Today, we learned that we will not go home for our Stateside Assignment when we were planning to - again.  This takes us into two months behind schedule.  It'll definitely be worth it because the reason we're running late is due to court stuff in Nico's adoption.  Here's what Dave has had to say about it:

So, what can we learn from this??



Welcome Home, Nicholas David!



Many of you have been praying for us during these past few months as we have encountered some pretty difficult issues with court proceedings for the adoption of our youngest son, Nico. As a result of the latest delay that will most certainly keep us here in Argentina for another month, someone commented about the lesson in all of this and how one day we may or may not know the reason God has allowed for so many delays and detours in the process. I say delays because we were supposed to begin our Stateside assignment on June 28, and we are still here. This puts everything in a real bind, as we don't have defenite info we need to plan for purchasing plane tickets, packing the house, saying goodbye to friends and handing over to our national partners all the church plants we have begun recently. It's complicated, uncomfortable, and just plain hard to deal with when everything should be coming to a close, yet we don't know when. Also, we only budgeted ministry funds for six months, and we are now almost two months past that, so this delay causes everyone in our support system to scramble to find the funds we need to still be here this long past our original departure date. Like I said, its complicated, and for many folks. The following is some thoughts I have been wrestling with recently regarding all that has happened and what it all means. I hope you enjoy it and maybe God will use it to reveal something to you that you can take with you and grow in your walk with Him.

I still don't understand, but don't question anymore, why we had to leave Eli in Ukraine and return to Argentina without him, then go back 30 days later to finish the process and take him home with us. It did nothing but reinforce the abandonment scars that Eli already had from being abandoned by his birth family. The translator later told us that his first words to us on the second trip were, "Where have you been!?"

I think mainly the lessons to be learned here are for Alisha and myself. I know I have a tendency to feel "entitled" in some situations, and when things don't go my way, like all the delays of this process, I have lost my cool and really had some discussion times with God, not to mention becoming extrememly short fused with my wife and kids. I confess I've even fantasized about how satisfying it would be to slicine car tires at the court house, maybe even tossing a grenade througe the judge's office window. Well, not really, but I have not handled hurry up and wait too good this past two years. Somewhere there's a line one crosses that seperates doing all we can do within reason and then on the other side of it is trying to do all that is God's responsibility. When we get on that side of the line, worry, frustration, and disappointment are a sure thing cause no way can we accomplish the work that is God's to do.

The week we were suspected of child trafficing and the investigation was opened in federal court, God sent scripture to me three times by three different people that I have been leading in discipleship. Psalm 121. Go check it out. God reminded me to get back on my side of that line, do my work, let Him do His, and not worry about the time factor. After that, I was able to relax, take what comes, often with a big sigh, but with composure for which my family is grateful, and let God be in control of it all. As far as finding the answer to this experience in a "THAT'S IT" kind of moment in the future, I doubt it. The answer is most likely the fact that just because we are Christians, and leaders in ministry to others, we are not always entitled to an easy street life experience. Look here, this is just paperwork. It isn't an eight year old girl with terminal cancer like the daughter of some friends of ours. My wife is not loosing her young life to breast cancer like my best friend's wife did last year at only 40 years old. I have not been jailed for being a Christian Evangelical like other men I have had the privilage of meeting in years past. And, we HAVE had the blessing of having Nico as part of our family since this whole thing started two years ago. So its not that bad when you think about it. All in all we are only talking about time, and how we behave in that time. For me, I am making an effort to behave like a mature Christian who honestly is depending on God to be God and do His part, of which I am glad to leave to Him and not try to do myself. It took a while to get here, but it sure is better than beating my head against the proverbial brick wall trying to do a job I am not equipped to accomplish. I've been away from my family for five and a half years and outside my country for five years. Whats a couple of months extra? Not really worth the burden of disobedient behavior and attitude. In all things and in all seasons, give praise to God and honor Him with a Christlike life.



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