Gotcha Day +3

Alright, I think we're back on blogging track. Today is officially Gotcha Day +3.  And lemme tell ya, it was a doozie. We had a couple errands to run this morning and our first stop was Nicolus' old school for some paperwork.  Before getting into the van our little guy seemed pretty down...and a little grumpy. I noticed that his head felt pretty warm so we were wondering if he was starting to come down with something. We all jumped in the van and Nicolus immediately got on my lap and laid his head down. We headed up and down the bumpy road to the orphanage.

Once we got there Nicolus was passed out...so I thought.  I stepped out of the van still holding/cradling him and then....it happened.  His complete breakfast of omelet, pineapple and peanut butter toast decided to make a reappearance...all over him and all over me. We will spare the details (Clint almost took a picture. Surprised?) but it was not a pretty sight.  But as Clint was cleaning up Nicolus and I was cleaning up myself I realized we had just officially been initiated into parenthood. We don't need court, this was the real deal!

Poor Nicolus was not a happy camper. He looked like he probably wasn't finished and he was burning up. We decided he needed to get back to the guest house to rest (and changing my clothes sounded quite pleasant). The Embassy was still a necessary errand so Clint helped me get him into bed with a little tylenol, reassured me that I'd be fine with him and jumped in the van. Not gonna lie, I freaked out a bit.  I mean, I'm in Africa with no phone to call my mom, no internet to google all my paranoid questions, no way to ask this little guy what he needed. Yep, panic set in. But I'm sure the Lord knew that I needed this! So I stayed in the room with him and he was a trooper.  He slept a LOT...but also moved around a LOT, which was hilarious and totally picture-worthy.

He was great about waking up, pointing to his throat to say "thirsty", drinking water, and then going to sleep again.  And then, it was over!  Whew!  He woke up for good right before Clint got back and started eating again.  So far so good!  He was much happier the rest of the day. Except at bedtime. But that's a story for another day! :)

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. The Embassy did accept our paperwork this afternoon which was a plus! However, they informed us that they have no available appointments next week for us to come in for the visa interview after our court date on Monday. This is definitely a concern because we wouldn't be able to try again until the following week and our flights are currently scheduled for that Wednesday the 19th. Ah! As soon as we get our guardianship order from court our plan is to go into the Embassy anyway, as often as we can and hope they will fit us in without an appointment.  Not sure how that will work....

So...please pray. Continue to ask for no interference with our court date on Monday and for a quick turn around on our Guardianship order.  Pray that the Embassy would be gracious toward us and squeeze us in for our interview so we can get Nicolus' visa before our scheduled flight.

Also, pray for Nicolus' heart and that he would be patient with us even though we can't understand him. We had a rough night of misunderstanding that was wearing on all of our hearts. Pray that we would be able to learn Lugandan terms that are useful and that he would use the signs and words we are teaching him to communicate his needs. Pray for our patience as well as we long to be able to love on him through providing for him.

A couple fun pics.  Nicolus is really great about praying with us before meals and at bedtime. Usually he can easily keep his eyes closed but tonight he was so excited about the food he needed some extra help to keep them closed. :)  He even says Amen at the end!

 

Feeding Dad

Our first family pic!

Love to you all!!

Gotcha Day +2

"I wish I was a little bit talla', I wish I was a balla'..."

The sun has set on another day in beautiful Uganda and all of us have officially labeled today "the most productive unproductive day"! :)  We were kind of expecting to be on hold today after having our court appointment rescheduled. But Rashid is the man and made sure we were able to use our "free time" to keep things moving along. We were all up and out the door by 7am which was BRUTAL (after picking up the other two families at the airport and getting in bed after 1am the night before) but worth it.  We were able to get some processes rolling that will hopefully make up for much of the time that would have been lost with our delayed court date. So, after a 10-hour day in Kampala, we were able to make some important baby steps toward bringing our little man home. Success! (say with your best Target Lady impersonation)

A 10-hour day driving all around Uganda’s crazy-busy capital is the epitome of organized chaos. It not only induced many quiet squeals from the far back seat (ha, Elizabeth) but encouraged me to go into spaz mode and slam the “imaginary brake” in front of me quite often. Most of the drama was caused by the countless pedestrians who think crosswalks are overrated as well as the thousands of "bota botas" (scooters) that love to squeeze and zig zag through any spot on the road that seems big enough (or not big enough).

