Calls for Rejoicing, and some somberness!!

I am THRILLED to say there are 2 families stepping up to pursue Daniel's adoption!!!

Did you hear that??

TWO!!!

and guess what?

They know each other!

They are in the same church!!!

How great is our GOD!!!

I love how He works!

I love how He answers prayers!

I just LOVE Him!

I LOVE the song "Dare to be a Daniel"-dare to stand alone, dare to have a purpose firm, dare to make it known-Our Daniel, the Bible reading, Jesus loving, compassionate and emotional Daniel!!!!!!!!

I am so happy that somewhere in the not too distant future, Daniel will have a mama and daddy of his own!!

They both sound like wonderful families, and I LOVE getting connected with others and we all love the same childen-and  love adoption, and  love the Lord!!

This leads me to my note of somberness-some sadness-some sense of loss-

I am a pretty relationship oriented person-I love people, I love others walking the same road, I love being connected with them.

One of the neatest things in the last year has been some of the relationships that were built while we were in process.

NOW, when the process is done, and our girls are home, I feel a sadness to not have notes and updates from the ones who had become so important to me during our journey.

There were so many along the way, and now, wow, hardly any.

Yes, I know life is tough once we all get home, and I know we are all super busy, and I GET that-but I MISS my friends.

I miss the connections, the times of sharing, the specialness of walking thru something together, the privilege of PRAYING together and standing together for a cause, a purpose, a call on our lives to change the lives of the fatherless!!!!

I HATE goodbyes, and I always cry when I have to say goodbye to my folks or any good friends that come for a visit-life is just so unsure, you never know when you "won't" see someone again-

SOOOO, if you are on the adoption road, and you find yourself making new friends along the way, make it a priority to keep in touch?

sometimes a note of love from someone who KNOWS what you have been thru can mean the world to them.

In this day of social medias, I don't do facebook, twitter, or any of the others available.

I like email-so I am old-fashioned-it's just the way I am.

But I do love my friends, all of them, whether I have heard from them in the last 6 months, or not!!!!

Blessings

Chris

Greenhouse Fun

We have been getting our hands into the dirt already. And it was a lot of fun too-the children really enjoy helping our friends who have a greenhouse, and filling pots with dirt and potting new baby plants was a very good therapy for us since the weather has been relentless, ruthless, and bitter cold for 2 months now.

They tell us it was the coldest winter on record for 28 years for Hillsboro-YIPPEE-the best news is that we are through it, and now we find out JUST HOW COLD IT REALLY WAS!!!

We hope to go back again next week and help with more planting-It is really making me itch to get going on the garden-yes it is a couple months off, but planning ahead never hurt a guy! Plus, it kind of helps to have something warm to think about on these still not-so-warm days of early March.

I am sure playingin the dirt is just in a kid's nature-they are always all smiles!

Tyler and his friend " 'Turah" (short for Katurah) they managed to find lots of fun things to do for the couple hours the rest of us worked

It is so much fun to work in a warm greenhouse (outside it was 17 degrees Friday) and to be amongst GREEN

Nick is quite a worker, always looking for things to help out with

Tyler did get into the act a bit too-when he wasn't playing with 'Turah!!

Blessings

Chris

Now, that's what I call being a parent!

We had a visit from the hooftrimmer yesterday. That is not so very unnusual, as it happens every 6 weeks like clockwork around here. What was really uplifting about the day was the story Chuck told me about our hooftrimmer's family when he came in for supper last night.
Mark and his wife work together to trim cows' feet. Mark's Dad also comes along to some farms-and he is in his 80's.
Chuck has always had wonderful conversations with both of them, but yesterday, something really struck a cord with him, which did with me as well, which is why I find it something that needs to be written about.
Mark's parents had 2 sons biologically. Mark, and his first brother. Mark's brother was born with Downs Syndrome, 40+ years ago. The idea of putting him in a home for special care was never even a thought to these parents. The thing they were concerned with, was, who would he have for friends as he grew up. So, at 40+ years of age, they went seeking to adopt 2 more boys with Downs Syndrome-and now, at 80+, these devoted parents are still "raising" their 3 sons with DS in their home. When Mark and his Dad go hoof-trimming for the day, they always bring one along with them. It is good for everyone involved, and especially Mom, who is left home alone during the day with the remaining 2.
Mark's Dad shared with Chuck that at 40, having those 3 boys in the home was just something they knew they had to do, and loved and raised them as best they could. But, he also added, that at 80+, it is getting to be a challenge, but they would not have it any other way.
Chuck was very humbled by the conversation. How many parents, us included,
complain about our daily jobs, and our roles as parents, and we have "normal" children? We have children that have normal mental capacities, who will eventually grow up and leave the home.
Sometimes, it is really good to be reminded that life is really too short to fill our days with murmuring, grumbling and complaining. The dedication, love and patience that they have shown their special sons all these years is a true test of character. For some reason, I feel I fall far short of that mark they have set, but it is something to strive for none-the-less.

On another note, my dear husband was to the Dr last week. We knew his cough was not good, and with his asthma, I was fearing Walking Pneumonia or something equally ugly. Well, it was nothing like that, but after a cortisone shot to help clear the congestion in his lungs, the Dr also told him, "I THINK we can clear this up without a night in the hospital."
Chuck has never been told anything like that before, and he has had sinus infections all his life-this one was a bad one, and so unlike anything else he has had before. Such a strange year for sinus stuff and breathing problems, but hopefully after a week of antibiotics, and probably another round of them, just to be sure, and a very expensive new inhaler, maybe we can overcome this, and I can get my cheerful, energetic husband back soon. And I think my children need their smiling, playful Daddy again too.

In Him

Chris

Blessings to Fred!!

I wanted to take a few minutes and tell everyone about a special friend of ours. Fred Amstutz is a 20 year old young man who is leaving on Thursday, May 22 for a year-long missions trip to Papau, New Guinea. He has been a friend of ours for about 5 years, and for most of 2007, he was also an employee and a housemate of ours.

Fred came to our farm a very green farm hand, and when he left, he was a very valued, handy employee/friend, and was able to do most anything on the farm except mix feed. He and Chuck spent quite a bit of time discussing cow-stuff throughout his days here, and he became a very handy vet's assistant.

One of their jobs that the 2 of them really had down to a science was treating fresh cows with a 10 gallon drench-

Fred was and is a valued friend, but we really enjoyed our time together as co-workers as well. My only regret about his time here was that we were ALWAYS SOOOO BUSY!

The children enjoyed working with Fred, and Fred enjoyed them-he also enjoyed the baby calves. He was the most patient calf-feeder we have had-if we had a big enough dairy to need a full-time nursery man, Fred would have had the job!
One of the many jobs he learned to handle was scraping the manure 2x a day while the cows were being milked
A rare down moment-Nick and Fred putting a global puzzle together-it was a wonderful time of learning more about world-geography, as well as sharing laughs
again, feeding calves together-always smiles and laughter too!!
Fred is a wonderful young man, with a true heart for the Lord. He is gentle and kind and very compassionate, and will make a wonderful missionary. We will be praying diligently for you and your family Fred, over the next year, and especially the next 24 hours, when you will be flying for 16 hours into the tropics-it is bound to be hot there!! May God richly bless you, and hold you in the palm of His hand until your return next year.

Many Blessings Dear Friend

In Him

The Waughtals