Purchase plane ticket...check!

Allan's airplane ticket has been purchased. My employers generously donated some of their air miles to purchase his ticket today! Allan will be flying into Houston this Thursday and will arrive at 1:35 p.m. To say that we are excited is totally understated. The path that we've been walking has been such a pleasure to be on and will continue to be. God has shephered us along the way providing in ways we never imagined and now Allan is almost here.

We have clung to and prayed the verse in Hebrews 11:1 during this entire time. "Now Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." We have hoped and prayed to have Allan in our home, not entirely sure of how things would come to fruition but God knew all along. What an amazing God we serve!

Preparing to leave

Allan is making his preparations to leave Uganda. It's hard for me to conceive any of our children, packing up to leave the only country they've ever really known to go half way across the world to live with a family they'd only been with for 4 days. But this is what Allan is doing right now. Seeking out an opportunity for a better life with us here in the United States. We sent some extra money to him last week through Jamil to buy a camera and some film. I wanted him to be able to take pictures of things he'd want to see once he got here. I plan on doing something special with them for his new room.

Although he's preparing to leave, the other children in the orphanage do not know about about his upcoming departure. Allan has helped many of them while living on the streets to provide shelter and assistance for them and they look up to him greatly. Knowing he'll be gone would make them too sad so Jamil has decided to wait to tell them until after he's gone. Please pray for them, especially Issac and Sunday, who also stayed with us in our home in October. We have prayed so often for those two other boys. Our main concerns are that they'll think we did not like them as much, which is obviously not true. We however have limited resources and knew in our hearts that at this time it was only possible to bring Allan here. Isssac and Sunday are never far from our thoughts.

Our last preparations for Allan include his air fare arrangements. We are awaiting word from the doctor to let us know that all his vaccinations have been completed and that his malaria is gone. We hope to book his ticket within the next two days. He would then fly into Houston on January 4th. His new room, which he'll share with Max is not yet complete, but will be in the next three weeks. It's been an exciting part of this journey too and Max is eager to spend time with his new roommate.

We realize that this is going to be a big adjustment for our family and Allan once he gets here. But we are confident in this decision, knowing that God has moved many mountains right before our eyes to make it all possible. The glory is not ours, but God's! As much as Allan's uncle thinks we're giving him a tremendous gift, we feel as though it's really Allan who's going to give us a gift. The priviledge of having him in our home will be a gift for our entire family, especially our children, being exposed to another world, a world without many luxuries we take for granted. We're anxious for Allan to get here and thank you for your prayers and encouraging words. We will post pictures and details of his arrival.

2008 Arrival

We have spent the last week corresponding back and forth with Jamil and his friend, Richard at the embassy to try and coordinate a Christmas arrival. On Thursday, while I was at work my cell phone rang and completely shocking to me, it was Jamil! I said, "Jamil, where are you calling from?" and he said, "Oh Auntie, I am in Uganda!" I knew that of course, I didn't know he had a phone to call from. It was wonderful to hear his voice and at the end of our conversation he began to cry. He said that he missed us terribly and that hearing my voice made his eyes water.

We have wonderful news to pass along and some dissappointing news as well. The good news is that today, Allan Namon, was issued a passport and visa to come to the states. We praise the Lord for this for it was no small feat! Richard emailed me today, he's the head of security at the embassy in Uganda, that he trusted our family completely and was so happy that Allan would soon be coming to live with us. He said it was so good that Jamil knew us personally so that he could speak for us. What a gift that is! We are amazed at how quickly this process has completed itself and know that God has been moving swiftly to get Allan here to us.

The disappointing news is that Allan has a mild form of malaria and needs to be treated for a week before he can leave Uganda. He was very disappointed that he could not spend Christmas with us but his health is important and we want him to feel well enough to travel. So we are ancitipating his arrival here in Houston, hopefully on the 4th of January.

