The Ethiopian Adventure

Keeping Up With The McConnell's

2011-04-01T22:08:00.000-07:00

If you have lost touch with us, then please come join us at http://www.burningvapor.com . We would love to hear from you.

There and Back Again

2007-10-11T15:01:00.000-07:00

Our Ethiopian Journey has come to an end, but our journey blazes onward. Come join us at our new blog as we continue loving, living and blogging.

Our new home: http://burningvapor.blogspot.com/

Be sure to bookmark the blog and sign up for email updates. I am still adding content so please be patient. Look forward to seeing you over there!

Win Some Free Books!

2007-10-10T14:05:00.000-07:00

Mistaken Identity

2007-10-04T20:45:00.000-07:00

Bri and Ana attend a special ed pre-school several times a week for a couple of hours a session. It has been a great experience for them. Jennifer typically picks the girls up from school but Jennifer was prepping for her "Once a Month Cooking" Saturday so I picked the girls up.

I was standing outside of Ana's classroom just, you know, watching her interact with another little girl and her teachers. One of her teachers finally looked up and noticed me. She stood up and said, "Ok Riley, your Dad is here." The little girl, Riley, looked up at me and then went back to coloring while her teacher got up and started collecting her things. "Come on sweety, time to go". Riley didn't move. It finally dawned on me what was going on so I spoke up and said "Hey Ana!" Ana looked up and said "DADDDDDDDDDY!!", and started running towards me.

I could visually see the blood slowly leave her teacher's face as she replaced "Riley's" belongings and started digging out Ana's. I acted like I didn't notice because the obvious embarrassment was punishment enough. And in case you were not completely clear on what just happened...Riley was white and Ana is a nice mocha tone.

2007 Desiring God National Conference

2007-10-03T14:59:00.000-07:00

For those of you like me who were not able to make the conference this year, Desiring God has blessed us greatly with free copies of the audio and VIDEO messages!!

Click here to download those messages.

A Great New, Old Volume

2007-10-03T10:37:00.000-07:00

I recently read a book review over at The Shepherd's Scrapbook, which is a great blog to stay connected to, on "Christ Crucified: The Marrow of the Gospel in 72 Sermons on Isaiah 53" by a 17th century Presbyterian Puritan. My response to the volume is "WOW". Seriously, this book has been incredibly deep and rich. I am still plowing through it but I have thoroughly enjoyed the messages so far and my own faith is being impacted by the life of John Durham and the great Christ he and I worship. If you haven't picked up anything lighter than Lucado (sorry) lately, challenge your reading with this one.

Edit: I thought I would offer an example from his first sermon. Durham argues that if the Gospel is the greatest news that mankind will ever hear, and if our joy is only found in Jesus (the Gospel) and if, like Paul, we desire to only know Jesus and Him crucified, then we as Christians should remind ourselves everyday of the Gospel. (pg. 1-74)

This message has re-emerged among contemporary Christians and we are beginning to hear it preached again. It struck me that this was not a new thought among preachers, even 17th century Puritans were preaching the same message.

The Tooth Fairy

2007-10-01T22:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Caleb came in wiggling one of his "milk molars" (that's what they tell me it's called...who comes up with these names anyway?) Jennifer told him that if he pulled his tooth and put it under his pillow then he would wake up the next morning and find a dollar. Now, for those of you who know, we do not do "the tooth fairy", "the buggey man", "the easter bunny", or "satan claus". So Caleb was trying to figure out how the tooth disappeared and a dollar appeared. The only thing he could imagine was that God came down and took his tooth while he was sleeping and gave him a dollar. Kinda funny. We didn't explain it to him and left it alone for a little mystery. The boys were excited and didn't believe that it would happen, so that were rattling away in Amharic and talking about this great mystery.

The next morning Caleb got up and found his tooth replaced by a dollar and the boys were blown away. They were laughing and back slapping and having a great time. Well, we were at the doctor today and Caleb asked me, "Daddy, where dollar come from? Did God take tooth?" I replied, "No son, Daddy took your tooth and replaced it with a dollar."

