An Indian wedding & teens from Mumbai

There have been lots of Indian happenings in our corner of Wisconsin. First, my cousin Dale's daughter Bonnie was married in fine Hindu style this weekend -- they literally stopped traffic on the main street of our city as Vipin led a baraat, a traditional horseback procession to greet his bride. Their wedding was photographed and written up in the newspaper:

www.postcrescent.com/article/20100718/APC0101/7180514/story-photos-Procession-turns-heads

My cousin Dale and his wife Marcia are in the photo to the left of the groom. One fun thing that the newspaper didn't say was that the horse belongs to Dale's brother, Chuck. My mom and dad attended, and gave me the lowdown afterward. (Dale is one of over 40 of my first cousins on my dad's side -- my Dad is one of 11 children!). :o)

Last week, our church welcomed 13 boys from Mumbai, India. They led worship at our services, and are all learning music from a Wisconsin native who left a promising New York music career to serve with Bombay Teen Challenge. One young man shared his story in front of the church, and it left us all in awe of how he survived, and how God longs to draw each of us to Himself.

All of the boys come from harrowing backgrounds, and ended up in the loving care Mr. K.K. Devaraj, the director of Bombay Teen Challenge. In one evening, I was able to hear the stories of two boys -- they both fled abusive homes, only to face danger, hunger, and drugs on the streets of Mumbai.

One of the young men poured out his amazing story to me . . . just one small part of it was being healed of deafness. He'd previously had an unsuccessful surgery on his ear, and after he was healed, he went back to tell his doctor that Christ had restored his hearing. The doctor became a Christian because of this young man's testimony -- he saw the impossible became possible. I had goosebumps as he showed me the scar from his ear surgery -- he was positively glowing with joy as he shared his story.

On Saturday evening, we had the privilege of providing dinner for them, including Chicken Makhani and jasmine rice. It was truly astonishing to see how quickly the food disappeared -- all the rumors about the appetites of teenage boys are true!

They were all very interested in Anya Rashi, and depending on their degree of proficiency in English, asked or commented about her. My heart broke a little bit as they asked how old she was when we adopted her -- I know how difficult it is to find adoptive families for older children, and I wondered if they were asking because they wished they had a family to call their own. It made me grateful to have the chance to "mother" them for one day at least. She was a little overwhelmed by all the attention, not to mention the houseful of boys, and spent most of the time glued to my side.

Please keep these wonderful young men in your prayers. Several of them want to spend their lives serving and sharing the Good News in India. I keep remembering singing "Yeshu" together . . . that's Hindi for "Jesus."

North and South

Well, for the past 2 weeks, we've driven three hours north, two hours south, then another 8 hours south.

We spent our first week of vacation at Fort Wilderness in northern Wisconsin. Peter was the speaker for a children's camp there. He taught about sixty 8-, 9-, and 10-year-olds about Jesus in the mornings and evenings, and the afternoons were filled with all sorts of outdoor activities. Peter has spoken there before, but this was the first time our sons were the "right" ages for the camp. They had a blast, got dirty, spent lots of time outdoors, and got to see their Daddy in his element.

Part of the reason Fort Wilderness is so special to us is that Peter and I have visited during each different stage of married life. He spoke to a high school youth group's winter camp when we were first married, and to another high school retreat when Aaron was our only child. We brought both boys there when they were 2 and 3 for a boys' camp, then again three summers ago while we waited to travel to India to bring home Anya Rashi. This time, we were waiting for baby #4 -- and we hope to go back again in two years with four children.

We stayed in a sweet little cabin nestled at the bottom of a hill that leads down to the lake. The boys LOVED the loft they slept in. Hope no one is squeamish about rodents . . . because we found out when we were packing to leave (ICK!) that some mice called the loft home.

Anya Rashi started out in a cute built-in wooden toddler bed, but graduated to the pack & play next to our bed after the first (sleepless) night. Poor thing -- she was so excited about the bed, but it was just too different from home.

After our week at camp, we drove down to Milwaukee. After cooking out with my sister and her neighbors (who have sons the same age as Aaron and Nathan) it was time to walk down to the lakeshore. We watched amazing fireworks over Lake Michigan, and could see them reflected in the tall buildings along the shoreline.

Then, we drove south to visit some friends in Kansas City. We spent some time at the International House of Prayer with them, which is such a restorative place to be. One night, I spent two hours in a prayer gathering devoted to praying for victims of human trafficking. We were praying specifically for children in Rio de Janeiro, which is the 2nd most-frequented city for s*x tourism in the world. It was painful and glorious at the same time to know about the depravity that happens there, but be united with others who share God's concern for these forgotten children.

For anyone who is interested, they have a ministry called Exodus Cry that is devoted to praying against and ending human trafficking. They will debut a documentary (scheduled for December 2010) about trafficking called Nefarious: Merchant of Souls.

That last topic isn't exactly "vacation-y", but it's something I'm passionate about. It goes hand-in-hand with my passion for adoption, since many children who "age out" of orphanages are easy prey for traffickers who promise legitimate jobs, then send children into hell on earth. The Red Letters blog on the sidebar is also devoted to trafficking, if you're interested.