But all that time on the road also meant lots of cuddle time for me! We were pretty crammed in the van so the little cutie usually ended up on my (Jo) lap which I didn’t mind one bit. :) And most of the time he just climbed right on himself and rested his head on my chest. (aww....*tear*) Clint also gets a lot of those sweet moments when we’re walking around town and Nicolus is too tired to keep up on his own (I don’t quite have those mamma-biceps yet to have that job. Someday...)

Nicolus was tested for Tuberculosis today using the skin test. Which meant...yep, a big needle that he was NOT happy about.  He squirmed so much on the first try that the needle slipped out and the fluid sprayed the  in the eye!! Yikes. So, she tried again on his second arm (this time daddy did most of the holding) leaving him with 2 battle wounds! (sorry, kind of a blurry pic)

He shed a LOT of tears but quickly got over it and moved on! We will return to the doctor on Saturday to check the skin and make sure he didn’t have a reaction.

Since we skipped lunch and tried to maintain energy with some packed snacks, local "mini" bananas and jack fruit (delish!) we were all pretty famished when we got back to the guest house.  Including this guy:

Raise your hand if you think this full plate of food (already half-eaten by the time we got the camera) is enough to satisfy a little 3-year-old squirt? Well, it's not. He ate a whole other full plate.  It’s official. He is a smaller version of Clint.

Speaking of which, while he was eating his second plate (ha) Clint taught him how to use his hands to sign "more”, “eat”, “thirst” and “all done”.  Way to go, Clinton! Trying to get a pic of that soon.  We can already see this being a huge help when it comes to meeting his needs. 

And Nicolus had a breakthrough today when he started repeating words after me! He has actually barely spoken at all since he’s been with us, although sometimes he will mumble a little Luganda and I have to pull Rashid in to help translate if he’s around. Anyway, we’ve been reading an ABC book together where there are pictures that slide over their corresponding letter and word and he loves it.  He sits on my lap and chooses a picture to slide and I say the word. He repeats most of the words and has the cutest little accent (be still my beating heart). Sometimes he is more consistent than others but overall I am THRILLED to hear his little voice. I have loved getting to know his laugh and see him smile...and now hearing him say words I understand is such a joy! Here we are tonight trying again in the dark with dad’s headlamp. 

Making shadow puppets while we waited for the generator to come on for the evening.

Can’t wait to see what else Uganda has in store for us! In the meantime, please keep these things in mind for prayer:

• The “to do” list is still long so please pray that court will indeed happen on Monday and that we will receive our Guardianship Order right away so we can quickly move on to getting his passport and visa.  
• Pray his TB skin test comes back normal so he can be cleared to come into the States. He had a previous test done that came back negative but the one from today was done at a UN medical office which is more “official”.
• Ask that Nicolus become more and more comfortable around us even though we cannot communicate fully. We are so thankful that overall he recognizes us as his caretakers right now and comes to us when he has a need. Ask that we would be successful in finding ways for him to communicate those needs.

Gotcha Day +1

The good news is, we love Nicolus, and besides a few bonked heads and a minor misunderstanding with the toy car we gave him, we are pretty sure he’s starting to love us too.  :-)

Bad news is our court date has been pushed back by 6 days.  Apparently the judge that is hearing our case was called away today urgently to do a case in a remort area far away and cannot make our court date tomorrow (5th).  So, we have been rescheduled for court on Monday October the 10th. 

Even with this set back, we trust that God is all-good, all-wise, and all-powerful.  Seriously, consider the shear hopelessness if any one of those basic characteristics of God were not true. 

• What if he were all good (wanted to do what was right), all-powerfull (had the power to do what was right) but not all-wise (didn’t know what right was)?!
• What if he were all wise (knew what was right), all-powerful (had the power to do what is right), but not all-good (didn’t want to do what is right)!?
• What if he were, all-wise (knew what was right), all-good (wanted to do it), but not all-powerful (didn’t have the strength to do it).

Don’t believe me? Just ask Job:

“With God are wisdom and might;
        he has counsel and understanding.
    If he tears down, none can rebuild;
        if he shuts a man in, none can open.
    If he withholds the waters, they dry up;
        if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
    With him are strength and sound wisdom;
        the deceived and the deceiver are his.
(Job 12:13-16 ESV)

Signs that parenting has begun

• Misunderstanding that leads to a fit, then some chasing, then some hugging (with resistance) then some hymn singing, then some loosening, then some snoozing…
• Daddy bicepts getting bigger from carrying little dude around all day
• Face plant on the tile stops your heart
• Tears flowing after starts it up again

Even though this is a six day delay, it may only put us back by one working full day.  Because it is the court's fault, David and Rashid are hopeful that they will rush the typing up of our orders so that it will not delay us any further.  