No truth! was the response. They absolutely would not believe that I could have actually taken the tooth while they were sleeping. I started acting like I was sneaking into their room and then I acted like Caleb snoring and the boys got a real kick out of it, but they wouldn't believe it. So, with their arrogant little all-knowing smirks (I say that with a smile and an arrogant smirk on my own face by the way) on their faces, they challenged me to show them the tooth when we got home. I had actually forgotten about it and Caleb reminded me again. When I showed them the tooth you would have thought that I had just started burping purple bubbles. Their mouths were wide open and looks of astonishment spread across their faces. "Dad, how?" I repeated what I did and they all just started laughing.

Laughing, Caleb took the tooth and said, "Again Dad, again". At this point I was laughing at their reactions. "Nope, only happens once. Dad owns the tooth now." It was a good moment

Jack Handy Makes me Smile

2007-09-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

I was visiting Keith's blog today and he quoted Jack Handey. Instead of filling Keith's blog up with JH quotes I figured I would just throw out a couple here. I haven't thought about Jack in a very long time, but he always puts a smile on my face. Here are three of my favorites. C'mon, smile, it's good for you and me both!

1. If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is "Probably because of something you did."

2. If you want to be the most popular person in your class, whenever the professor pauses in his lecture, just let out a big snort and say "How do you figger that!" real loud. Then lean back and sort of smirk.

3. Better not take a dog on the space shuttle, because if he sticks his head out when you're coming home his face might burn up.

Sitting, Wish I Was Standing!

2007-09-28T14:35:00.000-07:00

Guess where I wish I was today!

12 Years in 2 Months...Please!

2007-09-28T08:40:00.000-07:00

As I have said before I only chronicle a small portion of what we face everyday. Most people will read this and read into my statement some exaggeration - I assure you it is not. We are surrounded by a loving, caring church community who often ask "how are things going". I often pause for a moment because usually I can only remember some of yesterday and today. Our days are filled with minefield tip-toeing and a tow truck mentality (constantly trying to pull broken, beat up kids into yesterday). From 7am until 9pm we are constantly moving - from 9pm to 12am we are spending time defragmenting our minds and rehearsing the day to make sure most things were not left behind. Anyway, on to my post.

Here is a caution or warning for all of you who are still in the process of adopting - 12 years in 2 months...please!

Last night Caleb asked me if I would buy him a calculator. I asked him why? He said that he could use it at school.
I told him he was in 3rd grade and didn't need a calculator.
He told me that some kids in school use calculators.
I told him they were lazy.
He told me that a calculator would be an "erdata" (a help).
I told him that they would make HIM lazy.
I also told him that he was and Ethiopian and Ethiopians are hard workers so no calculators for him.
He told me that he was now American and needed a calculator.
I grew weary of the conversation and told him "No calculator, finished!"
And then he pulled his secret, manipulating little weapon, "Emma has a calculator!"
Ahhh, there we go - he had me, or so he thought.
Emma's calculator is a toy and she doesn't use it at school.
Well if Emma has a calculator then so should Noah, Josiah, and Caleb.
You can share Emma's calculator when she is not using it, now I am finished with this conversation - go to bed.

He pouted and marched off to bed, probably more sore that he lost a battle with me.

For context sake, our conversation is not as nearly as smooth as that. We stumble over words, make hand motions, I try to throw a little Amharic his way, we use pictures...it is a very time consuming, but important conversation. Now with any of my English speaking children I would have said no, you don't need one until later in school now go to bed...the conversation would have been finished. But the boys have no context with us and they are faced with almost unsurmountable challenges, so patience and reasoning come into play.

The point of my little post is to let you know that your children may want everything that they normally would have accumulated over the span of their lives if they had lived in America...especially if you already have children with belongings. The calculator was bought at the dollar store with money that was given to the girls for a birthday last year. The jeweled giraffe was given by Grandmommy, the used Game boy was given by a cousin in Georgia last year, their umpteen pairs of shoes have been collected by a clothing swap and some of them they can no longer even wear, the dolls have been collected over 8 years, and so on and so on. But they expect to have it all, now if you don't mind.

We were warned that this would happen beforehand so we cleaned out a lot of what the girls have collected over the years. To be honest it was way past time to do it and we offloaded a ton of junk...I mean stuff. Jennifer has gone through their belongings once again and downsized even more. I walked through their room last night and quite honestly it could be emptied out one more time.

