. After about ten minutes, he emerged with our files!

He told an assistant of his that he was to come in tomorrow [Saturday] and get the printing of the passports started. He also enlisted the help of the commissioner's secretary in helping us get where we need to be on Monday morning! Next, he gave us the personal contact of another assistant and told her [in front of us],

"These passports are my personal matter and they WILL be DONE no later than 10 a.m. Monday."

Lastly, he gave us all of his contact information and told us that he loves to help cases like these because it makes him happy to play a part in giving kids a second chance.

Needless to say, while we felt deflated most of the day, we were very happy by the time we left! All in all, we'd spent 10 hours at the immigration office that day and the kids were very irritable. To make matters worse, the waiting area is a courtyard outside. Its very dusty and dirty and it even rained on us at one point.

We didn't get done what we wanted, but we're feeling optimistic about next week. If we can get to the Embassy early enough, it's possible that they will give us an appointment on Monday as well. If this happens, we could maybe still make our flight on Tuesday night. AND even if it doesn't, we should be able to travel sometime next week!

Even with the current trials, we're feeling so blessed to have Viola and Gideon. It's been awesome to see the prayers be answered in big and little ways while we've been in Uganda.

Whew... hope to see you all soon. Happy weekend [and hopefully, our last one here].

Derek, Kristen, Viola, And Gideon

ONE WEEK??? [boda scolding]

Alright folks, we've had one whirlwind of a week so far. We've left the house every day before breakfast and not been home till supper-time two of the days. We've driven to several offices, waited in several lines, and skipped several child-naps. This is a recipe for disaster, but our kids have handled it relatively well. They seem to be good at finding things to entertain themselves [this includes what may possibly be the best video of the trip so far].

Today was the miracle we were hoping for :)

We went to the immigration office to see about our passports yesterday. To our dismay, some lady told us we did not have the necessary paperwork and that we needed four more documents. We had all the information they wanted in other supporting documents, just not in their format. So, we went back today - ready to do some work.

First, we needed to stop at the U.S. Embassy. About fifteen minutes down the road to the embassy, we realized we'd forgotten our cell phone. After a successful meeting at the embassy to verify that we're doing everything correctly, we went to the passport office. We got there, hoping that our case worker would be waiting for us, since we had no way of contacting him. We waited and waited and he did not show. Then, I remembered that he had me write down an immigration employee's phone number in my Ipod yesterday. We borrowed someone's phone and called him [and paid the man, of course]. We waited an hour and called him again and this time we were successful! He came out to greet us and take us back to an office.

Another man took the reins from this point. He ushered us into 3 different offices over the next hour, often budging in front of several people. I'm very thankful for him as he was doing all of this without knowing us or having received any extra payment for his efforts. After all of this, he said our passports would be ready in 1 week. We were shocked and upset. However, after some negotiation and some "tangible appreciation," he told us he would have the passports by tomorrow!!! So, we're praying that he sticks to his word and that we actually can go and pick them up tomorrow.

A big reason that this is important is because the immigrant visa office at the U.S. Embassy is open on Friday only until 10 a.m. If we had to get the passports on Friday, we might not make it to the Embassy in time. On Friday, we will make our appointment to process the visas. This means our appointment should be on Monday. Since visas take two days to process, we'll be filling out a request to have them expedited. If granted, this would ensure that the visas be done on Tuesday. This is hugely important.... BECAUSE OUR FLIGHT IS THAT SAME DAY [thankfully, it doesn't leave until 11 p.m.].

So.... the short version for you simple-minded folk:

If the guy at the passport office keeps his word and we get the passports tomorrow and we're granted expedited visas, we'll be in Iowa one week from TODAY!!!!!!

Words can't express how excited we are at the prospect of being home on our scheduled day [well, our second scheduled day]. So keep these processes in your prayers and we'll hopefully see you all soon!

Derek, Kristen, Viola, and Gideon

FYI: "Boda" means motorcycle. Enjoy!

The [not so] normal four year old

This may be more of a rant than my normal upbeat blog post. Just warning you..

OK, so it's been 9 days since my last adoption post and for good reason. It seems like nothing has happened. We've been waiting on the official court ruling document. Apparently, that takes some time and its what is currently holding us up. It's been a frustrating wait as we've been told it was done and proof read days ago. At this point, the judge just needs to sign it. Once again, 'Africa Time' seems to be playing itself out.

As I've informed you before, the ruling is needed for the passports and the passports are needed for the visas. Our case worker seems to still think that we will make our October 23 flight date, but with every passing day, that date seems daunting. We've already changed our flight date once, and that was not a cheap thing to do.

Also, over the last few days, Viola seems to have gotten used to us, especially me. Since there were not many men in her life before me, I think she had a tough time knowing how to act around me. Now, she more often than not, prefers to play with me or have me hold her. She's also accomplished such feats as wearing pants for the first time and actually leaving food on her plate.

However, now that she's more comfortable, she also acts like a normal four year old .... who was previously malnourished ..... who doesn't speak our language ..... who had no rules our boundaries in her previous environment ..... [so not really like a 'normal' four year old]

SO, sometimes [most of the time] she very much dislikes our constantly directing her in the way she should act in public, interact with the host families belongings, and so on.. To sum it up, its been an exceptionally frustrating few days.

So, please continue to pray for us and especially our October 23 flight date. Its hard not to be a little [LOT] homesick when it seems like we're so close to being done with our work here, yet things aren't currently panning out so well.

Derek, Kristen, Viola, and Gideon

[Facebook] OFFICIAL!

Last Thursday, I told you that unofficially, we were the legal guardians of Viola and Gideon. NOW, I can say that we are OFFICIALLY the legal guardians of Viola and Gideon!! Today, we went back to the judge's office to hear the official ruling. As most of you have probably seen via Facebook, it's official. We're now a family of four!! 

As usual, a trip to the judge's office was not without it's wait. After waiting around 2 hours, we got in to see the judge. We were the first to be ushered in, but soon there were several other muzungu [Lugandan word for "white person"] couples in the room with their possible future children, waiting to hear their verdicts. After a few minutes, he called our names and we stood up, holding Viola and Gideon. He looked at us and said,

"Ah yes, the ones that I gave the formula to."

This comment was regarding our last visit with him. During his interrogation conversation with Kristen, he'd asked her why we hadn't had our own children. She told him that we'd tried for awhile, but were not successful. Since he was in a great mood that evening, he said something like... 

"In Uganda, we know that there is a certain time in which it is more likely that you will become pregnant. You just 'try vigorously' during that time!! Do Americans not know this?" 

Of course, this was met by much laughter from everyone in the room. He even proceeded to draw Kristen a diagram of 'the cycle.' 

Next, he read the summary of the ruling. Basically, there are some requirements that we have to fulfill when we get home, but the part I liked best was the 'this court has nominated that Derek and Kristen be the legal guardians of Viola and Gideon!' After he got done, we and our attorney thanked him for his services. Then, he stunned us with his next words.

"You are very welcome. This has been a good case and Dorothy [our attorney], these are exemplary clients. Good luck to you both."

This is coming from the same judge who, previously, had been described to us as 'harsh.' He often dismisses cases and is not an easy judge to satisfy. He also said it in front of all the other people from other cases in the room.

