March 26th - Movin on to the Northwest Side

the house we have moved into

     I don't know how many of you remember the sitcom called the Jefferson's that ran back in 1979 - 1984 ish (that shows my age) but i do at least from the re-runs that always seemed to on the television. The theme song to that show was 'Movin on up' and in the case of that family they moved on up to the east side to a deluxe apartment in the sky (sing along if you know it) and in our case it is movin on over to the northwest side to a much more modern  house in Glebe Meadow.
     That is our situation, as you may or may not have read earlier in the blog we found out that we had to move out of our lovely dwelling on Winchester St and at the time we did not have any options of where to go. In the eleventh hour the Lord provided a house for Rebecca, Lizzie and I to move into, and it is right here in the village. It is about an 8 minute walk to the Co-op rather than a thirty second walk, but we'll trade that for all the benefits of this house we now are moving into. To have this kind of house come available when it did was providence as we were really desiring to stay in Overton, to continue living together and not to have to downsize considerably because as you may or may not have read we are adopting. When there was nothing that was coming up for rental we were concerned but fear never really kicked in rather a peace that we would be taken care of.

     So after our trip to America we knew that the next big thing on our agenda of life was to move house, they say it is one of the more stressful activities that one can go through. I'd say that this move has gone quite seamlessly and much of that can be down to the amazing people that we have had around us during the actual move and the run-up to it. On Friday night Rebecca gathered her youth cell at our new house and while it only housed boxes at the time they were let loose to go throughout the house to pray, worship and listen to God and write down what they hear. These post-it-notes were found all over the place, on the doors, windows, the floor, each room had thoughts from God heard by the teenagers, they are ones who will spend time here. Then we came to Saturday, the big day from our perspective as it was the one when everyone was coming to lend their  brawn and elbow grease. The weather was gorgeous and an army of eager workers each of whom will here be named;  (in no particular order); Murray, Catherine, Amelia, Barbara, Alan, Malcolm, Phil, Simon, Jeff, Tiffany, Rhian,Wendy, David, Peter, Carol, Chris, Karen, David, Mark, Chris and Mike. They were an army each marching to the beat of  and without them we could not have accomplished the moving of all the furniture that we have accumulated over the years.
     14 is a big house and to clean it meant many people giving it their all, and this is exactly what happened. A move like this underscores the value of community, I personally don't know how people who aren't surrounded by a loving community of friends can do something like this without professional or hired help. We have always seen our friends as our family and in this case it was a great day of working, eating and being together all around one goal of helping to get us from there to here. It goes without saying probably but these same people who helped us this weekend are ones who will be around when we arrive back on this fair isle with a little addition to our family. When you need others help is when you realize how much life can't be lived on it's own. I think that the old saying that it takes a village to raise a child is so true, we look really forward when we have opportunity to put that into real practice.

Check out this interesting version of Movin on Up

March 16th - Approval... now what???

     We have always looked at our trip to Indiana as one of adventure, listening to this part of our call, a certain amount of unknown territory and of course excitement. One of the areas of unknown territoriness (word?) was can we get everything done in a 3 1/2 week period of time planned in the states? If we could not get it all in during that space of time, then what?, how could we finish the process of becoming approved to adopt? It's not like we can just hop on a plane and go back to Indy for one more meeting. Anyway that question is one that hung around our heads for quite sometime, especially in the run-up to the scheduled trip and whilst (for all you Brits:) in the USA. Most people take much more time to do the interviews, education meetings, paperwork, creation of the family profile, but most people are working alongside of those portions of the process whereas we were there for that reason firstly, then meeting up with people secondly. On reflection had we attempted to do a trip like that on our regular visit to Indiana it would have proven all but impossible, but being there with that singular focus afforded us the possibility of completeness. So without any further ado... we are officially approved to adopt!!!

     We have been waiting for this official document for a fortnight or so, and it did in fact arrive tonight in our inbox. It did not contain any new information, but that does not diminish the importance of the letter, or diminish the excitement of the finish line of this part of the process. The importance lies within the fact that without it we would not be able to adopt through our chosen agency. Without their being willing to adapt to our unique circumstances and continually work with us through our mountain of questions we would not have been able to get to this point. So exactly what is this point you might ask? Where do we in fact go from here?
 

 The short answer is wait, we have done what we need to do, we are now in a position of waiting until we are chosen. I have been struck more than once by the reality of the choice we have made to enter this amazing process and now we are at a point where we are the ones waiting. Maybe the most common question of the last couple of months is when, when will you know, when do you go back to the US, when this,when that. We have plenty of answers but not those. Being called to wait now, is a great position to be in and yet a difficult spot: As Lizzie says 'waiting is a dichotomy because you vacillate between fear that you are out of control and the freedom of having things out of control' So while we wait would you be praying for us, that God would give us His peace as we live within His timing.

