Rolling With Life As It Comes

Sam dancing on the tabletops.

Hello all,

Sorry I have been silent for a few days. I did want to get on here and let everyone know that Samuel has actually started school. I know that may not sound so amazing to some, especially in the States. Yes, he is 5 and would be starting Kindergarden in the States. However, here in Sweden they don't start until they are 6. So I was preparing myself for this Fall. Let me start from the beginning. We finally put Sam in pre-school at age 5 so I could go to Swedish language classes. That was this last September. We had a few issues in the beginning with a substitute teacher that we quickly cleared up. Yet, small things kept coming up. Sam is a wonder of information! Of course you have to sift the information because he is 5 and doesn't understand motives and situations quite as they are, but it was still causing us concern. Most of that came from the fact that they had so many substitute teachers and Sam had no idea who his teachers were. So we started to look into other options. About two weeks ago Sam actually came home and said he really didn't want to go back. Don't worry he wasn't in danger, but the fact that we were already having reservations led us to the conclusion that I would have to quick Swedish class until a solution could be found. Andreas made some phone calls.....

Two Thursdays ago we received a call back from the private school Sam would attend in the Fall. They did not have any room in their pre-school, but had remembered Sam from our January 13th preview. They felt that he could handle being put in the Kindergarden class with the 6 year olds. I had some reservations about that because he has always gravitated to younger kids. We prayed, we talked with Sam and had a meeting with his teacher the day after the call. His teacher, who is Swedish, but Asien of decent (love that), put our fears to rest. Samuel thinks he is hot stuff going to school so young now. I would take him and stay for a while and then go early to pick him and watch him when he didn't know I was there. He did wonderfully. He also loves it. He has told everyone we know and total strangers that he is now going to Vittra (name of the school). The school has a montessori base and I really love the way they interact with the kids. The teacher has said that Sam is doing amazingly well.

So as his mom, I will of course still worry and be very diligent to watch how things are but I am quite happy with the results at this point. Praise God for his mercies. It was really hard to walk out of the school building the first day. Even when Sam was saying, "by mom". It took all my strength not to cry. My baby is growing faster than I could have ever imagined. I am truly blessed to have him and cherish these days. I know one of these days I will wake up and he will be 18. Until then, I will take a ton of pictures, embarass him sometimes (mother's perogative), and love him always.

To all of those families adopting from Nepal that have sent me your blog address, thank you. I love to know how you are all doing. Please send more addresses for me. Nina, I think you are in Costa Rica right now, but send me your address when you get back (I will still include you even though you are Norwegian ;))

Please don't forget to pray for Haiti. They actually pulled another girl out alive at 15 days after the quake. Amazing. There are still more orphans that need to come to their families in the US, please pray and write to the address in a post below. Also, there are many that are replacing the orphans that were able to come to their homes. Don't forget them though the news will.

Blessings to all. Don't forget to hug your kids today- no matter how old they are!

laurie

New Box on Right

I thought this pic was so sweet and joyful. Only God knows her name.

Ladies and Gentlemen. I have added a new box on the right down under my friends and family links. It is for all of the blogs that are about adopting from Nepal. So all of you that are blogstalkers and adopting from Nepal let me know your blog addresses and I will include them. Keep your trust and hopes up, your children are coming......

Blessings,

Laurie

Reflection and New Contacts

Out of the old comes new life.......

Hello All,

I know I have been a little lax on writing on my own life. However, Haiti has taken up much of my prayer and thought life at the moment. All of us waiting for our adopted children don't like it, but imagine if that child was in a country that is destroyed by natural disaster. I am thankful that I am not in that situation, but am praying for all of those who are. Also, if you are an American citizen, go to the post below to write your opinion on how the State Dept. should help the orphans that do have families in the US. The children are coming into the country, but it is slow and there are many parents still waiting.

One of the many things in my head is how should I reflect on the tragedy in Haiti as to make Jesus more real in my life. I know the answers as to why there was an earthquake and why there is suffering in the world with a good God... so how does all that I see make me trust and believe in God more, or less for that matter. I am still working through these questions if you would like to give me your thoughts on it. However, I will say that I am blessed and amazed at the strength of the Haiti people and all that are there helping them. I laugh when the news talks about the Haitians singing medicinal songs. What is a medicinal song? Just come out and say it, they are singing praises to God to be alive. Even in their immense grief they are singing and trusting on the Lord. I pray that my faith can and will be as strong on the days that I am tested. Until then I am letting God whisper his truths to my heart as the questions are being answered. I will praise Him and pray for Haiti.