Now, we've spent two nights in our own beds (but I'm not caught up on laundry!), and my kids are getting used to regular life again . . . and being forced to shower and bathe a little more regularly again. :o)

Thank you, Show Hope!

I wish these photos were as vivid as the rainbow looked in real life!

We received almost the best news this week -- the best news would be a referral, of course! We had a wonderful surprise waiting in our mailbox: a letter arrived from Show Hope telling us that we have been awarded an adoption grant to help with a portion of our adoption costs!

We are very grateful and kind of shocked. We have applied to four grant organizations so far, and we knew they were all long shots because so many deserving families apply for a limited amount of funds. We are profoundly thankful to the donors who made our grant possible, and to Steven and Mary Beth Chapman for creating the foundation.

Most of all, we feel so cared for by God. He is truly showing himself to be our provider in tangible ways, and making the financial part of adopting feel like an adventure instead of something impossible.

Just wanted to share . . .

Just wanted to share a link to a great article about international adoption, specifically about the corruption that sometimes happens. I am certain that no one who reads our blog wants to gain a child at the expense of another family.

The information in this article made so grateful for the high ethical standards of both Dillon International and ISRC (the baby home where Anya Rashi and her new sister were/are being cared for). It also contains an explanation of the Hague Convention, for those who have wondered what that is.

When we go through the waiting, and the court process, it can seem endless. I think this time around, I will appreciate every day of the delay -- it's one of the things that guarantees that our children are legally and ethically brought into our family.

The article is called "The Baby Business," and I found it on this blog:
www.betheanswerforchildren.wordpress.com

Adoption quotation

It is nothing spectacular. I suppose a lot of people could look at this picture and say, "So?" And yet the picture is everything. It is everything in its inescapability, as is any quiet work of nature -- a ladybug on a blade of grass -- a tiger on a rock in the afternoon sun -- a mother and her daughter. A mother who was born on one side of the world and a daughter who was born on the other. How did it happen? How did they find each other? There can be no earthly answer. There can only be a divine one.

from The Exact Same Moon by Jeanne Marie Laskas

Thank you, Marilyn, for sending this in the mail -- and for all you offer me as an adoptive mom, writer, follower of Christ, and someone who lives life with joy amidst unpredictability.

Many reasons to celebrate

We have had two party weekends in a row. The first was Peter's birthday, which we celebrated by seeing a Brewer baseball game (they won!) and spending a morning on the beach at Lake Michigan. He is the best daddy and husband in the world, according to our very unbiased sources.

That weekend also brought Memorial Day with it. We were happy to continue our tradition of watching our city's parade (it's also tradition that Peter and I will cry when the oldest veterans ride by), then planting our flowers and vegetable garden. Since we have kids that like to get dirty, that's always a great day.

Saturday brought a family wedding -- our nephew Christopher and his bride Angie were married, with Peter officiating. We had so much fun with the cousins, and roped our sister-in-law into taking a picture with the 5 of us for Anya Rashi's last post-placement report. Hooray! That's what the happy dance photo is for, at least in my opinion!

Thank you for your prayers for Peter's dad. He's doing very well with his cardiac rehab, and is able to drive again and do his favorite May/June pastime -- watching the NCAA softball and baseball tournaments. Please keep praying for his mom, who is still pretty shaken up by the whole experience. They will be married 50 years in August, and their lives are truly so entwined emotionally, spiritually, and in every other way.

Good news and bad news

Our week has been filled with good news and bad news.

Bad news: Peter's dad had a heart attack last week, and spent 3 nights in the hospital. We were all shaken up and surprised, because he is so engaged in life that we often forget he's actually 73. He loves to travel, volunteered this year helping seniors prepare their taxes, does computer work for a local model railroad club, participates in a Bible study with his beautiful wife, and much more.

Good news: it was much less damaging than it could have been because he and Peter's mom paid attention to what was happening, and went to the ER right away. His prognosis is pretty good -- he's had two stents put in, and he's doing cardiac rehab. Everyone in the family was very worried, and this week just reinforced how dear he is to us all.

Good news: After nearly 5 months of no activity, several families accepted referrals of children in Dillon's India program! Three families ahead of us on the non-NRI list have been matched with their daughters -- congratulations, Lisa, Melanie and Emily! Because of these referrals, we have moved up to #3, which is very exciting!

Bad news: The baby home in Kolkata has been diligently attempting to renew a certain license that allows them to clear children for international placement. After a lot of waiting, they were issued a temporary license that allowed for the recent referrals. The bad news is that this short-term license expires in mid-June, and there's no way to tell when it will be renewed in the future. Needless to say, the open-endedness of this situation is a bit discouraging.

Good and bad news: The past two days, temperatures have soared to 93 degrees here! It's bizarrely warm for May in Wisconsin, and we've had some fun getting the sprinkler out. The bad news is the kids are still in school for another two weeks, but it already feels like summer!