It is a tightrope - you most definitely DO NOT want to give your adopted children lot's of stuff when they first arrive home. But you also have to realize that you are going to cause yourself heartache and your adopted children jealousy if you swing one way or another. So climb up here with us on the tightrope and start committing some "contentment" verses to memory. While you are doing that, feel free to start decluttering, dejunking, and simply simplifying YOUR life so that you will be prepared to help them transition a little better.

What's In a Name?

2007-09-26T23:46:00.000-07:00

My son's have very strong feelings about their new American names. It is a matter of absolute pride for them. They wield the name as a weapon sometimes by giving it back to us when they are angry. "I'm not a McConnell!", they sometimes shout. I usually simply shrug and say, "Ok, but you still must obey". There are a couple of instances that have revealed to me how much their name means to them.

The day before school started the boys had an orientation at their school. It was a very exciting time and the whole family went to encourage them and give them support. They were enthralled by the desks, art on the walls, and they were especially encouraged to see that they had their own desk and their own locker. It was truly a thrilling moment for them. And then (I hate writing those words because it seems to happen so often..."and then") they noticed their name tags. Noah was first. Laminated on colorful plastic it read "Noah McConnell". He picked up his name tag, looked at it and then threw it down on the table with absolute disdain.

"Not my name!", he exclaimed. I picked it up and looked at it. Yes Noah, this is you. NO!! He became angry. Noah McConnell is not my name, no Patrick. Ah, I thought I got it and had a quick answer for him. It's ok, they just shorten your name for school. When Dad goes to work, people do not call him by his full name, just Patrick. At school you are Noah McConnell.

But he would have none of it. My name is "Noah Zelalem Patrick McConnell"! Why no Patrick in name? I said, "Noah, you are still Noah Zelalem Patrick McConnell but at school your name is just "tennish" (short). It's ok, I tried to assure him. Josiah and Caleb had separate but identical responses. They were deeply offended that the name I use (Patrick) was not attached to their name. You see, in their culture the child takes on the father's first name as their last. The boys actually wanted to hack off the "McConnell" and just have "Patrick" as their last name.

Tonight was another great example. I was trying to explain to Josiah how North, South, East and West worked on a map and he just couldn't get it. So I wrote his name in the middle of the compass and told him "this is where Josiah stands" and here are the ways you can go away from Josiah. He said, "oh, ok, I understand" and then he pointed to his name. "My name is Josiah McConnell when I am at school." I know son, but I am just trying to explain how a compass works on a scrap piece of paper and the important thing to know is that you are in the middle of the compass. "Ok. My name is Josiah McConnell." And he sat there and looked at me, waiting. I scribbled McConnell under Josiah on our little scrap piece of paper and he smiled.

"Thank you Daddy". You are welcome son.

We played soccer the other day at a friends house. The McConnell boys (me included) were on one team and the other family competed against us. It was a very laid back and unstructured game to be sure - I have no idea about any of the rules in soccer except that you can't use your hands. We won the little game 5-2 and you should have seen my sons. They were running around the yard like they had just won the biggest soccer game in the century. And you know what they kept saying? "The McConnell Family won, the McConnell Family won, the McConnell family won." They were absolutely ecstatic.

Today I was meditating on 1 Peter 2 and I noticed that Peter thought very highly of what is in a name.

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession,"

Peter was using several Old Testament pictures to describe the believer's position and relationship in the New Covenant with God and he used names. They are names or descriptive titles loaded with meaning and value and as believers we can study the meaning behind those names and have an even clearer picture of who we are. With titles comes a purpose, a direction; with an identity comes security. My son's are learning to find great security in carrying the McConnell name and we should find great security in caring the name of our Father.

I have learned a great lesson from my son's and from Peter - knowing who you are means a great deal and it should impact the way that you live.

Kindness

2007-09-20T14:30:00.000-07:00

I have been reflecting on "kindness" today as I am preparing for a Sunday School class this Sunday. Specifically we will be looking at David's merciful act of showing kindness to Mephibosheth. David's question in 2 Sam. 9:1 reveals David's great love for Jonathan - that even though David was the new King and culturally he should have killed all of Saul's descendants to eliminate any threat to his throne...he desired to show kindness.