My request to all of you is...go to your calendars and write the name Haiti on the bottom of each month. This will remind us all to pray for Haiti. Very soon the news will forget them, but I want to remember and pray. I hope you do also. If you scroll down on my blog, to the right, there are blogs of freinds and family. You can click on the Bowens in Paraquay and they have some wonderful links of blogs and organizations to keep up with Haiti. Andy Bowen's sister has been a missionary in Hait with her family for 14 years now.

Also if you are interested in what is happening with the orphans and how the adoptions are going you can go to glahaiti.org This will lead you the God's Littlest Angels and orphanage run by American missionaries Dixie and John Bickel. It is an amazing orphan home and they have an amazing heart for these children. They are great advocates for them. Andreas and I strongly considered adopting from this orphanage when the Lord called us to adopt from Nepal. You can even sign up for email updates. Dixie' blog which you can link to is very informative and it gives me a reality check quite often. Praise God for the people that follow his voice to the ends of the earth.

That is all for now, I will post more a little later tonight.

Blessings,

Laurie

The Most Helpless

As you all know I am passionate about children and adoption. I believe that every child deserves a family! So here is my way to help some of the children in Haiti that have families already waiting for them in the US. I have a wonderful, intelligent and very connected friend in Mississippi named Kim Haney. She has set up a website that you can write to and express your concern for the children that are already in the process of adoption to come home to their adoptive parents.

The Haitian children are one of the most vunerable people in Haiti right now. Many of the Children's homes have been damaged and there are many children living one the streets now with their nannies and caretakers. Those who still have the buildings to live in are still in dire need of food, water and medicines. Our government can relieve some of that stress by allowing the children that have already been matched with parents to come home.

The Netherlands is allowing all of the children that have been matched with Dutch citizens to enter their country. They have sent a plane to retrieve these children and have promised to report to the Haitian authorities when they are up and running. Will you please take the time to write to this website so these letters can be used to spur the American government on. They have stated they will look at the situation on a case by case basis. However, time is of the essence and these children are running out of time. We are not asking to allow illegal immigrants in our country, just children into the waiting arms of their forever families.

Once these children can come home the children's homes in Haiti can turn their attention to the children that have now become orphans due to this earthquake. There are many more children that will need the attention and care of the many who have dedicated their lives to the orphans of Haiti.

The website is: www.wanderingjane.com

To email the website: theemailbox@wanderingjane.com

Thank you for your time and prayers for the country of Haiti and it's people.

Lives Well Spent

January 16, 8:50 p.m.

From Free Methodist Missions

With profound sadness, Free Methodist World Missions reports Rev. Jeanne Acheson-Munos, Merle West, and Gene Defour, the three missionaries who have been unaccounted for, have not been located and are now presumed to not be alive. Today Bishop David Roller conducted a funeral service at the site of the building they were in which collapsed when Tuesday's earthquake hit. These three individuals gave their lives in service to the Haitian people whom they loved deeply.

Rev. Jeanne Acheson-Munos, and her husband, Jack, were appointed as career missionaries to Haiti in March 2004. Together they worked alongside the national church to develop and strengthen the conference, pastors, church leaders and members. Jeanne's deepest desire was that Haiti, the Pearl of the Antilles, would shine again with "Haiti for Christ" becoming a reality.

Merle West had been ministering in Haiti since 1978. He served as president of FOHO (Friends of Haiti Organization) and supervised construction of the new FOHO building. Merle was active in Craftsman for Christ and worked construction in the Miami Haitian churches. He also took three trips to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Gene Defour had been on three trips to Haiti and one to Africa. Gene, along with Merle, was active in Craftsman for Christ and worked construction in the Miami Haitian churches. Gene and Merle were good friends, enjoying each other's company and sharing a heart and love for Haiti.

Jack Munos is recovering in Miami from his injuries. Please pray for him and his family as they grieve for his wife, Jeanne, and his friends. Please also pray for the family and friends of Merle and Gene. Even though we are sad, they are now singing their praises to Jesus. My belief is they heard the words, "Well done my good and faithful servants". Praise God that this is not the end. Please continue to pray for all that are there in Haiti, all that are helping, all that are grieving and all that will come to help. May God's name be glorified!

