Subscriptions

Hey All,

With our new blog launch at www.burningvapor.com everyone who had previously subscribed to our blog will need to do it again.  Simply go to our new website and look on the right hand side of the page.  There is a block called 'Email Subscription'.  Enter your email address and it will send you a verification in your email.  Once you click on that you will be good to go.

If any of you are regular readers and have not subscribed via Email or RSS, the capability is now enabled on our new site and it's a great way to keep up with all of our happenings without trying to remember to come back to the site.

See you all there!

The New Blog

I have been talking about transitioning to a new blog for sometime, but have had little time to complete it.  I am very near completion of some the minor things, but the bulk of it is finished.  We will now be updating on our lives at http://burningvapor.com.  Yep, we have our own little place on the web now.  Be sure to change your feeds if you have them or update your bookmarks.  We'll see you guys over at the new place.

Bye Home, Hello Home - Please Pray!

We are trying to say goodby to our house in Spokane and hello to a home in Macon. While Spokane is being hit by a continual snowstorm our house remains off of the market. Even when it hits the market it seems to be so slow in Spokane that it may take many months before it sells. Meanwhile, we are traveling from my parents home in Newnan, GA (where we stay during the week) to Jennifer's parents in Macon for the weekend - which is an hour and half drive each way. It has been working out well so far and we really have no complaints.

But...


We saw pictures of a home several months ago and were blown away by it. It was huge (almost 5,000 square feet) and beautiful all at the same time. I remember thinking "I wish we had something that big to house our family and make room for more". You can see those pictures here. We then had the opportunity to walk through the house and it is simply amazing. It went on the market in October and when we looked at it last week it was $218,000. Keith, one of the Pastors that I work with, told me today that it had been reduced to $179,000! I just can't believe it. Unfortunately, our house in Spokane hasn't sold. The incredible thing about this house is that it is downtown which is exactly where we want to be and it is 'HUGE' which is exactly what we want. We have already been talking about fostering more children when we get settled...

so...

Please pray.

1. Pray that I am wise in my decision making.
2. Pray that our home in Spokane would quickly sell in a slow market
3. Pray that this home will still be on the market when we can buy it.

I know it's a tall order, but we worship a Big God. Thanks in advance for praying with us.

***Update - Here are some more specs.

Life Lag

Although I have no experience with online gaming :) I hear that there is something called 'lag' that is very undesirable.  Lag is a delay of information sent from a server to your home PC - it's a little more complicated than that, but that's the short of it.  In our transition from Spokane to GA it feels like we have hit some 'lag'.  I haven't been blogging or doing much else except for trying to transition my family to this new life.  I am hoping that we will be a little bit more settled in the next week and then blogging will continue once again.  Until then...enjoy the lag... :p

Kansas City

2am.  954 miles today. Safe. Tired.

Delirious

We have arrived in Sheridan, WY and are pressing on to Rapid City, SD
after dinner at Perkins. Here's 3 delirious Ethiopians after traveling
all day!

The Hectic Moments

I have not been blogging much because we are in the final moments of the move.  Jennifer and the girls leave on Saturday, the moving truck arrives on Monday, and me and the boys will be driving out on Friday.  It's an absolute whirlwind around here.  How do you say goodbye to 11 years of friends who became family, pack a home that has housed 9 people, reroute mail, prepare your wife and daughters to leave a week before I do, and prepare the family to live out of their own color-coded box for the next few weeks?  I don't know either - maybe I will write a book when I'm done.

We have had a lot of funny moments around here and mentally I had planned on making them their own posts, but with time the way it is I am just going to record them here.  We have also had some good moments with Noah lately.  I won't call them "breakthroughs" because he usually quickly regresses after some good time.  He seems to take one step forward and two steps back.  Lately, he has been trying very hard under the tutelage of Josiah (read about that in a minute).  I actually saw him give Makayla a hug this morning - it wasn't really affectionate and was probably done because I was standing there, but at least he is trying.

We have said goodbye to our churches and our friends.  We have had dinner with our closest friends the Kelloggs several times and have lamented the loss of our friendship the most.  We have plotted ways to help them move to the South or at least make 'business' trips down to visit.  Every Monday night we went out for dinner with them and have shared blessings, pains, and challenges for 10 years together.  Geoff and Melissa will always be like a slightly older brother and sister to me and I will miss them more than anything else in Spokane.

So the preparation has been hard and has been mixed with both blessing and heartache.  Here are a few of those moments:

Caleb - This morning Caleb was giving me the latest run down on football scores.  The boy memorizes stats, scores, and times that teams are playing.  He LOVES American football.  This morning he was telling me about a specific football player and what he makes a week and has a lot of potential.  Apparently this guy was packing heat in his waste band and went to pull it out when he shot himself in the leg.  Caleb said, "Dad, can you believe he would do such a thing?  He had so much talent and money that he could be a blessing to God, but now he is sitting in prison for 3 years and 3 months.  What an incredibly stupid thing to do?"  He was soooo animated over the stupidity of this one player and the fact that he could have been a blessing to God - it was just really funny.


Jennifer - A few days ago I was preparing to shave.  I had let my facial hair grow out a bit and was considering shaving.

Patrick:  I think I may let my beard grow out.
Jennifer: Why?  I don't like it like that.
Patrick: Yeah, but it makes my face look slimmer.
Jennifer: Orrrr, you could just lose weight?
Patrick: What??
Jennifer: I'm just saying....

Ok, it's true I weigh 210 lbs. and I need to weigh 185.  Ugggh!