I say this because I have no idea why. I didn't think our court date went especially well because of anything we [Kristen and I] did. There were even questions here or there that I didn't think were answered very well. There were also the facts that the judge is often harsh, we don't have our own kids, his meeting [prior to hearing our case] went very long, we asked him to see two cases, and this was the second time seeing one of the cases. If anything, I thought we had things stacked up against us... which is why I'm now convinced more than ever that God was moving behind the scenes and in the hearts of those surrounding us and our case. Our attorney [who has worked with this judge for years] told us that he never does this.  He never does this!

We're thanking God in amazement that we now have a family of FOUR! It's still a surreal feeling when I'm driving and look in the rear-view mirror to see TWO kids sitting with my wife. Currently, both of MY children are running around in dresses and eating ice-cream. Yes, Gideon enjoys wearing Viola's dresses.

Which brings me to the next part of this post... We have Viola!!

On Monday around 10 am, we got a call from our case worker that we needed to leave to go to Nakaseke to see the magistrate and pick up Viola... RIGHT NOW. I think I can safely say that we've gotten used to some of the unknown nature of proceedings here in Uganda, but this was unexpected. It just so happened that we were already out and about. So, we drove over to pick up our case worker and off we went. After getting one more document from the magistrate, we drove to Viola's village.

At first, she wasn't happy to see us again. But, she quickly remembered us. After about a half an hour and a bath, her grandma said something to her and she walked over to Kristen and hugged her! My ears already fail me quite often and right then, I thought my eyes were failing me as well! We started walking down the path to the car. The plan was to get into the car with Viola and some other people that live near her and drive a few hundred yards to the market to get biscuits. But, since she went without argument and even got into the car, that wasn't necessary. Within half an hour, we were tickling her and she was smiling! by the time we got home, she seemed pretty comfortable. However, upon entering the house, she was hesitant. It occurred to me that she's probably never been in a house like this. Doors that lock, lights, running water, and multiple rooms were probably all relatively new sights for her. Nevertheless, she did well. We had rice at dinner [which she'd requested earlier that day]. This was pretty cool since our hosts didn't know she wanted it.

So, needless to say, we're astonished and excited with the progress she's made already. Also, just now, Kristen came to tell me that, out of the blue, she counted to six... IN ENGLISH! We didn't know she knew any English words at all and we have no idea how she knows. She'll even copy Kristen all the way to ten. We were shocked. We're also pleased because Gideon and Viola seem to get along well [of course they've already fought too]. They get to talk to each other in their native language, which is nice for her transition.

Gideon has also had to make an adjustment. For almost 4 weeks, he's been an only child.. Now, he has to share the love! Since he came from a family with so many children, I think he loved all the individual attention he got from us. Now, when Viola sits on my lap, he cries and wants to sit with me too. He's very obviously jealous of the attention that Viola gets from us. But, he doesn't seem to dislike Viola for it, it just upsets him.

Whew, my posts always turn into novels... Almost done.

Today, we also went to the U.S. Embassy medical office to start their physical examinations. Unfortunately, they had to get tested for tuberculosis, which involves an injection just under the skin. On Friday, we take them back to see if they've reacted to the injection or not. Needless to say, the injection was not fun for either child. I had to hold Viola and lock her arm under my arm pit while the doctor did the injection. She's definitely stronger than she looks. Thankfully, it was quick and she stopped crying fairly soon after it was over. Kristen held Gideon and the same result followed.

It's also possible that we'll get our passports by Friday as well. Once we have these, we'll make an appointment with the Embassy to apply for a visa. The Embassy tells us this will take about two weeks to get, so we're trying to move as quickly as possible.

We're getting there! It's definitely a marathon, not a sprint. More updates soon to come..

Our beautiful Viola at lunch today!

Derek, Kristen, Viola, and Gideon!!!!

Unofficial, but Miraculous Nonetheless!

I'm not sure how to capture all the emotional ups and downs of this past week. It's been a blur as always and its also been especially draining. We drove to both of our kids' districts, went to see the Magistrate of Mpigi, and went to court for guardianship of both Viola and Gideon. Words can't describe how incredible this week has been. We're very happy to inform you all that things have gone well! It looks like we'll eventually be the proud parents of both little ones [currently unofficial, of course]!

So, here's the basic breakdown..

Last Thursday, we found out that our court date would be yesterday, September 27. Later on, we found out that it was darn near miraculous to get a court date scheduled in one week. Then, on Saturday, we went to Nakaseke to visit Viola. She was not happy to see us as it had been a few weeks since she'd seen us last. She didn't really interact with us at all, but it was still a worthwhile visit because it was a building block for our next meeting.

This past Tuesday, we went to Mpigi to visit the magistrate about obtaining Gideon's care order. It took a long time to get in, and when we got in, she was harsh; just like last time. She said she had her doubts about us and why we wanted the care order for Gideon. She also went as far as to say that Kristen has "bad character." All of this was made worse because Kristen had not been feeling well for several days. On this particular day, she held herself together well, despite being light headed, dizzy, and sick to her stomach. For awhile during the meeting, I thought she was not going to give us the care order. However, after much deliberation, she did grant it.

Now, Thursday.

Since we definitely did not want to worry about the traffic making us late, we left very early.  After running some errands, we found ourselves at the courthouse at 1:30 [our scheduled time was 3:00]. As 3:00 approached, I became increasingly nervous as NO ONE was there.. finally, fifteen minutes before 3:00, the Nakaseke parole officer showed up. It was around 3:30 by the time everyone else showed up. Then, we moved to another room where we found out that the judge was in a meeting that ran long. In a way, this played to our advantage as we got to interact with Viola a bit more. She was laughing and smiling because we were tickling her. At one point, she said that she would go with us if we would buy her biscuits [more of a cracker than a biscuit]! Finally, around 5:00, we were ushered in to see the judge.

For the first half an hour or so, the judge talked directly to the Nakaseke parole officer about things not really pertaining to our case. He seemed to be fairly upset with her and the practices/procedures that she's been using. After this, the mood lightened. He interviewed our case worker, Viola's grandmother, and lastly, Kristen [she did a phenomenal job, of course]. He then said these words.

"The ruling shall be on this coming Tuesday, October 2nd."

I was dismayed to hear this as I was under the impression that we would find out one way or the other right then and there. However, everyone else in the court room looked happy to hear the judge say this. Some even did some silent applauding. Then, it was on to Gideon's case. He interviewed the grandfather and also the grandmother. After this, he said again,

"The ruling shall be on this coming Tuesday, October 2nd."

I was shocked for several reasons. First of all, since most of it was hard to understand, I didn't understand why everyone seemed so upbeat. Even the judge seemed to be in a good mood. Also, I was shocked because I'd never been required to say a single thing in court. After thanking the judge, we exited the court room. It was roughly 7:30. In our conversation with the attorney afterwards, this is what she had to say.

"It is a miracle that the judge even agreed to see these cases on one week's notice and after having a meeting run long. Also, its unheard of that a judge would give the ruling in only three more days for both cases! I feel very confident that the ruling will be a 'yes.' He was in a good mood the entire time and cracking jokes! He is often a very harsh judge and dismisses many cases. This whole thing is miraculous!"

I hadn't realized the reality of all this until right then and there. Not only had all of this happened on such short notice, but we were now [unofficially] the legal guardians of both Viola and Gideon! It had never been clearer to me in that moment that God had his hand in all of this. Like our attorney had said, its nearly unbelievable that all of this would happen in the way that it did. I think the most shocking part of it all is that God would chose us to do this. Lately, its been made clear to me how far I have to go in my role as a parent. There are situations that I've handled with Gideon already that make me realize that I've got some work to do. It makes me think of all the stories in the Bible where God uses "little people to do big things." I often feel inadequate, but I know God wouldn't have called us to do this if he hadn't equipped us to be able to handle it. It also helps that we've got such awesome family and friends to help us out!

