Medicals

For those of you not in the process of adopting, the following may seem very boring to you. I suggest skipping to the very end for the short version. For those of you in process, I really enjoyed hearing others reports of how everything went. Here is our story.....

Vladimir picked us up at the hotel today. We and the other family with us drove a little ways, did a big u-turn in huge traffic, headed the other way and through some apartments, finally turning into the area where the American Medical Center is located. He lead us through the door.......

We signed in at the front desk, hung our jackets in the cloakroom, and sat in the children's waiting area. We filled out the usual documentation, sans the HIPPA required paperwork. The family with us has a 3 year old son with them, so we went into a bright colorful room filled with toys and bright paintings. Thomas had fun with the toys :) After a few minutes, maybe 35 or so (seems like forever when you are waiting) Tim and I were called back to the exam rooms.

There is a hall filled with several identical rooms- all in a peaceful blue color. The staff were very friendly, and though only 3 Dr's spoke English, all were able to communicate with us through an interpreter (the nurse).

We entered the first exam room and there was the Dr seated at the desk. "Have a seat" we were told. The Dr was the Psychologist. He wanted to know if we had any mental illness in our families. If we'd ever had a head injury. If we were ever sad for no reason. Basically all the great depression questions. He wanted to know how we resolve conflict in our marriage...... we said by talking it out. I mentioned that we agreed when we married to never go to bed angry with each other. He thought that was a great idea, but one that wouldn't be possible to put into practice. Tim told him it has worked very well for us for the last 8 years :) Poor guy looked like he was being interogated- he was way overheated- sweating and looking a bit nervous- very little eye contact. Kinda bizarre. For a Psychiatrist.

We were told to stay there. Very shortly the "Narcologist" came in. He was quite young looking with a large birthmark on his neck. We had to answer several questions- use drugs, anyone in your family an alcoholic, do you drink, are you sure? you've never had a drink? Not even a sip? Stand up- feet together-put out your hands- touch your index finger to your nose-now the other- stick out your tongue. Follow my pen with your eyes. OK. Have a seat. The next Dr will be in.

The next Dr was the Pulmonologist. She was such a sweet lady- appeared to be in her 50's and very friendly. She actually smiled :) She asked us about our lungs, looked at our x-rays- does it hurt to breathe? Any pain? any exposure to TB? Very good. Wait here for next Dr.

The nurse stuck her head in for a second- do you have any allergies? Any skin rashes? Any drug allergies? And she left.

After a chunk of time went by, the nurse called us out to the waiting area and the other family with us went in to the exam room we vacated. We waited.... and we waited......

A mid-40's gentleman came and got us. We went into a different room- one filled with a lot of diagnostic equipment. He introduced himself as the neurologist. Any head injuries? Headaches? Any problems with nerves? Any back problems? Stand up- hands out, touch your nose with your index finger- and the other finger- Good. Sit. Put your head on your knee- I looked up questioningly as I prepared to fold like a pretzel- I said head? He said- Hand- hehe. then he wacked on us with his rubber mallot. No problems here- glad he stood to the side so I didn't kick him! OK- go on back out.

So we went out to the waiting area and waited..... and waited.....and waited.

We went back in to the first exam room and met with the Oncologist. He was an Asian looking gentleman in his 40's that spoke excellent English. He asked us about any cancer in our families, any problems we have- checked out lymph nodes- neck and top of chest( where shirt is open). Very pleasant man- he smiled, too :)

After waiting in the room for a long time, the nurse came and asked us to move back to the waiting area again. Where we waited..... are you getting the picture? Oh, there is a coffee machine that you can purchase coffee and cappachino- there is also a water cooler- yeah!!

A different nurse came and got us and we went to a different exam room. This time it was the infectionist. Dr of infections, apparently. He took our lab work (all written in English) looked at it for about 45 seconds each page. All questions went through interpreter. Wanted to know if we had our diptheria vaccination. I said as a child. They looked concerned and said not since? I repeated diptheria- discovered they were talking about tetanus. Got that cleared up. OK. Go back out and wait. ( I wondered if he could even read English???)

