Thursday, September 25, 2008


These are from Easter. We stopped by Uncle Don's "office" on our way to Grandma's. Julianna has been asking lately to visit the office again.

This week I was reflecting on the long path to finishing our paperwork and how many times we threw up our hands and said, we quit. Deep down, though, we always knew this was the path God had laid out for us, despite the frustration. I was reminded of CS Lewis' comment in A Grief Observed, where the answer he hears from God is "Peace, child, you don't understand". It is like that sometimes. We want so badly for God to lay out His plan, to seek our advice and input on the finer details, then implement a mutually agreed upon compromise. God, though, does not want a committee, He wants obedience.

Friday, September 19, 2008


We are Dossier to China (DTC). Our agency received our dossier today, reviewed it and approved it to be sent in this week's batch. We were so thrilled to be sent today because we expected to wait until next week as our agency has a Wednesday cut-off for the Friday mailings. But they slipped us through and we are ecstatic.

We are not allowed to post identifiable information about Keith until we get final approval, so I leave you with a teaser. Beijing, here we come.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Breakfast with Her Royal Highness.

Our paperwork has made it through the consulate. Finally, we are through.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

The Houston Consulate is beginning to resume operations. We are still not sure when our documents will be completed, but at least they are able to do some work. It is still very frustrating not knowing where things stand. As this process has gone on, I've started to thank God for His sovereign plan. Even though it is has been a long and difficult process, God has ordained every step and has known all the roadblocks and annoyances we would face. My "job" in the process is to thank and praise Him and trust in His plan.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Julianna started "school" this week. She goes to half day Mom's Day Out two days a week. They are doing a curriculum this year. This week we are learning the color red and the letter A. I talked it up for about a week before she started, just to get her ready and we bought a new lunchbox. She is also taking a backpack with her. We made a special shopping trip for the lunchbox and lunches.

This is what she wore.

This is what she wanted to wear. She wears this dress all the time now. She asks for it the moment she wakes up and we hang it up in the closet each night. She does have to wear "boring" clothes when we go places.
This is from a different day. We were headed out for our morning walk. You'll notice the rain boots with the Cinderella dress.

For those interested in an adoption update, our paperwork is at the Houston Consulate for authentication. It was supposed to be finished today. Unfortunately, Hurricane Ike is headed to Houston and the Consulate is closed until further notice.

Monday, September 01, 2008

We're busily watching the hurricane dump lots of rain on the Gulf Coast. We are still waiting for the re-do on our improperly notarized paper. I've had a lot of time over the last week to think about the sovereignty of God and my response to challenges. God is not taken by surprise. We will complete our paperwork in His timing. He is also in control of the rain and the leak in the living room. My responses, though, tend to be complaints rather than a recognition of God's sovereign plan. I seem to live on the weak side, as in Proverbs, it says "If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your faith". (Pro 24:10).