Today was filled up with meeting our lawyer, some tickle time, chase, laughs, a few tears, three square meals (this kid has got an appetite!), and LOTS of racing "moto-ca" across the table.  

 

We were able to visit the school Nicolus had just entered last month before heading back to the guest house.  And all it took was a serious face plant (slippery flip flops on tile) to get him trying English words with Momma in an ABC book.  God is good :-)

Tomorrow we will be headed to the U.S. Embassy to drop off some paperwork, as well as going by the passport company, and dropping by the immigration office.  So even though our court date has moved, we are hoping our schedule hasn’t really slipped.  But either way, we believe in a God that is all-good, all-wise, and all-powerful.

 

 

Nico and Dad pounding the pavement.

 

First pair of underwear calls for a party I swear!

 

Nico and Daddy kickin' it early in the AM - Sans Skeeters

 

YinYang race track for his new "moto-ca"

 

Pit stop...

Gotcha Day!

“eet is time…” - Rafiki

But seriously.

We made it in late this evening, and now it's 1:30 AM, and we are on our way to parenthood folks.

Nicolus greeted us (well, sort of) at the airport with pastor Rashid. He was super quiet (probably cause it was almost midnight).  But he fell asleep in Joanna's lap on the way back to the guest house (our living quarters). He woke up there just in time for dad (that's me) take him to the “sue sue” (that's the potty) and then change his clothes for bed.  He passed right out when we laid him down.

Needless to say, we probably won't sleep much tonight.  Rashid says he'll let us sleep in.  I wonder if Nicolus will.  Rashid keeps calling him "Nicho" (said like Neek-ho).  We like it and hope it sticks.

Rashid is a loving pastor and father of 5 with one on the way.  He has been a pastor one year and has lead a school for 7 years (both the church and school have a birthday this week --> Party time, African style!)

love to the family and friends.

Thanks for praying and sending us here!
 Clint and Jo and Nico

Nico not yet sure about Daddy, but thankful for the free ride.

Nico sleeping in Momma’s lap from the airport to our bunk.

  

New jammies, new bed, new Mazoongoos (white peeps); not sure what to think yet…

Jo's Surgery Update #25

Tomorrow has been six weeks since Joanna's surgery. And yesterday she did a full exercise workout, including some mild situps. :)

Though there has been a few frustrating digestive things happening off and on, she seems to healing from her surgery very well.

Thanks so much for praying with us during this.

Unless something changes, this will probably be the last "Jo's Surgery Update" so I want to end it with a few thoughts:

The night we went into the ER, I went out to the car to get a few things (water, chapstick, lotion, etc.) for Joanna and on my way back in to the hospital I stopped and thought to myself, "If there were no God, if we were just random beings in a random, meaningless world that happened to bump into one another and happened to enjoy being around each other... And if 'survival of the fittest" is what really got us here, rather than the design and purpose of a loving God... Then the smartest thing I could do is go back to the car, get in, and drive away."

It's sobering to think of the reasonable conclusions we will come to if indeed life is random and meaningless. There is no real, meaningful obligation to one another, except that of our ability to stay strong and survive.

But, because that is not true, because there is a wise, loving, sovereign God who creates all and rules all with a purpose, there is joy in suffering. Because suffering does not catch God off guard, there is a deep, satisfied joy (not shallow happiness, but deep joy) that lasts through the heartache and suffering for those who trust in him and in his Son Jesus.

Paul said it like this, "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men." (1 Corinthians 15)

So, if this whole Jesus thing is an ugly, misguided hoax, then those who believe in it and trust their very souls to it, and let it affect all that they do in life (financially, socially, spiritually, etc) are to be pitied more than all men.

But, if it is true. If Jesus is who he claimed to be, fully God and fully man. And if he accomplished in his death what he claimed he would ("a ransom for many" mark 10) then we should all be sober and silent and humble knowing that today is a day to remember his death. The death that we deserved because of our disobedient rebellion (sin) toward God. The death he is willing to apply to cover our sin. And if he did indeed rise from the dead three days later proving that death could not have the last word, then we should reflect on how we have responded toward that fact.

We cannot be neutral toward Christ. We must either believe his death applied to us, trust that it was sufficient to cover our sin, and turn to hate our sin. Or, we must refuse him and continue to be against him and against his plan to save us from the just judgment of God.

These may be heavy issues, but think about it; If this were not true, what point would there be in me going back into the hospital six weeks ago? If you are honest, none.

either pitied or ransomed,
Clint & Jo