So we waited some more. And then we waited. The other family finished- at one point Dad and son waited outside the room- for the disrobing....... hmmmm...... didn't think we'd have to do that....... So we waited...... then we waited some more.

Finally after almost 4 hours since we had arrived, we were called back by Olga- she was the family doctor- or general practitioner. She did quite a through job. Spoke to us for several minutes about general health, any daily medications? Any diseases? Then said we would need to get onto the table for an exam. Take off the shirt, please, and she pulled a chair over to place it on. OK ladies- no problem here- just the shirt- we were still g rated :) No breast exam to write home about...... Phew!!!! She took the blood pressure, listened to the lungs as well as the kidneys, checked out our lymph nodes, eyes, ears, throats and heart. We laid down and she checked out and percussed the abdomen. She was, by far, the most through. Her English, thou a bit broken, was quite good. She then said- OK- I think that is it.

The nurse came over as we were walking out of the exam room and said we were finished. They were just finishing our paperwork that we have to take to court. Every Dr has a seal, and on 1 page we have now 8 different professions listed, eight stamps off to the right side and a signature of each Dr inside the stamp. Ladies and gentlemen, after 4 long hours, only difficult due to the boredom one experiences, we were able to walk out to the van 36,800Roubles lighter, I mean later, and make our way back to the hotel. We were glad to be able to charge this to our credit card, since we didn't have quite this many Roubles with us.

We sat in the van as Vladimir, the driver, double checked everything before we go away.

Short version:

We waited forever to see 8 Dr's in the American Clinic- but are now done.

Happy Leap Year Day!!

Happy Leap Year Day, everyone!! We have the internet for the next 24 hours, yeah!! So, we'll try to update as much as we can. We leave in a little bit for our medicals- will give an update when we return.

Tim took some video as we were traveling to the hotel from the airport. We'll see if we can add that to give you an idea of what it is like. Having traveled in Haiti, this was no sweat for us, but for many other families, this trip is quite stressful. Bumper to bumper traffic humming along at a great pace-traffic zipping past.

Amazing though is the lack of road rage you often see in America. Why is it we as Americans always seem to be a simmering pot ready to boil over? This is a difficult soul searching question and goes much deeper than you might first imagine.

Much of our trip is on the "second" way- the country trip around Moscow to avoid all but the heaviest traffic- and give us a good view of what the "suburbs" around Moscow are like.
We're going to work on the video and add it here soon.......

****NOTE**** tried to upload- only succeded in crashing the server- now it is VVVVVEEEEERRRRRRRYYYYYYYYY SSSSSLLLLLLLOOOOOWWWWWW........

Will try to upload this video when we return stateside..................

We have arrived!!! 2/26-2/28

Well, we made it safe and sound to Moscow. The trip was really uneventful- just a bit to make you smile- the tail winds were amazing- we were projected to land up to an hour early several times on the flight. We ended up landing at about 9:30 instead of 10:10am. Tim and I laughed and enjoyed the prayers of the saints- praying for our trip to go quickly....... It really worked!

I'm sure many of you wonder about Monday. It was such a difficult day, in so many ways. Tim went from work in the morning to get our last paper apostilled, so he didn't get home until a little later in the am than usual. I had prayed and prayed that God would show me that it was time for Penny to be put to sleep so I wouldn't always wonder. He left no doubt in my mind that this was the case on Monday morning. She appeared to lose control of everything that day. I ended up doing 6 loads of laundry- just from her, and she was only in the house a few hours. She had gotten so bad, I think she drank over a gallon of water. I had planned to spend the morning finishing up all we had to do- packing paying the last of the bills- preparing the house. All I ended up doing before we took her to the vet was cleaning up all manner of nastiness from my poor dog.

So, even though I cried and cried and could still cry if I think too much about it, God confirmed in my heart that Penny was indeed weary of this world, in a lot of pain and ready to rest. Farewell, sweet friend. I will often think of you and the sweet times we had.

OK, back to the present.....