Its also right here that I have to take a minute to praise my wife. She has handled almost all of the paperwork and correspondence with our adoption agency, case worker, and attorney. Also, while being sick, she took it like a champ when the magistrate and judge picked on her. And, at this point, I feel like she has to teach me how to be a decent parent. She's been doing a great job, despite all that's been thrown at her. Basically, she's pretty awesome and I hope I don't have to sleep with Leon, in the dog house, when I get home.

Whew...

Now that we can take breath, we've still got things to get done before this whole thing is done. Our case worker told us today that he thinks getting the kiddo's passports and visas will take something like three more weeks from this coming Tuesday [date of the official ruling]. So, we'll be doing everything in our power to get this done as quickly as possible.

One rather unfortunate thing is that we originally set our return date to be October 2nd. Since this won't happen, we need to change it to some unknown later date. At this point, it's still a guess. So, we're hoping our guess will be close enough so that we don't have to change it again! Also, because we'll need to purchase 2 more plane tickets [for the kids!], we need to be sure about our date when we do set it. Its pricey to change flight dates, so pray that we get it right the first time!

Lastly, we're going to pick up Viola on Tuesday!! I'm sure this will be emotional for her. So, please please please pray that God will soften her heart towards us. Also pray for her grandmother as it will be hard for her as well. Its clear that their bond is strong and it may be painful to separate the two of them. Grandma is also 87 years old, so it's possible that this may be the last time that Viola gets to see her grandma...

So, hopefully the three grandma's she'll have in Iowa will be good  enough replacements ;) along with all the rest of you! We're very excited to get back pressurized showers, fall weather, and traffic that isn't completely insane. Most of all, we're excited to see our friends and family again!

We'll let you know how things go with Viola, the passports, visas, and departure dates asap!

Derek, Kristen, Viola and Gideon!!!!

It's GO - TIME.

Alright people, this week is THE WEEK. It's go-time. Late last week, we secured a court date for both Viola and Gideon. That date is this coming Thursday, September 27. Also, early this week, we're going to the magistrate of Mpigi again to get the care order for Gideon [this is necessary for court].

We also visited Viola again yesterday, and she was freaked out. I think she thought we were going to take her away. She kicked, screamed, and cried as any 3 year old would in her situation. We stood around outside the hut she was hiding in as our case worker talked to the grandma. For around an hour, she didn't come out to see us. At the end, our case worker brought her out, kicking and screaming, but she just went back into the hut. Needless to say, we're in need of a lot of prayer for little Viola. I don't think there's any way around how hard it will be for her to leave her grandma, pending a good outcome at court on Thursday.

If court is successful, we will work on obtaining visas for both kids from the U.S. Embassy. This is often a tricky step as well. Our attorney seems to think this will take around 2 weeks. So, if all goes well, we'll be coming back to the states in [roughly] the second week of October.

We've also got another little project we've been working on. I met the director of an elementary school one day when we were at a beach in Entebbe. He asked all about our adoption, the agency we work through, and if there would be any way we or our agency could help his school. Since then, we've visited the school and started trying to find ways to help some of the orphans there and the school itself. In particular, there is one little girl, named Brenda, who has three holes in her heart. Since medical care isn't wonderful in Uganda, they've basically decided that they will wait for her to die. We're working with the director to see if there are ways that we can help.

OK, here's the wrap-up and schedule for us this week. It will be busy/crazy/hectic/etc... so your prayers are greatly appreciated.

Monday:
 - Our case worker goes to Mpigi to try to secure the care order for Gideon.
 - Gideon goes back to the doctor to see if his intestinal infection has gotten better.
 - We'll go to meet with the director of the elementary school to get more info on the school.

Tuesday:
 - We'll go back to Mpigi [if necessary] to get the care order for Gideon.

Wednesday:
 - We'll try not to wet our pants about Thursday.

Thursday:
 - Court with Gideon and Viola

Friday:
 - Pending a good outcome on Thursday, we'll try to go to the Embassy and apply for visas for Gideon and Viola.

I'll try to post updates throughout the week, but I'm sure they won't be as detailed. I'm sure you'll understand ;)

Derek

The Debut

Wah - Wah - Wah... There really are no updates as far as the adoption process goes right now. The only thing I can tell you is that our case worker has gone to the Magistrate of Mpigi to discuss Gideon's Care Order again, today. We should hear from him soon. Also, neither court date has been assigned because the courts were at a 'conference' all last week. So, that's that.

In other news, we've had quite the time getting to know Gideon and having him run our lives. He runs and plays and giggles and bosses the other kids around. He's also not quite so protective of his food and is learning more English words everyday. He's quite a demand on us as its often difficult to figure out what he is saying. He's had a decent amount of diarrhea lately and he's also developed some kind of bump on his back. We're thinking it looks like a boil. When the doctor examined it a week ago, it was too small to really tell what it was, so we'll be taking him back in either tomorrow or Thursday. Despite these things, he acts fairly normal. The diarrhea doesn't seem to bother him and the bump only bothers him if it gets touched. 

This last weekend, our host family decided it would be fun to take us to their home village. We left on Saturday morning around 6:30. The drive took most of the morning and into the early afternoon. The kids mostly slept and weren't too annoying. The village consisted of several house-type structures; some small and some around the size of a house in America. There was no power while we were there [although I guess they have it most of the time]. Other than that, there are lots of trees, fields, hills, and livestock. One of the children took Gideon and I to the top of the tallest mountain hill around. It was an awesome view of several other small villages, other rolling hills, and fields. For a brief moment, I thought, "This must be where Lord of the Rings was filmed."

On Saturday evening, we attended an Africa wedding. It was an outdoor wedding and at first, everyone sat in plastic chairs in sort of a rectangular shape. Some man [father of the bride?] spoke for a long time, often cracking jokes [which I only know because other people laughed]. Then, these dancers would come and dance to the same song over and over. I guess they were the 'entertainment'. After awhile, many groups of women were paraded through. This is a tradition in Uganda. The groom is supposed to guess which one is his bride. Obviously, he knows which one it is, but the father of the bride gets to pick on him the entire time this is happening. After awhile, we decided to get up and eat. When we came back, the same thing was going on. Luckily, Gideon didn't feel like sitting still any longer, so we left to go play. All in all, it was sort of strange because there was no real ceremony that I could tell. I suppose it could have happened after we left. The ride to and from the wedding was around an hour and fifteen minutes. We rode in an 8 passenger van ... with 13 people.. including several children... on bumpy dirt roads. Needless to say, we were pretty tired.

The drive back to Kampala took a long time. It seemed like we were stopping every 20 minutes to buy local fruit and meat from the village people [its less expensive in the villages]. By the time we dropped everyone off and arrive back home, we'd been in the car for 8 hours. Between the whiny children and the smell of raw meat, we were both pretty irritable and Kristen was sick to her stomach.

SO, after all this, we decided that we needed to take some time away from our host family. Yesterday, we checked into a hotel, which is more like an apartment. We've got AC, TV, wireless internet, a shower with actual water pressure, screens on the windows [keeps bugs out], and an unheated outdoor pool. We've also got a balcony with a fourth floor view and a kitchen with all the appliances. Its nice to unwind a little from everything that's going on and just take some time for ourselves. 