March 3rd - Little Ones

not these little ones, rather the ones below

     There is an aspect of adoption that probably could get lost in the shuffle of all the paperwork, meetings, excitement, finance, travel etc... and that is the fact that a little one is now part of the equation. It sounds elementary I'm sure but you know that having a newborn, infant, toddler, school age or teenager around changes pretty much everything. For us we have had much experience in not having children around and we have also been overly blessed to have had so much interaction with kids of all ages. Whether that be Rebecca's nine years as a kindergarten teacher or Earl's time with the 2nd, 3rd and 6th graders along with all other grades as a sub. Or maybe it was our 8 years working with teenagers from our church, traveling here there and everywhere, along with loads of teens from other churches as well. It feels as though we have had much opportunity with kids all over the place, from so many families, schools, churches, and many of our friends have had kids as well. Probably the ages that we have not had as much time with is with the little little ones, we're talking the newborn-toddlers. That has all been changing though, and of course it will change big time in the future.

the Good household

     As we reflect back on our great trip to Indiana there are many things that stand out, the amazing Mexican food on various occasions, high school bball,  seeing so many friends, the generosity of people that we've seen in action, but maybe one of our favorite and most life-giving times have spent with little ones. Alot of our friends have children now and that has been part of our experience that we hang out with them and their children. On this trip there seemed to be kids everywhere and whether it was playing games, building blocks, shooting hoops, choo-choos, popsicle stands, jumping like a superhero, puzzles, and who knows what else it was a blast. There is such vibrancy in their speech, often a bit louder than expected, sometimes taking everyone by surprise. There are the huge smiles while playing or running around, there are the often short stories of what happened to cause the latest ouchie. Maybe a joke here or there that sometimes is funny but always makes you laugh. Meal times which usually are interesting for one reason or another, very rarely to do with the actual food. As our trip winds down we have to give a shout out to some of the little people who have made this trip so enjoyable and might we add preparatory in more ways than simply our adoption meetings and paperwork.

Earl and Sydney

     Real world experience is the best, and we had a taste thanks to (if we left one out we're sorry) Myles, Sydney, Joelle, Jaycie, Jarvina, Graysen, Bo, Asher, Klyvlnd, Kaylen, Judah, Elijah, Levi, and there were others around here and there that bring such a vibrancy to life. This is part of the adoption process which is so much fun, the kids, the joy they bring into everyone's lives. Of course we look forward to our own stories from our family, until that time we'll continue to enjoy those around us who bring so many smiles to our faces.

February 26th - Cake and Continents

     Sometimes the more things change the more they stay the same, not sure how that works but it does tend to in some way. The focus of this trip to Indiana has always been on the adoption process, so that has taken the first priority. With that being said we knew that there would be plenty of space for other aspects of life as well to fit around the time spent on the adoption prep meetings, interviews and trainings. Coming back to Indiana where we have spent 11 1/2 years of our married lives together means that we are able to see many people who we have relationship with, some for many years. At times on this trip it has meant doing what we used to do for fun i.e. high school basketball games, shopping at night, getting together to play games with friends; it has also been hanging out with old friends, and having it feel like time almost hasn't past, especially 3 1/2 years worth of time. It has meant going to our favorite places to eat out, mostly Mexican might I add which is not readily available in England, and being able to be at Family Worship Center each Sunday of our trip. What a blessing that has been, to be where we have been sent from and be able to have input there, great relationships there and meet with the Lord while gathering with the saints there.
     Reflecting on our time this past week there has been much adoption prep with our profile and online course that we have taken but also many of the aforementioned activities as well. We've asked ourselves many a time how many other people are so fortunate, no blessed to have not only an amazing set of friends and family in one location (in our case continent) and another grouping of friends and family in a far different location. That is our experience, so many close relationships throughout Northern Indiana and so many throughout the whole of England and especially the Basingstoke area. 
     As a result of this adoption being run through Indiana we get the opportunity at some point, when that point is we don't know, to come back here for another two month stretch while the adoption is being finalized. During that time we'll once again have many of the experiences that this trip has afforded us, that will be great to have that kind of space with friends and family here in the States. We will we miss our lives in England of course we will, but for us this is part of the journey that we are on, it is a bit like having our cake and eating it too. So for now we finish up our adoption process meetings in the near future and then wait to be approved as a potential adoptive family and go from there. All the while knowing that we have many walking with us whether that is from the east or west of the Atlantic, and that is a wonderful place to be.