Do you ever realize that you are stereotyping people? When we were waiting for our first flight in Columbus there was a young man who was obviously Muslim. His clothing and hair style were very typical. I wouldn't have noticed him, but he was very, very nervous. He had a whole bag of sunflower seeds he was eating and spitting the shells onto his robe across his lap. That made me very nervous. I prayed a lot for him. Hoping he was nervous because he doesn't like to fly, and not that he was nervous because he was soon to take down the plane and die. I really prayed for all of us. Of course, Tim wasn't nervous at all- wouldn't even look as I continued to point this poor guy out. Appears he was just nervous to fly :)

Arrived in Moscow, went through the lines at the airport- of course, met another couple here to adopt. Vladimir met us at the airport again. It was nice to see a familiar face. He brought us to the Renaissance Hotel. It is VERY nice!! We have such a posh room. A great view. Very comfortable. Feather pillows. Glasses and mugs, a hot pot for hot water. Most of the staff speak English, which is nice.

One doesn't realize what it means to be in a foreign land with an unknown language until one is there. Tim and I went out for a walk today for a few hours. We did a bit better than last time- actually went to the market. We bought water, bananas and bread. Just a few of the few Russian words I've learned. Hopefully I'll be able to do better once we arrive in Krasnoyarsk and we buy more groceries.

Dinner last night was very interesting. We went to the German restaurant in the hotel. There were 3 families in there with 3 little ones. 2 families stayed for a little while after we arrived. I heard one talking about the exchange rate. We had seen 20:1 in the airport. This means 20 Roubles per American dollar. When we were here in October it was just under 25. That is a huge difference. He told us 24. A lot better :)

The one family is from just outside Pittsburgh. The other family, you are not going to believe this, is from West Greene- yes folks, that's right, from my own Greene County, PA- just a hop, skip and a jump from where I grew up. How amazing is that? I run into a family that I never met when growing up, possibly 30 minutes away, but I meet them here in Moscow, almost 4,000 miles away from home. How amazing is that? The lady that grew up there actually knows several people that I know. Her sister's roommate in college was Stacey Parson- a great friend of ours we went to church with as we were growing up. What a small world.

We're joining these other families for dinner in a bit. Looking forward to seeing how they interact with their children and how they handle meals.

Update- had a great dinner- enjoyed eating with 3 other families who are in the last few days of their process. They're going to the Russian Embassy tomorrow. The other couple from our agency and their son joined us just as we finished, so we went over and joined them while they ate.
Tomorrow at 2:30pm we leave for the Clinic and have our physicals done- by 8 Russian Dr's- one of them a Russian Psychiatrist. Praying God will put the words in our mouths we need to complete these physicals with no problems.

Well, I'm sure this post is long enough- will try to post this soon, as well as updates on our physicals and the rest of our journey here in Moscow.

Every day miracles

Thank you all for your prayers!! I can feel them, and I can see God answering them already!! How amazing is that?

We were able to get the documentation all together that we need for our house- thank you to all for your helpful suggestions!- Our paperwork is ready to go to Columbus and get apostilled Friday.

One document was not scheduled to be delivered until thursday at 7pm. I prayed so hard we could get this all done, and was disappointed when I saw that. Only it didn't come tomorrow at 7- it arrived this afternoon!! Can you believe it? Thank you for praying- and thank you God for these small everyday miracles!

Work was fabulous today. We weren't too busy and I was able to show the new pharmacist most of the "ropes"- all the things we do and the way we've done them. I got together stuff and threw a party for her today, too. My wonderful staff also got together and surprised me- they all brought in great things for our son. I think I realized today that even though I won't be manager of this pharmacy any more, I will still be a part of the family there. How cool is that to realize?

My heart is coming to terms with my mind about the whole doggy thing, too. Though it is not easy, I can talk about it without crying. Part of me wishes animals had souls, so I knew I'd see her again. The other, more practical part, chimes in and says that if she had a soul, I wouldn't be putting her to sleep........ Ahhh, the practical mind. Sometimes I wish I could shut it off....... hmmm.