Alright, because we have no actual updating for you, we decided we would make this Gideon's debut. He calls us mommy and daddy and I'll be a tornado if we have to give him up at this point. So, without further ado, here is the little guy :)

p.s: There are two videos right above. If you can't see them or can't play them, try on a computer. We can't seem to play them on our Ipods.

Thanks,

Derek, Kristen, and Gideon!

"Ya Kukuba!" [loving words toward hopeful future parents]

ALRIGHT. Here we go again. Everytime I blog, I feel like I have quite a story to tell and this time is no different. 

This story begins this last Thursday. 

Once again, we went to Gideon's district [Mpigi] to see the the magistrate about getting the care order for Gideon [the care order is what is necessary to obtain custody of a child]. We were led to believe that this step wouldn't be that difficult. We thought we would go to Mpigi, answer some questions, and walk away with it. 

To be nice about it, the magistrate was not a pleasant woman to speak with [and believe me, that is being nice]. She acted like it was absurd that we would want to obtain custody of Gideon and questioned us as to why. We also heard for the first time about a biological sister that Gideon has. She used this and many other things to say that there was no way she would sign a care order for Gideon. After awhile of her and our case worker talking back and forth, she decided that she would not give a care order until strong evidence was given that we would be fit to have custody of Gideon. Her "ruling" was that we would care for Gideon until September 25th and come back.

First of all, this goes against what we wanted to do because we do not yet have a court date for Gideon. However, our case worker seems to think that this won't be an issue. In fact, he doesn't think getting the care order will be an issue either; so much so, that he suggested that Gideon go back home with his grandparents. But, after seeing how things sometimes work in Uganda, we wanted to take no chances. So, we sent grandma and grandpa on their way and took Gideon home with us.

He cried a little at first [like literally 90 seconds]. Other than that, he's been AWESOME. He has been the most fun 2 year old to take care of for the last 3 days. He's an exceptionally bright little guy that loves to play with cars, crayons, and cell phones. He's picked up a few English words already and [drum roll please...] HE'S POTTY TRAINED! We hasn't had an accident yet. His signal that he has to pee is when he pulls down his pants. I'm confident that if we don't catch him doing this, he'll pee all over the floor. 

His little laugh is so cute that I'd prefer to tickle him all day. He also gets embarrassed easily. When he does, he covers his face with his little hands and smiles from ear to ear; flashing his bright little white teeth. He's quickly fitting in with the children who live here as well. He plays well with them and fights with them too, but not too often. It often feels like we're now taking care of 3 children since the 2 that live here just run wild all day. Its an interesting dynamic to have full responsibility of 1 child, but have some responsibility of 2 more.

When we first got him, we noticed he'd been sweating a lot when he slept. We were also told that he'd recently gotten over malaria. We pushed a lot of juice through him and he seems to be doing a lot better. Also, watching him eat is quite a spectacle. He eats almost anything you give him and at first, he would eat so fast, that we couldn't cut it up and get it on his plate fast enough. We think the reason for this is because he may not have always gotten enough to eat at home. However, since he sees us eat with a fork, he now tries to eat with one too. He's got surprisingly good dexterity in his fingers so he's surprisingly good at it. It also helps him to eat slower [the first day we met him, we gave him too much food and he threw up...].

Lately, he's also been saying this phrase that sounds like "ya kukuba!" We've been repeating it, not really knowing what it means. It seems to spur on whatever playful thing we're currently doing. We found out tonight that it means something to the effect of " I'm going to beat you up!" So, needless to say, we've been having a lot of fun saying it :)

WHEW. While we wouldn't have set it up this way, we've had a blast with him for the last few days. The plan is to keep loving on him and hopefully secure a court date this week [I know, I know, I say that every week]. If we don't, I doubt we'll make it back home in early October when we thought we would. So, pray for...

1. A court date this week

2. The Magistrate to grant us the care order for Gideon

3. ME. That I don't commit bodily harm to the other children living in this house [mostly kidding, but seriously...]

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming,

Derek and Kristen

The day we met the family of... 15?

Today was another long one. We left at 9:30 for Kampala. After meeting up with our case worker, we went to a district called Mpigi; where Gideon's family lives. After talking briefly with Gideon's social worker, we went to visit Gideon and his family. When we pulled up, the place looked vacant. However, as soon as we started getting out of the car, kids seem to flock from all around. They were hanging on us and all of them were smiling. Clearly, they knew who we were and that we were coming [and most likely, that we had gifts].

There were two buildings on this family's property. I'm not sure about the one that wasn't the house, but we did get to go into their actual living quarters. The "sitting room" has a table, 3 chairs, a bench, and a few things hanging on the wall. I believe this was the biggest room in the house at about 10' x 12.' Of course, we all sat on the chairs and the kids and grandma all piled on the floor; grinning happily. They sang us a couple songs and said that they were very thankful for food we had brought them. When I started pumping up another soccer ball [I'd previously given one to Gideon], the other boys started to get anxious

So, the kids and the three of us took the two balls and for the next hour, we played. We made up games similar to volleyball, soccer, and keep away. The kids had so much fun and so did I. I was amazed at how well 12 kids could play with only two soccer balls [Either there are 12 kids, or a neighbor boy was mixed in somewhere]. Afterwards, I noticed Gideon was drawing the letter "D" over and over again in the dirt, so I reached down and did the same. Then, I traced my hand and he did the same! We've got a smart little guy on our hands ;)

We went inside one more time and the kids all sang to us again. We were served a fruit in Uganda called "Jack-fruit." We've heard people rave about how good it is.... but we all hated it. I even felt a little sick after trying a piece. I tried one more piece tonight at dinner and still didn't like it.

Right before we left, Gideon's cousin [Jackie] and aunt [Fiona], who also live in the house, asked us about helping them with going to school. Since the family only farms for their own food [feeding 15 or so mouths is no small task], Jackie and Fiona do not have money to go to school. We learned that Jackie wants to start college, but cannot afford the $300/semester for tuition. Fiona isn't sure how much school is for her, but since she would be in high school, its probably cheaper still. Kristen and I need to talk and pray about this, but it's a request we'll have a hard time saying 'no' to.

If you'd like to help out with this as well, shoot me an email and I can get you more details.... when I know more details ;)

Lastly, we learned that Gideon has been sick for the last few days and so we gave grandma some money to take him to the doctor. After that, we left to go take a picture at the Equator [I know, no big deal, right?]. The ride back to Kampala took an hour or so longer than the ride to Mpigi. This was to our dismay, since we're getting pretty tired of spending a minimum of 45 minutes in the car everytime we get in the car.

After getting something to eat, we met up with our hosts. They had a "wedding meeting" to attend. They discussed costs of everything and then we took off for home. Since we had two cars there, it was decided that it would be a good time for me to start driving. So, I drove home..... on Saturday night..... in a city of more than 2 million people.... where the rules of the road are...

...actually, I don't think there are concrete rules; maybe suggestions at best. Of course we encountered crazy traffic and one of the worst traffic jams since we've been here. At one point, I got the car stuck in a pothole so big, and so full of water, that I had to back up [in the most intense traffic EVER] and get a short running start at it to get out. Around 2 hours and about 15 kilometers [about 10 miles] later, we got home. Whew...

