News

Our application for full adoption was filed in courts on June 22. We have still not heard if a judge has been assigned to our case yet. We are waiting for this, then a court date. Courts close July 15th I am told. I still have hope we can get there soon. There is a family with a court date this week!

Mercy is not doing well and we are trying to see if she can get some bloodwork done to see if she is suffering from over medication. Please pray for her and for God to come through with perfect timing!

Stress

I have been so stressed lately, but trying to juggle all that I have going on while remaining sane. It's hard. My kids have been asking me "why are you so mean?" more than usual. My husband feels a bit neglected. My patience is shot and my attitude is usually not so pleasant.

DEATH OF THE PLAYSTATION

The other day my teenage video game addict was asked to turn off the Playstation. He didn't listen. The game console got taken away and added to the pile of confiscated goods in my bedroom. The next day, I caught him in my room, playing his Playstation on OUR TV! I was already upset by something else going on, and the fact that he had the gall to do that just drove me over the top. I asked him to turn it off, and he complained and whined about it. So I helped him. Then he complained and whined louder, telling me that I NEVER LET HIM DO ANYTHING! So I snapped. I unplugged that Playstation 2, took it outside and swung it over my head by the power cord. I felt a surge of adrenaline as I let that thing soar through the air and hit the cement patio. After two hits, it was in several pieces on the ground. It felt SOOOO GOOOOD. I think many of my frustrations we released when that thing shattered. But I did feel some guilt. My poor son was so upset. Mind you, we have a backup game console, the exact same kind (long story), so the loss of this one is not too horrific. The other kids saw the remains of the console and asked throughout the day what happened. Hopefully a lesson was learned.

What do you think? Too harsh?

Little M.

I have been very private about M. on my public blog. Really I'd love to share more about her, how we came to commit to her, and even specifically where she is and her full name. I want to post the pictures of her. (the sweet grins and the bruised/bandaged) I want to share with you because we genuinely need as many prayers as possible for her and our family. But unfortunately there are people out there who read public blogs, misinterpret information or use the info shared to hurt others. And in the international adoption world, one can not be too careful. But since we are coveting your prayers this week and the weeks to come, I decided to share a little more about M. today, and why she needs your prayers.

We have been trying to adopt a five year old girl in XXXXXXX for about 8 months. M. was diagnosed with a form of epilepsy with partial atrophy of the left side of the brain. She has been seen at the few hospitals available in her country. Her seisures (she was having them every 10 minutes) are seemingly under control with medication but she has not had a current EEG. Since January she has been heavily medicated to help with her epilepsy.

Her medication has not been monitored and she is showing signs of neurological problems or is having complications from medication overdose. She is weak on one side, with partial paralysis and it seems to worsening. Her speak is slurred and she is difficult to understand. She plays alone and does not interact much with her peers. She is not able to go to school with the other children in her home. She is not able to concentrate on school activities at home either. She seems to enjoy repetitive activities, like jumping on the trampoline and washing shoes. She falls when she tries to run and she bumps into things.

Her caregiver wrote the following: We feel that her concentration got less since she is on this medication. She forgets things faster and because of this she seems frustrated. She cries more often. We feel that she needs more attention for this and we can not really offer that. M. is going backwards every day. It is going fast the last week. We have seen a big difference in the 5 weeks. Her walking, talking and movements are also going behind.

Would you please commit to praying for little M. for the next month? Or until she is here with us? We heard that our application is filed in the courts and we are waiting to see if we might be able to make it before the courts close for summer holiday mid July. This may be tight, but is possible with the Lord's help and intervention.

Ways to pray:

• For M.'s health and development.
• For a court date sooner than later if it is God's will.
• For wisdom for our attorney.
• For compassion and mercy for the judge we are assigned.
• For our finances, since last minute tickets right now are far more than what we budgeted for.
• For our family. If we leave soon we have a whole lot of logistics to plan out as we leave our kids for an unknown amount of time.
• For people to be willing to step up and help M. where she is, and help our family while we are gone, and transitioning M. to our home. We can not do this alone.
• For patience and the ability to trust that God truly has a perfect plan, in His time.

news

I've been so busy I haven't had much opportunity to blog. Here are some short little updates about life right now:

• We had a great weekend seeing family and friends. On Sat. we went to reunion for COTP kids and volunteers. It was a great time and we are so glad we had the chance to go! On Sunday we went to church and then to a Father's Day brunch at my aunt and uncle's house. One of my dad's sisters is very sick and she was able to come over to visit. It was really nice to see my dad's side of the family. It seems there are years between get togethers even though most of live so close to each other.
• We had a good father's day. My kid's father (my love) did NOT have to work! We came home after the family brunch, made a special dinner and cake, and watched Alice In Wonderland together.
• L. had the opportunity to work at Grandma and Grandpa's house over the weekend (he missed the reunion but met us at the family event). His aunt and uncle graciously made a donation to him too, so he getting close to earning his fees for his mission trip to Mexico. He is leaving mid-July with a group from our church. I am a little worried. Grandma is a lot worried!
• The boys and J. had a great trip over the mountain to visit family and celebrate J's brother's college graduation. I really enjoyed the quiet time and fun activities with the girls.
• M. in Africa is really not doing well. Our attorney was out of town dealing with a death in the family. Courts are closing in July sometime. We are hoping we might be able to get a court date before courts close. Hoping for some end in sight to be able to bring her home. Many people have been helping us with suggestions and advice on what we can do to help M. She was going to head to the doctor and get some blood work done today to see if there is a problem with the medication she is on. Our congressman's office called today. She is trying to see if they can do anything to help speed things up, at least on the US side of things.
• If we travel soon, we are going to be paying big bucks for airline tickets.
• The weather here has been a little strange. Cold and rainy for five days, then one beautiful weather day. Then back to cold and rainy. Sometimes it's cold and rainy most of the day, then it clears up for a few hours.
• We are planning a camping trip at the end of the month. My hubby will be working. I am a bit nervous about how that will all work out, since we will be in a tent! We will have friends around so at least more eyes to watch kids.
• VBS is this week. E. is really liking it! He did great today, and I hope he will continue to enjoy the remainder.
• My friend is coming to visit tomorrow. She and her family moved and I miss them terribly. I have been trying to clean up the house and get ready for her to visit.

Delay

We had our paperwork filed in court to do a legal guardianship. I know, confusing. We thought we were going to do an adoption, but our attorney didn't agree. Then we heard that our lawyer withdrew our application from the courts when he realized there were still issues with the judges. He decided to file for a full adoption after all. We were hoping he could do that this week. BUT then he had some bad news. His young nephew died, and he needed to travel for the funeral and to be with family. Understandable and sad, yet so disappointing. I am so hoping he can file it this coming week and we can travel in the next few weeks. If not we will have to wait until mid. August. Ugh!