Everything is coming together, as I knew it would. God has shown Himself so faithful through this whole process. He has become such a rock for us, especially me, as I learn to lay more and more at His feet. I'm sure this is a good thing since I know I'll need to remember that as we raise a child.

Thank you for your continued prayers. We leave tuesday. Less than a week away!! We'll be holding our son in less than 2 weeks. That is soooo incredibly exciting. Our friends we travelled with in October are in Krasnoyarsk now and had a successful court date on Tues. We are sooo excited for them and can't wait to see them in country again.

Well, that's the update for now. Praises and thanks to God- He has such beautiful orchestration.

Praying with/for us......

This is an exerpt from a post to our chat group:

Isn't it amazing how when you set your heart to rest in God, knowing that He'll work out all the details, every fiber of your being gets tested?

Here's my request:
Health- I fell on the ice and went down the concrete steps by the side of our house Sat am. (They do say that more accidents happen within 1 mile of the home, don't they? )Nothing broken, but sore and bruised- makes that 24 hours of travel sound a bit more daunting.

Paperwork. Does it never end? How much is enough? How many details do they need to know about us to know we'll be good parents? Can you hear my frustration? Thanks for letting me vent!!

Our deed only shows the outline of the land. So, even though we have a homestudy talking about our house, we have pictures of our house in our photo album, etc, etc, etc- we now have to have proof that we own our house and that house exhists. Since Tim built it, this is a bit more difficult that one might at first imagine. Our taxes are accrued with our mortgage, and the mortgage company takes care of that. So, how to get the copy of our last tax statement? A copy of the deed transferring the property to Tim from his parents 10 years ago? Hhmmm..... shouldn't be a problem- I'll just call the recorder's office and see if they can get me a copy of that.

Only today is yet another holiday. Don't let them tell you Russians have a lot of holidays!! We Americans must be leading the way!!

Yet, strangely, in the midst of all this I do feel peaceful. I'm just praying that you all will join in with me in covering these details so we can leave in 1 week with all we need for our trip and be gone for 30 days to bring home our son and start the next chapter of our lives.

A lot of words- sorry-sum up:

Speedy recovery from stiffness and soreness from my impromptu slide down the steps
God's speed in gathering these documents now being required of us before we leave next week

Thank you all. So glad to know we are there with each other, helping to carry burdens to God- can't wait to share all my joys with you!!

Stay tuned-Coming soon to a blog near you....... More than word, more than his hand, it's Eli-man- in person :) Soon I can show the world (or at least our limited viewing audience) his precious face.

Thank you for praying with us!

Completely

Our journey has turned a corner. "The Call" we've been waiting for has come. Yet, it is not the overwhelming sense we thought it would be. God is in charge here- we are resting so securely in His arms- watching as He orchestrates so many minute details-we are just waiting to give Him all the Glory. God, our journey is in Your hands. May you be glorified in all we do, in all we say, and may we learn to raise our son to rely on You as completely as You have taught us to do on our journey to him.



This video is from the movie "Facing the Giants." As you watch it, you find that giving complete control over to Him, allowing Him to work in your life as He wills and choses, may not always fit our plans and our timeline- but it is PERFECT. The creator God is just waiting, with arms outstretched, to draw us close to Him, comforting and directing us.

Thank you, God, for carrying us so far. For going ahead of us, preparing the way and leading us on this Journey of Faith.

Buds and Dreams

Just one more thought before I go to bed tonight. Last year, mid-October, I spent a monday planting bulbs. I almost felt like I was going to kill myself getting all 200 bulbs in the ground around the front of the house. At one of my points of highest frustration, I suddenly stopped. I thought- I should enjoy this time now. Once we get a child or children, I won't have a day to just spend outside like this. I remember praying that our child would be able to see the bulbs growing and that we would be able to enjoy watching them together.

The next day, at the end of work, we got the call for our referral. We met our son 2 weeks to the day that I prayed that prayer and gave it all up to God.

Tim said yesterday to a friend of ours, since we'll be coming home at the end of March, the tulips will probably all be pushing their way up just about the time we get home.