So, like I said, today was a long day; but a very good day. I'm so excited that everyone in Gideon's family and everyone working on Gideon's case is so supportive. It was great to meet the whole family and spend time playing with all the kids. I'm going to miss all their little smiling faces when we leave Uganda. The grandma is a sweet lady and its obvious that she loves all her grand kids. The idea that God would use us to help Gideon, Jackie, Fiona, and the rest of the family is very exciting. I'm very much looking forward to what that will all look like in the future.

Theoretically, the Child Care Order should be getting submitted on Monday for Gideon's case. We heard this directly from the parole officer for this case, so hopefully she sticks to her word and gets it done! We hope to hear about a court date for Gideon and Viola's case this week.

With that, I'm signing off. Have a mentioned that it's been a long day? Thank you to those of you who send emails and who post comments on my blog. Your encouragement and prayers mean a lot! To those of you who are secretly reading, speak up :)

Derek, Kristen [and Ellie]

"Africa Time"

Things just work a little differently, here in Uganda. It turns out that "Africa Time" is a real thing. Sometimes, things that should take a day, take a week. Then, just when you get used to everything moving slowly, it seems like someone set the throttle to full speed.

 At 9:00 p.m. on Sunday night, we were informed by the mother of the family that we're staying with, that we were to leave at 7:45 Monday morning to go meet our case worker in Kampala. I don't think any of us thought much of it. I was just surprised that we were going to be getting anything done this early in the week.

So, the next morning after chatting with our case worker, he informed us that Gideon and his Ja Ja [grandma] were on their way.

My legs felt a little weak at that point. We had informed our case worker that we didn't want to meet Gideon [and therefore, become attached] before a judge had given us a court date. But, for some reason, they overlooked that request. So, Gideon and his grandma, along with a sister and aunt, showed up about ten minutes later. We were delighted when Gideon didn't freak out when he saw us. After only a few minutes, Kristen was able to pick him up as we proceeded to the car! We went to our attorney's office where we continued to try and play with him. By the time it was our turn to talk to the attorney, we had him rolling the ball across the table to Kristen while sitting on my lap!

During all of this, I kept thinking, "Crap, this better work out or I'm gonna be livid" [that's the PG version anyway].

Then, we all went out to lunch. Gideon sat on my lap the whole time and straight up devoured my french fries. He was also eating some of my chicken and some of Kristen's fish strips. We learned that none of them had eaten yet that day. Afterward, we all went our separate ways.

It all seemed a blur since we weren't expecting any of it; especially in lieu of how court went with Viola's case just three days prior [see previous post]. We feel hopeful for Gideon's case because it is actually a stronger case than Viola's. Gideon is the youngest of all eleven children that they care for. Also, the grandma seems to have a little more 'with-it-ness' when compared to Viola's grandma. She seems very excited at the prospect of us being Gideon's parents.

This Saturday, we're going to visit Gideon's village [which is much closer than Viola's, thankfully]. We plan to take some gifts and some soccer balls as the kids really seem to enjoy them. It should be a good time and everyone is hopeful.

Lastly, we've been informed that we have the same judge for both Gideon and Viola's cases. This is good news because our attorney has worked with this judge on several occasions. Also, since we've already seen this judge, he know's we're here and he will [hopefully] agree to schedule our court date[s] sooner, rather than later. We were supposed to have a court date on Monday, but still have not heard from our attorney's assistant on this matter. Hopefully, we'll know in the next day or two.

Once again, thank you for your encouragement, prayer, and support. It makes us feel good that our two prospective kids would have such a loving environment to come home to!

Derek, Kristen [and Ellie].

Shell Shocked

So much has happened in the 3 days that we've been in Uganda that it will be hard to squeeze it into this post. I will try to keep it short as the kids of the family who live here want me to come outside and "bounce the ball." Rough life eh?

Everything is different here, yet there are odd similarities. All the signs are in English, yet its often hard to understand people because of their accents. Its very modern in some places, but blocks away it can look like a complete slum. Almost everyone is exceptionally nice including the family we're staying with [huge bonus]. Traffic in Kampala is a nightmare, but it's just normal to those who live here. Motorcycles are everywhere. People are always getting rides on them and their just a normal part of the taxi system in Kampala. As we were crossing one street today, we had to wait for about 200 motorcycles to go by right in a row. Also, you just drive wherever you want. There is a side of the road you're supposed to stay on, but that's about the only real rule. Other times, you just budge in and out of where you want to be; similar to what it would be like to walk down a busy sidewalk in New York... only you do it with cars, trucks, SUVS, and motorcycles.

Now, onto the real matter at hand.

Yesterday, we went to Luweero to visit Viola's probation officer and Viola's family [we've decided to call her Viola instead of Violet]. The drive to the probation officer's office was around 3 hours. When we got there, she was quite harsh with us. She asked us many hard to answer questions; some that even felt like personal stabs that the fact that we're not yet parents. She seemed to indicate that we would most likely be inadequate parents and did not know what we're doing. Halfway through this interrogation, I started to get the sense that maybe she was being harsh because she wanted us to be aware of the decision we were about to make. After all of this, we went to visit Viola

We made another 45 minute journey mostly down a road that had pot holes and ruts so big, that I wasn't sure we would make it through. When we reached the end of this road, we walked around 500 feet and arrived at Viola's home [i.e. her home is in the middle of NOWHERE]. Her grandma was coming down the path with a basket of nuts on her head. 87 years of being in the elements definitely shows on her skin and body. However, she was quite a pleasant, welcoming woman. Then, she called for Viola. Viola is the CUTEST little girl! She also had quite an attitude that first day. We couldn't really get close to her or even have her look at us without her hiding behind her grandma. I rolled a soccer ball towards her and she let it run into her leg and turned away. After a half an hour visit, we left to go back to the probation officer's office, then take her home, then return to Kampala. Once in Kampala, we ran into the worst traffic jam I've ever been in. On the way home, I was constantly nodding off to sleep and then coming back awake, confused as to what was going on. I felt like I was hallucinating. In hindsight, we had a light breakfast, and packed very little food and water for the day. I guess we just thought we would stop for lunch in the middle of nowhere, Uganda.... nope. I think we were pretty dehydrated and hungry by the day's end. We got home around 8:00 and went straight to bed.

TODAY:

We had our court date today. We met Violet and her grandmother outside the courthouse and she was much less fiesty than the day before. She let us give her some cheerios and a sippie cup of water almost right away [although, we learned an hour later that she wasn't drinking any because she didn't know she had to suck on the sippie cup]. When we went into the court house to wait, I got to sit by her and she even leaned on my leg for awhile! We showed her grandma pictures of our family and gave Viola a beaded bracelet. All seemed well.

Then, we went into see the judge. When grandma got in front of the microphone, she said some things that were inconsistent with the probationary report. When the judge basically said that he cannot grant us guardianship under these conditions, court was dismissed and we went to another room. Our attorney, probation officers, and case worker all talked the situation over. All agreed that she had told them exactly what was in the report many times before. My guess is that grandma is getting cold feet. Our attorney has a good relationship with the judge and will be re-filing our application early next week [we hope]. We're lucky that he didn't throw it out altogether. We're a little shell-shocked, but our case worker seems to think that it will get solved, it just may take a little longer.