Lives of Brothers and Sisters

As all of us around the world see and hear of all that is happening in Haiti I am extremely surprised as some of the responses. Please people, show compassion! Thank you for all that are being the hands and feet of Jesus during this time. I have to thank the Wilmore Free Methodist Church for their updates on the situation.

Also, if you feel led to give then a good place to donate through is the Free Methodist World Missions at http://www.fmwm.org/give/help_haiti_heal.php or you can give to a Christian School called Quisqueya at http://quisqueya.org/ (they have a paypal account connected to their website and it is very easy to give from all over the world). They are both trustworthy organizations that have a long and good history in Haiti and have the resources there to help. I am sorry that you cannot link to them through this page, for some reason I couldn't get it to work tonight. The school is undamaged and is being used as a hospital, temporary shelter and a staging area for many military and aide groups to help with relief. I am thankful to hear that the Herseys and Miriam P. are well. We will be praying for you all during this time.

As for the Free Methodist missionaries there: There are still some missing from the collapse of the FOHO building. Keep praying for the missing and their families. They will be just a few of the thousands that are missing during this tragic time.

May the Lord bring renewal through this tragedy. Please pray for Haiti and that all aftershocks will cease. Please pray for all the people who are living through this awful time, for those who have lost loved ones and for those who will be ministering, working, rescuing and rebuilding.

And It All Begins Again...

This is a sweet pic sent to me by our friends the Mukhopadhyays. This is their children Naomi and Nikhil with us. They sent it to me with the title "Waiting for Jane"... So Sweet.

Sorry that I have been silent for about two weeks. We were home and just having a good time together. I really enjoyed my break with the family. Samuel became much easier to be with during this time. I really think it was time away from the influence of pre-school that helped (sad to say but true). Andreas was sick, but we were still able to enjoy being a family.

Samuel has been playing with his legos non-stop. I am really glad he enjoys them so much. He is constantly reminding us that Jane (his sister we have yet to adopt) will not be able to play with them because "they are too little and I don't want her to choke and die". I totally agree with that assessment. Samuel is also showing more signs of impatience about his sister. He goes off by himself for a minute and says, "I am so sad that I don't have my sister". It is even harder to wait when he is getting impatient too. However, we talk about it with him and then try to redirect his attention. He says all this now, but wait until he realizes that she takes a lot of attention and is in his toys constantly (wonder what he will say then). We know that Nepal is starting up again with matches so we will continue to wait and be as patient as possible. We are praying for all of those who are waiting. We know it's hard, but hang in there (it's like having the gestation period of an elephant). Your child will come!

We are all back to the normal schedule now. Samuel is back to pre-school, me to Swedish class (feeling a bit stupid there) and Andreas to his two jobs. It is hard to reboot and go again, but tis life. We are wondering, looking and praying about Sam's pre-school. We have been disappointed with it and the lack of consistancy and communication. Samuel even went late today by two hours because he really didn't want to go and he waits for me at the gate of his class when he knows I am coming. Please pray with us that we can discern what to do and what the exact problem is (don't worry, he is not in danger there, I think he doesn't like being away from us after being with us 24-7).

On an up note we visited the school that Sam will be attending come Fall. We were quite impressed. It is called a Free School here in Sweden, but it is the equivalent of a private school. They had everything thought out well and all the statistics show that things are good. So now all in theory is great, let's see how it works. I really liked that the parents needed to be very involved (that would be me). Samuel seemed to really like the school also (of course he really doesn't know what he is talking about). To him it looked fun and there were not kids only sitting down listening (which is something Farmor told him). He says that sitting down listing all day is "boring". Thanks Farmor! So there is another prayer request as we begin parenting a child in school.

That is enough for the blog. I need to get my post placement report packed up to send to Nepal now. Yes, all of you adopting from Nepal will be doing 2 post adoption reports a year until your child is 16. They are not bad at all and I like that Nepal wants to know how the kids are doing, but I just realized that I will be doing 4 a year soon. I wonder if I can lump them together. That is a question I will have to ask.

Blessings to All,

Laurie