HHHMmmmmm........... Thank you, God

I feel like it should be whispered, reverently- Thank you, God. You answer our prayers so many times after we've forgotten what we've prayed for. Thank you, God!! You are awesome beyond all we could ever hope to understand.

Thank you, God!!!

Prayers and Praises

Fate, coinkidinks? I think not. The Divine Creator of everything has a perfect plan He is working out here. Let me give you an example of yesterday-

I mentioned that last week my employer informed me of a new pharmacist hired that would take my place in the small community pharmacy I currently work in. I would become an "extra" pharmacist in the rotation, covering at other stores until I got the call. Well, we got the call last night, and everything was already taken care of at work. No stress!! No panic!! No fear of not having the people needed to cover my store while I was gone. No hesitant phone call to my boss to tell him I'd be gone in a week and a half. How awesome is that?

OK- I must admit- I would love to marshall the forces out there praying for us as we prepare to leave. We found out tonight that our deed is only for the property. We need proof of where our house came from. I thought of taking a picture of Tim's hands and doing a certified copy of an original- I could put it with a poem and some pics of us and our house- something like this:

This is the house that Tim built.

This is the wife that lives in the house that Tim built.

(imagine picture of me on the porch)

This is the son, adopted by the wife, that lives in the house that Tim built. (Sorry, you can't imagine a pic of Eli yet- unless he has a mask on........ hehee- soon we'll be able to post a picture....... )

This is the dog that poops on the rug, that will play with the son, adopted by the wife that lives in the house that Tim built. (I keep imagining Eli, Baka and Tim on the floor all wrestling around...)

OK, so I am really joking about the poem- but you have to admit, it does have a certain catchiness to it, doesn't it? I know, I know, the part about the dog really stinks.......... hehee

In all seriousness, I am praying that the documents we have showing the purchase agreement where Tim bought the logs and maybe a few of the permits he had issued will be enough to prove that there really is a house that we own on the property our deed is for.

We also have to provide a document from our homestudy agency telling about the books we've read and how the agency has prepared us to become parents to an internationally adopted child. I sent our wonderful case worker a list of about 10-15 books we've already read. She's to type up a document about our great training, send it to us and we'll have all these items run through the routine- notarize, certify and apostille. All you folks in states that don't require a county certification before you can get your items apostilled just don't know what you are missing. We have met so many more wonderful people by adding in this extra step. Hey, Coleen- if you see this- you can be expecting us sometime next week :)

One more prayer request. My doggie, the one I adopted 13 years ago from the shelter, who is now 15, is not doing the best. She would qualify for a Medication Therapy Management session if she were human. I have an appointment with the vet to "ease her suffering," "let her go to sleep in my arms instead of dying all alone in a kennel while we are gone,""send her on to the happy hunting grounds,""put her out of her misery,""euthanize her," etc. I'm having a very, very difficult time explaining this to my heart. My heart says, your best friend for all these years is struggling to stay alive and you are deciding to kill her, end her life, murder her in a premeditated fashion (after all, I made an appointment). So, my prayer is that my heart will begin to understand what my mind has known is true for a long time. Guess when the only time is that we can get her in? Feb 25. Yep, the night before we leave for Russia. At least I'll have a few days to cry myself out and get my eyes back to normal before we see our precious little boy.

OK, praises- To God be the Glory!!!! We are seeing so many things fall into place. It is incredible to step back a bit and experience this. Everything lining up perfectly for our trip. Our Visa's have been sent for, the tickets have been arranged, soon we should hear about the hotels, the cash is in hand, the paperwork (with the exception of the above docs) in hand and organized. All we have left is to throw some stuff in some bags, get the bills and house taken care of and take off. And we just got the call last night!

Oh, and I discovered the best thing last night- Eli's "gotcha" day will fall on my Mom's birthday!! (Also St Patrick's Day and my soon to be Brother-in-law's B-day!!) Happy Day to us all!!

God bless you all- thank you for your prayers- and please- don't forget to thank God for all the awesomely incredible things He is doing in your life. It is so easy to get bogged down with the mundane and mediocre that we forget to thank Him for the priceless joys and blessings in our lives everyday. May each day be a new discovery for you!! Share your joy- share your blessings!