Noah - Frustrated with the family one day, Noah came in and plopped down in front of Josiah.  Josiah was listening to music and working on some schoolwork,

Noah: I don't understand how you do it.  These people drive me crazy.
Josiah: You don't understand how I do what?
Noah: How do you live with these people and not ever get in trouble?
Josiah: They are my family and it's not that hard.

Noah: Will you teach me?

Josiah: Will I teach you what?

Noah: How to live with them and not get angry?

Josiah: Seriously?  It's not that hard.  Just obey and honor Mom and Dad and you will be fine.

Noah: I don't know how to do that.  Can you teach me?

Josiah: Look dude.  If Mom or Dad tells you to do something, then just do it.  Say 'thank you' when someone does something nice for you and say 'your welcome' when they say 'thank you' to you.  Say good morning in the mornings and give people hugs.  Always be kind and don't be mean to your sisters.  It's really not that hard.

Noah: So you will teach me?

Josiah: Yeah, whatever man...

(and Noah has been doing a little better since he came under the tutelage of Master Josiah)

Josiah - We gave the kids mp3 players for Christmas.  They have been loving them like we had given them gold.  One of the features is a 'Recorder'.  Josiah came into my office last night and said, "Hey Dad, listen to this."  It was a recording of him doing an impression of me except he sounded like Dr. Cool when he was talking...and I don't sound like that!

Impersonation: Hey boys, how was school?  Good, I'm glad to hear it.  What did you learn today?  Interesting.  What else did you learn?  That's good, that's real good.  Anything else?  You were gone all day and you only learned two things?  Public schools suck.  What did you do at PE?  Cool man.  You didn't hurt anyone did you?  Well, next time be a little careful.  American kids aren't as tough as you guys.  Alright, go get a snack.

(I was laughing so hard by the end of it that my ribs hurt.)

Ana - Ana continues to do very well.  Her current way of keeping things in her head is to sing them on her way to do a certain task.  She came into my office singing, "I need to get the trash can from Dad's office".  She  sings wherever she goes and I have to constantly remind her to keep it down at the dinner table.

Emma - My baby is growing up.  Emma is our firstborn and it is most painful to watch her grow so quickly.  Her vocabulary, the way she carries herself, and her interests are entering the transition from little girl to pre-teen.  I check on the kids everynight before I go to bed, and I always take an extra moment to watch her sleep.  One day soon she will be doing the same with her own children.

Kayla - Kayla has been absolutely in love with her MP3 player.  She always has her headphones on and walks around the house singing and dancing; she has been quite a surprise.  She is also very excited about moving to GA and asks me questions about it all the time.  She is still a little girl, but she is a very studious little girl.  When she grows up I think she will love books, music and be very serious about education.

Bri - Bri went crazy the other night when she opened her gift and a handheld Barbie game surfaced.  She literally screamed and ran around the room laughing, screaming and hugging.  I have never seen a little girl so excited over something.  She has that little game wherever she goes now and I had to make her put it down for dinner last night.  She continues to do well and is growing like crazy.  She is still very tall and very strong for a 4 year old.

Patrick - Have you ever read the first book in a trilogy, but the 2nd and 3rd books haven't been written yet?  Although I know I am closing a chapter and starting another, it feels like I am finishing the first book of a trilogy and I have to wait and see what the 2nd book will look like.  It has been very, very difficult to say goodbye to Spokane.  I did not realize how much I love the city and the people of the Northwest.  Honestly, I feel like I am leaving home and entering into a foreign mission field called...'The South'.  While many people have assured me that once we get down South, it will be like coming home...it just doesn't feel that way right now.  So, we are closing a chapter in life and trying hard not to peak at the first page of the next chapter.  We need to finish this one first.

A couple nights ago I dreamed that I was an old man, sleeping in a spare room of one of my daughters.  I lay in bed looking at the ceiling thinking back on my life.  As an old man, I cried in that bed because the feeling of "I have wasted it" kept pounding in my head.  The grief was so overwhelming that I woke up in a cold sweat.  A man who I consider a 'Father in the faith' recently handed me a book called 'The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment'.  It was written by a Puritan called Jeremiah Burroughs.  I have already started the book because I think my friend has the uncanny ability to see an issue in my heart.

So if you have made it to this point then you really, really wanted to know what was going on in our lives.  Thanks for making the journey with us.

Old Friends

A few days ago we were surprised by some old friends. Peter and Amanda

Crawford went through the Pastoral Training program that I went

through at F B C. Peter ended up leaving the program and joined the

ranks of the medical elite. The Crawfords are incredible people that

we have counted as a joy to love and minister with.

Margaret's Story

I received the following in my inbox this morning about a new series at Carolina Hope's blog.  It is a pretty incredible insight from the birth mother's perspective.  Be sure to listen to all 5 parts of the short audio.

You probably hear testimonies from adoptive parents, and maybe even a few from adults who were adopted as children. But how often do you hear the stories of women who placed a child for adoption?

This week, Carolina Hope is posting the five-part testimony of a woman who placed her daughter for adoption more than 15 years ago, and is now a wife -- and mother of two boys and a girl. To hear her testimony (which has a couple of surprising twists), go to Carolina Hope's blog, From Hope to Reality: www.CarolinaHopeAdoption.org/blog/. Each part of the interview is 3 minutes or shorter.

(Next week we'll be posting a five-part interview with Sarah, a Christian woman who, as a senior in college, placed her baby for adoption. Sarah is now married and has a son. She talks about open adoptions and how she feels looking back on the adoption now, 6 years later.)

Together for Adoption Conference Audio

T4A has posted links to the conference audio.  These are all great messages to stimulate the heart and mind in regards to our vertical adoption and the practical application of horizontal adoption. It's worth putting them on your ipod and listening to them on your next jog.