One of our introduction questions directs me to think about a moment of kindness expressed to me in a moment when someone valued me over themselves. I'm not sure why, but one image immediately rushed into my mind. One evening I was at the hospital when our daughter Abby was dying. We had many friends and family come and visit us during those terrible hours and most of those events will always remain a blur to me. However, I do remember a moment of simple kindness and I'm not quite sure why this image has always stuck with me.

Among all of the friends and family that came to visit I distinctly remember Lukas Naugle and Andrew Eggimann visiting one night. I was walking around the floor trying to let off a little stress when I bumped into them. I do not remember anything that was said between us, but I do remember something they did - they gave me a back rub. I am sure that they gave me words of encouragement and probably even prayed for me, but the only thing I remember is that back rub. I stood in the hallway of that hospital and they both took turns rubbing my shoulders. I remember the pain in my muscles from all the tense hours of that time being rubbed and pushed out.

It was a simple moment of kindness. We often have no idea what to say or do during moments of tragedy. Normally when you ask someone if you can do something there is not much to be said. I am sure that they asked me if they could do something for me and I am sure I simply asked them to pray. But in that moment their brotherly love was seen in the action of a back rub and for that, I will forever be grateful. Thanks brothers!

Two Great Resources

2007-09-20T14:02:00.000-07:00

The guys over at Logos Bible Software have put together "The John Piper Sermon Manuscript Library" which looks like a great resource for Bible students. It is currently in the "Pre-pub" status which means if you order now you save money on the Published price.

Check it out!

I also just ordered some messages from Voddie Baucham Ministries which I am very excited to listen to. I heard Voddie Baucham preach for the first time at the Desiring God National Conference and was very impressed by his message as well as his preaching style.

I am currently leading a group of men through his book "Family Driven Faith" which is a phenomenal book on parenting and marriage. Baucham's materials are really impacting the way I raise my own family as well as the way I shape "Family and Children's Ministry" at Valley Bible.

Both of these are great resources for anyone studying the Word and/or raising/impacting a family.

Interview: Thabiti on Transracial Adoption and the Gospel

2007-09-20T13:15:00.000-07:00

I found the following article interesting and wanted to pass it on to our readers:

[Carolina Hope is a Christian adoption agency that serves families from all over the country.]

I’m very pleased to announce that this is the first in a series of interviews about adoption. The purpose of these interviews is to address adoption-related issues from a theological, gospel-centered perspective. We will be interviewing theologians, authors, adoptive parents, and a few adult adoptees about a number of adoption issues. Carolina Hope is committed to helping Christians in general and both prospective and adoptive families in particular think theologically about all things adoption. We believe that this interview series will help us accomplish this.

Our first interview is with Thabiti Anyabwile, pastor of First Baptist Church of Gran d Cayman. *Pastor Thabiti is a native of Lexington, North Carolina (U.S.). He is the happy husband of Kristie and the adoring father of two daughters, Afiya and Eden, and son, Titus. He began serving as elder/senior pastor in August 2006. He served previously as an elder/assistant pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church (Washington, DC) and as an elder at Church on the Rock (Raleigh, NC). Thabiti holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in psychology from North Carolina State University. A former high school basketball coach and bookstore owner, he enjoys preaching, reading, sports, and watching sci-fi films. He also blogs at Pure Church.

1. Tell us a little about First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman.

This year FBC is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The church began in 1977 with 21 people from one of the ‘sister islands’ (Cayman Brac) meeting in a local living room. Today, there are people from about 25 nations who call FBC their spiritual home. It’s easily the most ethnically diverse church I’ve ever served. The people here love the Lord, His gospel, and His people. It’s a great joy to serve them.

2. As a pastor, what’s your primary burden for your people?

To see us all grow in holiness, to be shaped more and more in the image of Christ and therefore fit for heaven. We live on what most people consider an “island paradise.” Not surprisingly, then, the levels of worldly hedonism and materialism are quite high. But that’s really a tremendous gospel opportunity if the Lord grows us in Christ-likeness, disdain for this world, and commitment to living and sharing the gospel. If we can have more of heaven in us, even before we’re in heaven, the contrast between life in the kingdom and life in the world will be stark. I long to see us yearn for Christ and His kingdom.