Hang on, Baby!!

I can hardly believe that in less than 3 weeks I will be able to cradle our little one in my arms again. Oh how I pray that he dreams of us in his sleep and he is not afraid of us, that he remembers who we are and has a divine understanding of the love we have for him. Oh how I long to be able to show him the love that God has filled our hearts up with for him!

We're coming baby, hang on!!

Valentine's Day Gift.... (READ THIS!!!)

Hey everyone...... Happy Valentine's Day!!

We got such a great gift today- we found out that we are going to Russia to get our son!! We leave a week from Tuesday- on 2/26. Court will be on 3/4.

More details to follow!!!!

Happy Anniversary!!!

Happy Anniversary to us!! It is hard to believe 8 years have passed since we were married- even more difficult to imagine that it took so long to find each other and that we haven't always been together.

What an amazing thing happened when God brought the 2 of us together. I had hoped we would be able to celebrate the 2 becoming 3 on the same day the 2 became 1, but I am now happy to share this day only with you, my love.

What an amazing 8 years it has been. So much learning and growing. It is hard to believe that next week will mark the 2 year anniversary of
our filling out our paperwork and deciding to take the plunge into this journey as we have known it. Can you believe we've spent 1/4 of our married lives waiting for our son?

It is so exciting to know that, though the tunnel seems to be quite curvy under the mountain, and the light not yet seen, it really is around the
next bend. How blessed we are to be able to journey this path together. Hand in hand, heart to heart, learning to listen to God's sweet voice as He leads and directs us.

I'll never forget standing in your driveway while your friends and family were taking bets on when we'd be married. We were discussing adoption even then. I am so excited to be a parent with you, nurturing, teaching, loving our son together and teaching him about our love and faith in God and how He brought all of us together.

What a great time to be able to tell the world, to shout it out loud how much I love this man that God has brought into my life and how much I love this little man already that God is bringing into our lives. The journey just keeps getting sweeter and sweeter, honey.

I love you!!!

Trust

Was reading a fellow adoption blogger's post, and couldn't pass up this song. It sums up so much of this journey. See here to read the incredible story behind their song.


Still haven't heard anything. It is becoming more miraculous by the second if we will go this week to Russia. We'll most likely be leaving the end of the month if we hear nothing more today.

But that is why we trust in the Lord and lean not on our own understanding, isn't it?

Interesting developments

I mentioned in the last post that we were planning a prayer day for last Wed. As I prayed through the list we had with our chat group, lifting up my new found friends and family, my specific request for us was that God continue to prepare the way for us- make our path straight and smooth- Go ahead of us- all that wonderful stuff that you pray when you are asking God to continue to direct your future.

Thursday evening I received a phone call from my employer.

Let me back up a bit here- we had a new computer operating system installed at the pharmacy last Monday. We are getting a new wholesaler, with a new computer system for ordering, at the end of this month. My staff is being pulled in many directions to not only cover our store, but to help in some of the other small stores in our chain. Our very good friends, in leadership at our church, are being called onto other things now, which saddens us hugely. Adding to this the fact that we are next on the list to receive a phone call for court to go to Russia and get our son, (yes, everytime the phone rings, we, well, guess I should say, "I" jump wondering if it could be "the call" ) you are probably seeing the changes and challenges occuring in ALL areas of my life.

OK, back to the present. My employer called out, said to call back when I had a few seconds, they needed to talk to me. Nothing unusual, I thought- most likely about the new systems and some adjustments we'd need to make.

Imagine my surprise when they told me they had hired a new pharmacist for my position, and her first day would be Feb. 20. Less than 2 weeks away. I was numb at first. Then very sad. I've been with this staff for almost 5 years and we've become like family. I had so many customers come to mind that I have become so incredibly close with over the years. I had so many thoughts running through my mind in that 5 minute conversation we had.

