-11 F, it's all relative - January 28th

     So here I am sitting in a coffee shop in Oakley sipping a frothy cappucino and catching up on the news of the day online. At first there was nobody in the shop and then a group of three ladies came in and sat down close to where I am perched in the corner. Just as I was on WNDU news site from Northern Indiana and reading that the air temps are -11 F right now (not sure what that is in celsius but ridculously cold) the ladies next to me start talking about the weather. 'This month has been so bad, it hasn't been that cold but it has been a really bad month' I found this interesting while it is true that there has been bucketfulls of rain it hasn't even sniffed the freezing point. I'll bet our friends in Indiana would be more than happy to approach the freezing point.

a pic from WSBT of person driving in Michiana

     Rebecca and I were talking the other day and she recognised that if we had not been able to do our trip in November then we'd be snowbound along with everyone else in Goshen during these weeks. It's all relative isn't it, what is 'bad' here and 'not too cold' would be welcome with a red carpet somewhere else. We are so thankful that we were able to see all our friends/family while in the US in November and without any hiccups, no travel warnings or snow removal needed.

     Yesterday somebody asked Rebecca 'Is there anything that you want to do before the adoption goes through' and her answer was no, not really. We have been able to live life to the fullest, to travel to many a distant land, to have opportunties to attend so many great games/concerts/shows, to live in two countries, have amazing jobs with great co-workers, all of this to name just a bit of the life that Lord has had us lead. Wow what a fun, life-giving time we have had and do have daily, there is no reason to expect that to change. What we do day-to-day will change, probably a few less stragegy board games, not as many late nights watching bball, more visits to kid friendly places that for a long time we have not wanted or needed to frequent.

     Are we up for these changes (obviously there are loads more too:), I'd say we are. It's all relative, I heard a couple not too long ago say that they had a great time on their first night out without kids in three years. We've had nights out for 17+ anytime we wanted responsibilities permitting of course. We look forward to the days coming where we actually have to stay in, not just because we decide to, we have to, there may not be a sitter or maybe a little one is not feeling to well, or simply needs some special time. To some that might sound like an unfortunate change of plans or a downer that 'freedom' is now gone, we'll take it, we've been 'free' for a while. Again it's all relative to your situation.

     We're excited some of the other people who were going through training here in July with us have now been approved to adopt, one has a little girl coming home in  March, two others go to panel tomorrow, others did a fortnight ago. It's all happening, for us the next big date comes in March at some point, and then we'll see from there. Another thing that is relative is waiting, we've all been there whether it is waiting for a parcel, an update on loved-one's health or for a bus that is running late. Sometimes the waiting is quite simple, other times depending on the situation it can be excruciating, for us we've been in this game long enough that good things come to those who wait. And this last pic in honour of my dad Cliff who loves a soaring bald eagle