3. You recently wrote an excellent and thought-provoking article entitled “Many Ethnicities, One Race.” Why did you write it?

It was a privilege to be asked to contribute to the 9Marks eJournal issue on ethnicity and the church. Generally, I don’t like talking or writing a great deal about ethnicity and race; there are too many ways in which those conversations are unhelpful and unedifying. Nevertheless, the Lord has given us sufficient guidance for these issues in His word and I’m convinced we’ve not mined the Scripture enough. And that’s really problematic given how glaring a problem the racial history of the U.S. has been—the church not excepted. So, at the invitation of the brothers at 9Marks I tried to offer what I hope is a useful, biblical framework for thinking through these issues.

4. Some people, for any number of reasons, are uncomfortable with the idea of transracial adoption. Other people, because of their views on race, are outright opposed to the idea of transracial adoption; they believe that adoption across ethnic lines should not be practiced. How might the Bible speak to these concerns?

Well, I think it depends on the nature of the discomfort or opposition. If the discomfort or opposition is grounded in some assumption that “races” are unequal or that “races” should remain segregated in family and social relationships, I think the Bible rebukes and corrects that kind of thinking in several ways. First, it’s clear that there is only one “race” of man, all descended from our original parents Adam and Eve (Gen. 2; Acts 17:26). There is no biblical basis for discomfort or opposition based on racial attitudes. Second, the alienation that sometimes stirs opposition to transracial adoption is really a spiritual problem. It’s a product of the Fall of man into sin. The cure for that problem is saving faith in Jesus Christ, wherein man is first reconciled to God and then reconciled to other men. So, for Christians in particular, those who are adopted into the family of God through faith in Christ, opposition to transracial adoption is tantamount to denying the work of Christ on the cross.

But there may also be discomfort or opposition not based on racial attitudes but some prudential concerns. Some may wonder if they are sufficiently equipped to parent across culture and ethnicity. Others may worry about the tension or conflict they may experience. There we have to remember that we are not called to love only in the convenient places and situations. We’re called to a radical love, one that mirrors the love of God for broken sinners. And the end of such love is unspeakable joy. For the joy set before Him, Jesus Christ endured the inconvenient and uncomfortable agony of the cross to redeem a people who were hostile toward Him. Adoption across ethnic lines may be one of the best pictures of that radical Christ-like love we have available to us today. So, “prudential” concerns that awaken discomfort aren’t finally sufficient reason to refuse or oppose such adoptions.

5. More and more couples are considering adopting transracially. How would you counsel a couple that desires to adopt a child from another race (i.e. ethnicity)? How would you seek to educate them theologically? How should the gospel help shape their view of transracial adoption?

The first thing I would want to do is simply commend and encourage them. I’d want to commend this act of selflessness and love. And I’d want to encourage them to remember that God’s grace is sufficient for their every need. That’s true of parenting in general, and it’s true of the specific case of transracial adoption and parenting. So, first, be encouraged.

Second, I’d want to encourage them to jettison the idea of “race” as it has historically been defined. Drop it like the bad habit it is. Learn to read the Scripture for its accent on our common humanity. Hayes’ Biblical Theology of Race is very valuable in this regard. Think of the children, indeed all people, as essentially “same” rather than “other.”

But third, having acknowledged our common humanity, think and teach your children to think in terms of “the nations.” In other words, there’s a tremendous opportunity in multi-ethnic families to cultivate a deeper concern for missions and getting the gospel to all nations. Try to prevent conversations and cross-cultural education from terminating on man or your family; try to think of those conversations as opportunities for thinking great thoughts about God who wants to be known among all people. The Lord has purposed that His glory will be shown in the bowing of the nations to His name. Our reflection on ethnicity and culture is incomplete if it doesn’t have that goal in mind.

6. Many who will read this interview have already adopted transracially. They are often concerned that their transracially adopted children will struggle with a sense of identity since they do not have same-race parents or do not live in an ethnically diverse area. Would you address their concern?