So- I immediately thought about planning a welcoming part for Annette, the pharmacist that will be filling my position. I told my staff and asked them to begin telling customers about the change about to take place. When I concentrate on welcoming someone into our family here, I don't have to think about the fact that I will be leaving. I won't say I'll no longer be a part of this family I have here- I just won't see everyone as often:)

I'll be put in a floating-type position and filling in at the store I originally worked with when I started with this company in 1994 until we do get the call and leave for Russia (and I become a mom in more than name only).

As I was driving home, seeking God for comfort, He suddenly brought great peace to my heart and a sunny smile to my face. I had just prayed the day before for God to go before and prepare the way for us to bring our son home. Now, not even a day later, my job has been taken care of. I won't have to worry about these customers I care about and my wonderful staff being left in a lurch during this already stress-filled time by my flying off to Russia. I hadn't realized the underlying stress that was causing me- the leaving of my job responsibilities behind. What a burden has been lifted from my shoulders.

So, even though I still get teary eyed as I prepare the pharmacy for someone else to come in and take over, I have such a peace and a joy. Even a little excitement, if the truth be told- HHHmmmmm.............wonder why she is starting on the 20th? Is there something I don't yet know? We had been hoping and praying for a court date on the 19th of Feb. That really isn't likely at all (still miraculously possible, but not likely), but it sure is fun to try to guess what the next few pages of our life books will hold.

As I was discussing this yesterday with one of my staff members, I realized that all that defines who I am right now is being changed. My job, my position on our worship team, the role I play in keeping up the prayer list for our chat group- all these things have changed this week. I am taking this as confirmation that I truly am to find my sense of worth in God alone. Not as a pharmacist, though that fulfills a calling in my heart, not as a flute player, though God does say to worship Him with the flute, and, I'm guessing, not even as a mom- though that is one of the greatest callings of all. In all things, through all phases of my life, God is the only constant, never changing, always there, One who knows me best, One who fills my heart with laughter so it bubbles over........

Hehhehehehehehee- I already have all our paperwork in order in a neat stack on our desk. The visa applications are all filled in except for the dates- the FedEx envelope is all ready, except for the dates, the bills are paid, the house is in preparation- and I've started laying out clothes. Let the journey begin !!!

The Weekend Experiment

I tried an experiment this weekend. It has been a very challenging one for me and brought quite a few discoveries my way- thought I'd share.

I was updating the prayer list on our chat group yesterday morning. I was contemplating all the prayers I want to place before God- for a court date, I'd love to travel with our friends we traveled with before, for finances, bringing our son home, help with situations at work, etc. Suddenly, I had an aha! moment. Though I think I am talking with God all day long in my prayers, I realized I spend very little time praising God. It is more like an extended wish list.......... God, please do this, grant this, change this, help me do this, change my heart toward this or that.

While God does want us to come before Him and make our requests known to Him, I realized, with much chagrin, that I haven't spent very much time praising Him for the awesome Father God He is. I mean, think about it- the Creator of the Universe- of everything past, present and future- cares so much about me and what my needs are. He listens patiently as I make my requests known to Him, longing only for my heart to connect with His.

So, I decided to make this weekend a "praise" weekend. I determined to not ask God for anything, but to praise His name and thank Him for all He has done, is doing and will be doing in my life. I have realized while doing this just how often my "prayers" and talks with God are the beseeching kind instead of the praising kind.

An amazing thing happens when you stop yourself short from continuously asking God to do something for you. My thought life has gone something like this the last day and a half: "Oh God, please help me...... whooops- I mean Thank you God for being the awesome creator you are- thank you for all you are doing in my life. Thank you that you know the requests you've placed in my heart and that you know me better than I know myself. Thank you that I can come before you and worship and adore you............" At this point- I usually have a smile on my face and peace in my heart. I realize I've had to give up the feelings my request begat, and traded them for the feelings that worshiping God begets.

It has been hard to stop myself from sending the one second wish prayers skyward. I never realized how often it happens. But, my oh my, I really like the results. Thank you, God, for bringing this challenge to mind. May I always remember it and continuously draw nearer Your heart and Your mind in everything in my life!