Joey, our contractor, and his assistant, Mark, are making quick work of the gamerom. They had to jack hammer today through over 8 inches of concrete to lay the pipe for the bathroom. The framing is complete and they will complete the plumbing in the next week. Then comes the fun part, putting in the fixtures, drywalling and eventually painting and dressing the room. I've had a lot of fun designing the space and we're all excited to see the new room completed.

Our family will be celebrating Christmas this year in Rockwall. Reflecting on all that's taken place in the last few months and the last year. We're thankfull for so many things and want to wish each of you the happiest of holidays. We think of you often and thank God for your friendships.

I'll be home for Christmas

We awoke yesterday to the most amazing news! After a long week of no word from Jamil we awoke to emails from him and the embassy. The paperwork should now be completed and his visa should be issued as I type this update. We were told yesterday that once that is complete Richard, at the embassy, would tell Jamil, when we could book his plane ticket. We are beyond excited that it may be possible to get Allan here just in time for Christmas! So we await word, hopefully today; and then Allan will be on his way to TEXAS!

Construction began yesterday on our gameroom. When we bought this house, there was a garage that had been converted to a game room and we knew it would be a space that we would eventually use as an additional bedroom-gameroom. Well, after moving in, we discovered mold, and that the studs had all rotted at the bottom. So much more extensive construction was required than we had expected. God put before us a wonderful man, that I had met at the store, after we printed his business cards. His name is Joey Livesay and he and his partner Mark, completed all the foundation work yesterday and will begin on the rest of the room today. We're adding a bathroom, putting in a closet, moving windows, putting in central heat and air and sheetrocking the entire room. It will be a completely new space for Max and Allan to move into, once it's done, hopefully in 3-4 weeks. My head is swimming with all the details, so fun to put together a new teenage space for the boys.

We appreciate all the prayer support so many of you have offered. Mark and I have seen God do the most amazing things over the last month. Our Father's grasp is so large and so extent that when we both look back at what's already taken place it simply astounds us as we can see God's hand all over this adventure. God has orchestrated it all, in his own miraculous way and we're simply ecstatic that Allan may soon be in our midst.

Patience

It's been nearly a week since we've heard from Jamil. Our thoughts are never far from wondering where he is, what work he's gotten done this week and praying for his safety and health. God is definitely teaching us to be patient. Because of email, Jamil and news of Allan seem so close to us, but yesterday while I was at work, I looked at a globe that we're selling for Christmas and was just in awe of how truly far away they really are. Please keep them in your prayers as well. Our comprehension of their world is so limited. We await anxiously for words from Jamil.

Update on Allan

This is Jamil. We thank God for Jamil, for without him none of this would be possible. Jamil is 25 and lives in Uganda. He works with the orphanage, training and teaching the children traditional song and dance. He also makes their instruments and they're amazing to hear and see. We were fortunate enough that Jamil was assigned to stay in our home with the boys in October. We spoke with him while they were here of our desire to have Allan come back and he said once he got back to Uganda he would work on that. Well, work he has! He has done a lot of traveling to secure the documents necessary for Allan to return and live with us. He even traveled 100 miles to the village Allan was born in, to get permission from the local village officials. They have now given their approval and the final documents will be signed and stamped tomorrow. Then Jamil will travel to the Embassy to secure the proper paperwork for us to gain guardianship. Things are happening so fast, much faster than we thought they would, but we're thrilled.

Mark and I had known that this was something that God had placed on our hearts but we obviously knew that it would cost a lot to get Allan here and there would be additional expenses once he got here. Sometimes knowing how all those things will work out is something you can't see at first and truly taking a step of faith means just that, stepping out to see if and how God will provide. That's what faith is, trusting in something you cannot see. God did not make us wait long to see how he would provide.

I had called Mark a week ago this past Sunday to ask him if it was alright if I mentioned what was going on during my Sunday school class as a prayer request. We were very mindful to keep this to ourselves until we knew that we were walking with God in the right direction, so no one at church knew of our desires. Mark said, that, yes, he felt this was the appropriate time so I did ask for prayer support. Well three days later someone from our church called Mark and asked if he and his wife could take us to lunch that Friday. We of course said, yes and were anxious to meet with them. They had hosted us in their home during the pastor search and we have been fortunate enough to get to know them on a more personal level. They have been extremely generous to our family and are very dear to us.