SO... we ask for your continued prayer. I think I've said more prayers in the last 24 hours than I have in the previous 24 days. God continues to remind me that He is good and if this is supposed to happen, than it will. He also continues to remind me that doing what is right is not always easy/convenient [how fitting, eh?]. 

-------------------------

Gideon's case is sort of on hold [as we have the same attorney for both cases]. Please be in prayer for this too. If Viola's case takes longer, I'm guessing that pushes back things for Gideon as well.

I hope to get a chance to write more throughout our trip so please check back. I'm posting the updates on Facebook and Twitter, so get in touch with me there if you want notifications of the updates. Our internet is weak, but seems to be consistent [at least for the last hour].

Love ya'll!

Derek and Kristen [and Ellie]

Craziness Continues

When I'm at the grocery store or out to eat and I'm asked if I'd like a second [of whatever] for half price, my gut reaction is to always say yes. So, naturally when our adoption agency asked us if we'd like to add two-year old Gideon [ya, sweet name, I KNOW] to our adoption, we said yes :) This has only happened in the last two weeks or so. Thankfully, things have gone quite quickly and they were able to get his report sent to us in less than a week. At this point, all the lights are green and we are leaving Iowa with the intention of bringing home both Violet and Gideon!

We're stoked. Things are becoming more real all the time. Kristen has had two baby showers in the last week and our house looks as if it has been overrun by a preschool tornado. Most things are in order and we're attempting to prepare for the craziness that never ceases to ensue.

Speaking of craziness, a pretty cool thing happened recently. One of our good friends [Ellie] had a credit toward the airline that we're using. Ellie was also interested in going back to Africa for personal reasons. So, we inquired and it worked out for her to come with us! Now that we'll have two rug rats to look after, this will be a huge help. So, if you're wondering who the other white person is (sorry, had to), it's Ellie!

Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and love through all of this! I look forward to posting many pictures and blogging while in Africa, but for now, this will probably be the last post before we're half a world away!

Here are our two kiddos!

Gideon - 2 years old

Violet - 3 years old

Hakunamatata! [Lion King]

Derek and Kristen [and Ellie]

COURT DATE [roller coaster ride]

It's been awhile. Everytime I think I should update you all on our adoption, I never know what to write because, frankly, things have been a confusing mess for quite some time. So here's the short [sort of] version..

After we were told that adopting Faith and Stecia wouldn't be possible, we were almost immediately referred to another 2 year old child named... Shakira (yes, as in 'My hips don't lie'). Her mother was homeless, pregnant, and recently widowed. Kira was taken into social services and placed in an orphanage via her mother's request. Things looked very promising for our adoption of Kira for awhile, but, then we were told that the government sees international adoption as a sort of "last resort" and wanted all family members to be documented as deceased. Since finding Kira's mother was next to impossible, we were told (again) that it would not be possible for us to adopt Kira.

As if we like roller coaster rides, we were very quickly referred to yet, another child! Violet is 3 years old and lives in a village with a family that has multiple children that they look after. Several of these children are orphaned. Since both of Violet's parents are documentedly deceased, things progressed quickly and it looks promising that we will get to bring her home. For the last two months, we've been told almost every week that it would be possible for us to get our court date. And yet, each week would end and we would have to tell our family and friends that they would "try again next week." Then, a judge in Uganda asked our agency if we would be interested in bringing home a SECOND child... Although it seems like we went through this with Faith and Stecia, things look promising that we could be bringing home two three-year old girls!

We were hoping for a court date in June because of my job. Since I teach, I wanted to miss as least amount of school possible. Then, yesterday, we finally received our court date. On August 24, we'll be appearing in court with little Miss Violet to become her legal gaurdians! We're super pumped, even though the timeline was not what we thought it would be. As far as child #2 goes, we still don't know if we'll be able to bring her home or not. We'll see as the summer goes on. AND, since I'm pretty much unemployed right now, I'll actually take the time to sit down and update you fine people :)

It's been a rocky ride this semester with the changes of our children and waiting and waiting for our court date, but we're so happy to finally have a concrete court date. The date they've chosen works out terribly for my job, but oh well, God has a plan and I'm just happy to be part of it.

Once again, thanks for all your support, ecouragement, and prayers! :)

Derek and Kristen

Noisy Gongs and Clanging Symbols

I can teach amazing words, but if there is no love, it's worthless


1 Corinthians 13:1, 3

"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 

And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing."

This is one of the passages that I've come across lately that reminds me to practice patience with my students, family, and really everyone; but especially my students. My students test me day in and day out. Sometimes it seems that I can hardly keep myself together and there are many days that I fail multiple times a day. The sad part is, I'm completely aware I'm failing while I'm failing. Patience is not natural for me. 

Especially undeserved patience. Students who are lazy, unprepared, and unorganized are the most likely to tick me off. Some days, I'm ready to freak out. When I have to let the same student go get his/her book for the 25th time (no joke) or I have to give out another pencil, sign another pass to the bathroom, repeat the formula for the area of a rectangle, reiterate my directions...I'm usually steaming. 

Some days go this way (like today) and I don't know how I even make it through. Then, some days, the students are better and everything seems to flow a bit smoother. BUT, the really interesting days are when I humble myself enough to realize that God repeats, reiterates, and redirects me as well. On these days, when I humble myself, I pray for patience, energy, and enthusiasm. On these days, God shows up and I just feel... better. 

Then it hit me when I read 1 Corinthians 13. I have to have patience and love with my kids if I ever hope to give them anything more than a set of mathematical skills (which I do). If I don't have love for my kids, I don't stand a chance of being more to them than just a teacher. And frankly, I don't really care about the education near as much as the opportunity to speak truth - or even better - to show them truth. 

This was a bit of an light bulb moment for me. Its still a struggle, almost daily; but its a necessary struggle if I ever hope to be used by God in school. 

This week's math lesson..

I had a conversation with a friend of mine today that brought up something that I learned a few years ago. We were talking about how its easy to feel like those in ministry are better servants of God because they speak to dozens (sometimes hundreds) of people about Jesus every week. In that light, its easy to believe that my being a teacher will never be on par with being a pastor/ministry leader.

Then, I'm reminded of how Jesus spoke to the masses. He definitely did so, but I think his main ministry was to 12 particular guys. He poured himself into them and those 12 ministered to a few more who ministered to a few more who ministered..... Get the idea?

I heard a professor at Moody Bible Institute explain it in a way that my brain really latched onto. Mostly because it dealt with math, I think. He said that while its easy to feel like those on stage are doing a better job, sometimes, the numbers prove otherwise. Consider the following scenario...

A pastor preaches to a church of 1,000 people every Sunday. Its not possible for this pastor to personally minister to 1,000 people. He can teach them but he can't really have a deep, committed relationship with them. Because of this, its often the case that many of these people do not have a faith that goes beyond the walls of the church. A large percentage of these people are not producing disciples.

On the other hand, take a person who decides to invest heavily in 3 people. Let's say that after 2 years of investing in these 3 people, that they turned around and invest in 3 more. Two years later, all of the previous disciples disciple 3 more. If this pattern continues, 3 more people per period of 2 years become disciples of Christ who create more disciples of Christ (slightly confusing?).

For those of you who hate math, maybe just skip the next paragraph. 

This is an exponential effect. 4^x power, where x = each 2 year period displays the current number of disciple-producing disciples. After 10 years, 1 person's commitment to 3 people has (theoretically) produced 1,028 fully devoted followers of Christ.