Mark and I knew this was a path God was leading us down as a family and that it was not right to ask for church support. So we did not want to solicit help from church members. We prayed fervently the night before that if this family wanted to ask us about Allan that they would bring him up, not us. We were not sitting down at the table more than five minutes when they said, "now listen, we want to speak to you about Allan." I think both Mark and I were holding our breath. They immediatly said that they wanted to help however they could to get Allan here. We never expected such a gracious gift! To immediatly feel a sense of relief that absolutely we were doing the right thing was something I cannot describe. As parents of four children, we know the costs of maintaining our household and things are always tight. God always provides for our needs and we're so thankful for the amazing ways in which he's done that over the years. This was no exception.

These two people are giving Allan a chance at a new life here with us. They are a wonderful family, full of generosity and a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. We praise God for them and their willingness to embark on this journey with us. I look forward to having them get to know Allan more and watching him grow as a human being. Our God had moved a great mountain right before our very eyes that day!

A trip to Texas

Mark's parents visited last weekend from Pennsylvania. Hard to conceive, but his mom had NEVER been to Texas. I think she was pleasantly surprised, having told someone at our church, she pictured it "as a place with a lot of dust." We took the kids out of school that Friday to spend the day in Galveston, only an hour from our house, then the ferry ride is another 20 minutes. It was a beautiful day! We celebrated Mark Thomas' 7th birthday at the RainForest Cafe and had a wonderful dinner. Then we headed to Moody Gardens for the Festival of Lights.

Mark's New Glasses, he couldn't pass his driver's license test, so it was off to the eye doctor!

Amazing God

This morning as I drove to work I was listening to "How Great is our God" sung by Chris Tomlin and was almost in tears. I know we serve a great God and I know that daily he works miracles amongst his people. I can honestly say that Mark and I have seen many of those miracles in our time since we've been together. We've seen him move mountains to get us to seminary, provide for us church families that have blessed us immensely and countless other moments where the glory was clearly His. And today was another one of those days. A mountain we knew was so large...so high, only God knew what lay ahead. But we were waiting, waiting for him to show us what to do next. Trusting that he would provide. Today that answer came and boy was it worth the wait. Our God IS a GREAT God and Mark and I praise Him tonight for the gifts he provided us today. Along with all the evil that surrounds our days all over the world, today was a GOOD day!

Forgotten Family Member and Possible Family Member

Mark very quickly reminded me today that I did not include our newest family member in our blog. Shortly after we moved here, I began to get pressured to get a dog. Well, to say that I was greatly outnumbered doesn't really do justice to the pressure I received so I relented. I took the kids across town to look at this puppy, without Mark knowing and of course we didn't leave the house without her. On the way home the kids named her Shiloh. Mark was stunned when we pulled up in the drive way. I had called him to say that I had some extra grocery bags I needed help carrying in, so when Max got out of the car holding Shiloh, he just melted. "Who's a cute puppy?!" he kept saying. I had totally lost my mind.

And...another reason I had wanted to create this blog was to keep everyone informed of a rather large event that could be taking place in our home. In October we had the amazing opportunity of hosting three orphaned children from Uganda, along with their chaperone, Jamil, also from Uganda, in our home for 4 days. It completely changed our lives. Made us so much more aware of how many things we take for granted, the luxury we have as being citizens of the United States and the ability we might have to help even one child.

Allan is 13 and as you can see very similar in size to Max. Ben is bending down, so is not really that much shorter than Max. Just in case you were about to be shocked at how tall Max is, although at 10 he's 5' 2". Totally different topic for just a second but at Max's last parent teacher conference, with Mrs. Johnson, who happens to live right across the street from us, she says, "Alright, we have a problem." I braced myself but at the same time thought, "am I in the right room, this is not Mark Thomas's teacher, it's Max's." Then Mrs. Johnson says, "All the girls are in love with Max, what can you do about it? They want to sit by him, they want to talk to him and they want to touch him." I freaked and said, "they want to touch him" and she said, "not like that!" We both just laughed. It appeared at that point that Max had settled into school with an admiring flock of 5th grade girls. What can I say, he's a rather handsome boy and equally as intelligent! Not that I'm biased or anything.

In all Mark's and my years of marriage we had never been so quickly on the same page, ever. We both knew that first night the boys were in our home that if God would allow us to help, in whatever way that might present itself, we would be faithful to follow. So we are ambarking on that journey. At this point we are trying to gain temporary legal guardianship of Allan so he can come back to the states and live with us while he attends school. He has lost both of his parents to the aids epidemic that has ravaged so much of Uganda. He has an uncle that has gladly given his permission for Allan to live with us and when Jamil told him of our desire to have him return, he simply cried and told Jamil he would pray for our family always. Allan now knows of our intent as well and when I emailed Jamil yesterday to see if Allan was nervous he said quite the contrary, that Allan was "so very happy aunt" that's what they call us, aunt and uncle, to know that he might very soon be coming back.

He instantly felt like a member of our family. He's a very smart, kind, gentle soul with a world behind his eyes. We can only imagine what he's been through in his 13 years. Our hope is that he'll be able to come back soon, he'll readily adapt to our home and be able to pursue the plans God has for him in life. We're confident he's destined for great things and if simply being here in our country where he can study and be a part of our family, as crazy as it may be, will give him that opportunity then we're game.

We are not a wealthy family and our desires are not for luxury, we live in a wonderful home that God has provided for us that meets our needs just fine. We constantly try to fight the consumerism that grips our country and hope that our children know what's really important. Family and our love for Christ. They're excited about Allan possibly coming, but understand it will mean we'll buckle down some more.

We'd covet your prayers. This is huge! No small undertaking. Lots of paperwork and governmental issues. A long list of questions and concerns, we do not yet have answers to, but we are confident that this is the path God has called us to right now, in this very moment, and until he shows us otherwise, we're walking right along with Him. We'll keep you posted.

So fun!

Waking up this morning to several fun emails from friends I have not heard from in a little bit makes creating the blog last night so worth the effort. Since we've moved more times than I care to admit, we have some amazing friends all over the country. Unfortunately, with our busy lives, it's often impossible to keep up with all of them. As we approach this Christmas season, our family is always mindful of the gifts God gives to us, especially his son, Jesus, but we're also so grateful for the friendships he's given us throughout the years. I hope as you prepare for the holidays that you take time to catch up with an old friend or two. I certainly appreciated the emails I received this morning. Miss you all more than you know.

4 Cuties

The kids are growing so quickly! Max will be 11 in March, Ben 9 next month, Mark Thomas just turned 7 last week and Ella turned 5 in September. We made the big move to Beaumont, Texas in July and are finally adjusting. It was harder on the kids than we thought it would be. Me too, honestly. But God remains faithful and has provided a good home for us here and we're beginning to finally make friends that we all feel comfortable around. Mark is enjoying his new position. He's very busy here. We swung from one end of the pendulum to the other. A church full of people we cherished, with little programming, to a church also full of people we're enjoying and more programming than we could ever dream of. It's a wonderful thing to have so many activities to choose from and a wonderful experience to have our children participating in ministry with other people than ourselves. God is good!

The kids have gone to bed now. The quietest time of the day is about to begin and it's a time I deeply treasure. In between Ben popping his head around the corner just to check in a few times. He'll be fast asleep soon though! I think I'll really like this blogging thing. Kind of like my journaling in high school and college that I never have time for anymore. It's so much easier to type.

New Adventure

We are embarking on a new adventure. Our own blog. I have seen a few of my girlfriends do this lately and thought, why not? So here we go. There is no shortage of excitement in this crazy household of 4 kids and 2 parents trying to keep their sanity so hope you can enjoy the ride with us. I'll try to post new pics of the kids when I have time and keep you updated on any new things going on in our world!