1 ----> 4 ---->16 -----> 64 -----> 256 -----> 1,028.

Now, clearly there are other variables involved. Some people won't choose to keep living for Christ. But, the principle is still the same.

1 person's commitment of discipleship can have an exponential effect for the kingdom of God.


I don't think Jesus is running the numbers. I don't think God really cares if our efforts produced 10 more followers or 10,000 more. I think God is much more concerned about our efforts than he his about the fruit of our efforts.

However as a model for ministry, I think this is the route more churches should go. I'm not saying that we should do away with massive Sunday morning teaching and worship, but maybe we should take seriously the  affects of small, intimate communities of Christians.

Just some thoughts. What do you think? Seriously, you should respond below. Just click anonymous if you'd rather not be named!

Blindsided

Here's the latest. We got a call today regarding our adoption. It was decided that it would not be possible for us to continue to persue adopting Faith and Stecia. A number of things played into this decision:

1. Our age. While we technically meet the qualifications for the program, we are quite young.
2. The girls aren't babies. Basically, the age gap between us is causing some concern with the court system.
3. We're first time parents. Self explanatory.
4. The girls have some family around. So, depending n your definition of 'orphan,' they aren't technically orphans.

All of this put together raised concers for the social worker in Uganda that had to approve our adoption before it went to court. She feels that a judge would decide that the girls would be better off in Uganda. Those who are on the ground in Uganda that work for About a Child have done everything they can to convince the social worker that Kristen and I are fit to be parents. Their requests were eventually denied.

While this feels like a kick in the gut and Kristen and I were both pretty deflated at first, we're optimistic. This particular social worker has agreed to work with us and About a Child to find another orphaned child for us. The social worker works for an Orphanage in Uganda and is very good at what she does. If nothing else, this new relationship (with the social worker) will hopefully be an avenue for more adoptions to take place (for us and other couples around the U.S.).

Also, since we already have the necessary paperwork in place, our process for adopting a different child should go quickly (relatively speaking). Lastly, About a Child has a policy which states that if a referral falls through, the adoptive parents don't lose any money that they've paid to the agency! This is a huge sigh of relief as we've sent thousands of dollars already.

Accepting the fact that we will never be parents to Faith and Stecia is hard and will take some time. However, Kristen brought up a good point soon after we got the news. She said, " What if we needed to be this far along in the adoption process in order to adopt the child that God really has in mind for us?"

Maybe? We're unsure at this point. However, we do know that God is up to something. There are too many things that are happening for it to be anything else. We're absolutely confident that he has plans for us and this was just a necessary piece in the story. We're looking forward to the next step in this whole process and we're excited about it.

God doesn't call his people to lives of ease. A life of ease is hardly synonymous with a life of fulfillment.

Your prayers and encouragement are appreciated!

Derek and Kristen

Expectation Exceeded? Check.

More news!

So, we applied for a no-interest loan awhile back. About two weeks ago, this particular agency contacted us and said they were out of funds for their fiscal year. However, they referred us to another agency that they work with closely. It looked like we had a shot at getting up to a $5,000, no-interest loan to cover some adoption costs.

Then, we got a call to day.

Somehow, we got a $7,500 no-interest loan! How awesome is that?!?! Kristen said it best when she said "whew" as we were talking about it tonight. We had some costs that needed to be covered before we go to Uganda the first time. With this loan, those particular costs are covered!

God is continuing to teach me a lot. Coincidences seem to be happening left and right lately. However, something about them don't feel exactly like coincidence. It feels more like someone moving chess pieces around, carefully executing a plan. Our adoption funding is obviously one of those things. Another is a friend of ours who seems to have found a job in a church. The job is exactly what he was looking for. Sometimes, life can just be so exciting :)

Thank you for your prayer and support. I've heard lots of cool stories and had lots of great conversations with people that I sometimes don't normally talk to. If you haven't yet, speak up. I'd love to chat with you!

Derek

Update[s].

Update: Our paperwork is being submitted to the courts in Uganda within the next week; maybe even today! That means, all that stands between us and booking a flight to Uganda is a phone call about our actual court date!

We've had overwhelming support from family and friends. Thank you sooooo much! It's been a humbling experience as well. You see, I'm kind of a 'git r done' kind of guy sometimes. I naturally dive into things headfirst with the intention of seeking no outside help. It's definitely a pride issue for me. So, when Kristen and I starting raising support for our adoption, I was a little leery.

Through the generous prayer, encouragement, and giving of our great family and friends, I'm starting to learn that there is beauty in a collective effort; a lot of it. God is using our adoption to move within people - people that I don't even know sometimes. We get messages from people who are praying for us and it is very encouraging We've also received numerous financial donations. In fact, earlier this week, the craziest thing happened.

I was in a meeting for work (I'm having lots of those lately...) and Kristen texted me.

"Do you know such and such?"

I said, "Uh, her name sounds familiar, but I can't remember who she is. Why?"

"Well, she just deposited a large sum of $ into our paypal account" Kristen said.

WHAT?! I was floored. I was sure it was a mistake. Why would someone who I barely know and is younger than me do this? I got a hold of her yesterday and she assured me that it wasn't a mistake. She'd caught wind of our story and was inspired. God was/is working in her heart and his work in her led her to make the decision to help us financially. Wow.

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This story in particular led to light bulb turning on in my head. Suddenly, it seemed selfish to not involve others in our adoption. By doing everything ourselves, I rid God of the opportunity to use our adoption to work in other people's lives. God can use any situation to work in the hearts of his people. Of course I want others to get a chance to be part of this!

Sometimes, I look at pictures of Faith and Stecia and it doesn't seem real. Who really thought it was a good idea for me to be a dad? Haha. Then, I was reminded of a blog post I'd read awhile back. It was from a 52 year old lady who is a mother to something like 11 kids... I know, craziness. Of the 11, 8 are adopted. Holy Cow. Anyway, she wrote a post that was a response to several questions she'd gotten about adoption. Things like..

How do you afford so many adoptions?

Aren't you and your husband getting a little old to adopt?

She responds to these questions and more with such good answers. In short, she goes back to God's heart for the orphan. Jesus was born as one of "the least of these" and God has a desire that no one should suffer, especially children. Because of God's heart for orphans, God loves to help those who are willing to care for his children. He provides ways through the seemingly impossible situations -Whether it be financial or physical.

Her blog documents several stories of God's provision in their lives; several of which center around their adopted children. I highly recommend you check out her blog. If you're interested, its listed here.

http://aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/

God uses the willing to do his work. Man, that is exciting. Thinking about these things takes away my leeriness and hesitance. I feel so alive when I think about my relationship with God, that he loves me, and wants to use me to do awesome things.

No one that God uses is great in and of themselves, they're just willing.

As one of my college professors used to say...

Happy Trails!

The Will-Power to Love

Its common sense that serving yourself should be the most fulfilling way to live life. Its in our nature to do this. Serving self is easy. Serving others is seen as second. Its opposes what we feel. Sometimes, its hard work. Serving other feels unnatural.

Yet, it also seems that some of the happiest, most fulfilled people, serve others primarily.

A few people come to mind:

• Mother Teresa - Advocated for the poor in India by starting a school with no funds or outside help. She served Jesus in everything she did.
• Paul (the disciple) - Lived on the road with an intense desire to tell others about Jesus. He often endured extreme misfortune for the cause of the gospel.
• Katie Davis - Moved to Uganda at 18 years old to help children in poverty. At 23 (I think), she's currently a mom to 13 children and runs a non-profit organization to help single moms.

Clearly, these are not complete stories; nor are the above the only people who've ever experienced fulfillment in serving others before serving self.

On the flip side, lets look at people who serve themselves primarily.

Professional athletes, actors, and actresses. The majority of celebrities. All with ridiculous amounts of money to blow on themselves. How many of their marriages end in divorce? How many end up with money problems, legal problems, drug and alcohol problems, in rehab, or depressed? A lot.

Obviously, this isn't true across the board. I'm sure there are plenty of selfish people who claim to be completely happy with serving themselves.

I've been thinking about the reason why selfless people seem to have so much joy. I believe it is because joyful selfless people have a (sometimes) hidden motivation. They have a knowledge of something greater that serving self. I think these people are motivated to serve others because of the love and grace they've been shown.

Serving others while expecting nothing in return is a hard pill to swallow. If I always expect something in return, I'll be let down. I think people who are selfless understand that their personal sin is unforgivable without the grace of God. I think selfless people understand that God forgiving them of unforgivable offenses is such a marvelous act, that they're forever grateful.

Selfless people are not selfless out of their own will. Selfless people are selfless out of God's transforming Love and Grace.

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I'm becoming aware of this from personal experience. I teach in a diverse school, located in a low income neighborhood. I'm made fun of sometimes. Students don't respect me. I'm often overloaded with extra things to do. To put it lightly, its sometimes nothing short of chaotic. My natural reaction is to become frustrated and sometimes angry with students who give me issues. I even yell sometimes. Little by little, God is transforming me. Last week, I caught myself in an interaction with a usual offender. A thought entered my mind.

"You don't know his story."

I realized that yelling, frustration, and overall negative interaction with this student is not synonymous with loving him. I was trying to help him, but it was only driving him away. I was trying to get through, but he was building walls, keeping me out.

My problem is this: I try to 'love' out of my own will-power. I don't (often) let God's love and grace transform me into a loving person. Using my own will power on a daily basis leaves me feeling pretty empty. It hasn't been until lately that God has really been teaching me that my love also has a source. My love flows from his love. Its the only sustainable source of love. Without God's love, my love will fail.

I'm a slow learner, but I'm getting there ;)

Downsizing?

I own a lot of stuff. Merely living in the U.S. drops me into that category. I'm 24 and I own a house. It amazes me how much stuff I have when I really stop and look around at all of it. I must have hundreds of dollars worth of stuff in every room of the house. I've got a garage with several thousand dollars worth of stuff in it. I've got stuff that I use all the time and I've got stuff that I almost never use. Wow, I've got a lot of stuff.

So maybe I over-used the word stuff a little?

But seriously, its accurate. And, I've got a thought.

My stuff requires attention. I've got to clean, heat, and cool the house; I wash, refuel, and maintain the car. I pay the utilities, cable, and internet bill. I mow the lawn, shovel the driveway, feed the dog, and the list goes on. And, its not going to slow down. With two kids en route, the amount of stuff in my house will only increase.

My thought is this.

Maintaining, cleaning, fixing, and using my stuff can consume my life if I let it. It can consume my resources, time, and energy. Jesus tells us not to set our desires on the things of this world, but on heavenly things. By having so much stuff, I think it becomes difficult to not be consumed by it.

In my mind, less stuff = more resources, time, and energy with which to serve Jesus. Stuff takes away from things that are really important.

Unfortunately, it seems impossible to achieve "less stuff" without drastic lifestyle changes. For example, I must have a house if I plan on having children (which I do). Secondly, I must have a vehicle. It's literally impossible to function without one. Its inconvenient not to have internet. Cell phones are a must. The list goes on and on. The resources, time, and energy saved is minimal with downsizing. In some cases, downsizing isn't even worth it.

The crazy part is, my wife and I work full time in career related jobs. We make more money than I would've guessed we'd make at this point in our lives. AND, we probably spend at least 70% of it on bills/expenses. Granted, we're saving for an adoption. But, with no kids, I can't believe its already necessary for both of us to work full time to survive. It seems ridiculous when the average person makes much less than we do.

Maybe my standards are too high? Maybe I just need to say 'thanks' to God for all he's blessed me with and be ok with it? Maybe I'm rambling and none of this actually holds water at all.

What do you think?

Philippians 1: An unwavering vision

Paul begins this letter to the Philippians by stating that he thanks God every time he thinks of them. He's overjoyed that they teach the gospel with such vigor. He's just so... excited. He prays that their love will abound more and more. He prays this so that the church will be able to discern what is pure, righteous, and most glorifying to God.

Wow, what a nice guy! I bet the first time the Philippians read this, they felt nice and warm inside. I mean, if Paul says you're legit, you're definitely legit.

But then, Paul says "Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel." He goes on to say that his presence in prison has influenced other prisoners and prison guards to profess Christ. Because of Paul's continued proclamation of the gospel (while in chains), others were empowered to not only believe, but proclaim without fear as well.

He recognizes that some proclaim with ill-minded intentions and some with great intentions. He doesn't care. The gospel is being furthered either way.

He makes a statement that he wouldn't mind dying. The whole "to die is gain" thing is almost a tad eerie. Death is such a scary thing. Yet, he mentions it as if deciding to swing through the drive through at McDonald's. He is definitely not afraid of death. He recognizes that dying really means unity with Christ.

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Paul is just odd and awesome all at the same time. He's confusing at times and seemingly contradictory. He's idiotically passionate. This dude is about as "one of a kind" as they come. Former 'christian-killer' to ... Christian. When I read that he was bound by chains in prison, I thought I'd misread. The chapter starts off so upbeat that I thought I'd missed something. I just couldn't fathom how someone sitting in prison (and prison in those days was TERRIBLE) could sound so upbeat about someone else's good work.

The first part of this chapter is great for reminding me about what's important. I get wrapped up in my own little bubble and forget why I was ever created. I forget that God is probably using me in ways that I don't see. I forget that God loves me - immeasureably - and will always love me. I forget what crazy depravity I'm saved from. I take the first opportunity to complain about what's 'so bad' about my life. Paul doesn't do this - he does the opposite. He does the opposite because he gets the big picture. He knows why he's there.

The thing about Paul is he had it all. He had high social status and probably some wealth. He was a religious leader. He was more than likely revered by his community.

He must have gone crazy.

..or

He must really be onto something. He chose a life on the road, less social status, negligible income, little social consistency, and food insecurity. These are all the things most people (myself included) value most.

He's got an unwavering vision of the meaning of life with his eyes fixed on the end. He wants to further the kingdom of God. That's it. He wants to bring glory to the name of Jesus. That's it. Paul has immovable focus.

Maybe he's crazy. Maybe he's chasing some kind of 'God-high.' Maybe he likes to travel. Maybe he likes being beaten (doubtful)? Maybe....

Maybe Paul just gets it. Since Paul was raised to be a religious leader, he no doubt, has the Torah (first five books of the bible) memorized. He understands the wrath of God. He understands the depravity of mankind. Lastly, he understands what kind of Love God must have; to let his Son be murdered in the most brutal way possible - for sinful people. I think Paul just is just overwhelmed by a God who would do that. I think he's overwhelmed to the point of choosing:

Life on the road, less social status, negligible income, little social consistency, and food insecurity.

The end goal must make the journey worth every step.