Again, I’d want to remind them that the Lord’s grace is sufficient for their parenting and this concern. Lean into that grace; commit this issue to the Lord in prayer. He’ll direct your steps and give you wisdom in this area.

Second, it’s important to think of parenting as essentially an exercise in identity formation (spiritually first, and ethnically in light of those spiritual realities). So, give considerable time to helping your child think of her or himself as one made in the image of God. The dignity of their lives is derived primarily from this aspect of their identity. Whatever struggles they encounter in terms of social and ethnic identity, they should resolve them in light of this fundamental truth. Also, parents want to help their children ground their identity in Christ if the child is/becomes a Christian. They are being renewed in the knowledge of God, righteousness and holiness through their union with Christ. This is the most profound aspect of who they are and understanding this is critical for putting identity conflicts in their proper perspective. Having laid that theological basis then it’s time to think critically about ethnic culture, experiences, and ideas.

The mistake many will make—partly out of an overdeveloped sense of guilt, and partly out of a desire to help their children—is to rush to ethnic and cultural considerations. Based on my own experience running rites of passage programs aimed at fostering cultural identity and values, most children are really ill-equipped for this kind of exploration because they haven’t settled larger, more fundamental questions about existence, faith, and purpose. Parents want to lay that foundation first. Children will be healthier in the long run even if the struggle feels acute at some points. But for help with ethnic identity issues, don’t be afraid to enlist the help of others. Build cross-cultural friendships. Include cross-cultural experiences in the family’s entertainment options (books, movies, concerts, etc.). This may take some investment, but it’s not only good for the child but the parents as well.

Thank you, Thabiti, for your kindness in taking the time to answer these questions. I know that, by God’s grace, your answers will serve adoptive families well.

*Most of this paragraph was taken directly from First Baptist Church of Gran d Cayman ’s “Meet the Staff” page.

YOU ARE SELFISH!!

2007-09-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

These are the words my sons yelled at me last week. We have been down to one car for quite some time and I was considering riding the bus in order to keep expenses down. We have 7 kids going to 3 different schools so that Utopian idea was quickly tossed out of the window.

We were taking a walk through the neighborhood and the boys were asking me how I could tell between an old car and a new car. We talked for awhile and I made a side comment about needing to buy another car. They seemed excited and we continued with our walk. Later that night I went into the boy's room to give out hugs, kisses and prayers and there was a very angry feeling in the room. It was quite the contrast because only moments earlier we were one big happy family strolling through sleepy Millwood. I asked, "What's wrong" and in Amharic "Meno sehetuet".

I was then hit by an onslaught of complaints:

1. My bed is too narrow.
2. My bed is too short.
3. My bed is too tall.
4. My bed is broken.
5. Our room is too small.
6. Our room is not as big as everyone else's.
7. There are three of us and all other rooms have two people.
8. Why does Katie get her own room?
9. We want our own rooms!
10. We want our own bathrooms!
11. We want a fan for each boy.
12. My shoes are dirty so I need new shoes.
13. My friend has many shoes and I only have 3 pair.
14. We only have 2 soccer balls.
15. Our bikes are too wobbly, short, tall, creaky, and broken.

And on and on the complaints went. My head was literally spinning from all of the complaints they were prepared to lodge - from the nightlight not working correctly to our clothes do not get washed fast enough - I could barely keep up. At first I reasoned with them and tried to explain why they had what they had and the thankfulness that they should be showing instead of complaining. I explained that many people had helped us with all of the things we have and they were ready for yet another attack.

1. We no longer want people to help us.
2. We do not like people bringing us food - we should have enough money to by our own food.
3. We do not like people giving us clothes - we are not beggars!
4. We do not want anything from the people at church - we are wealthy enough to take care of ourselves.

It was at this point that I began to come unglued. I told them that everything they had was given to us - their sheets, their balls, their gloves, EVERYTHING!

They then tried another tactic. We think you should not buy another vehicle and instead use the money to knock out our bedroom wall and make our room bigger. And that was about ENOUGH for me.

I angrily looked up the word for "selfish" and told them that everything they were saying revealed how selfish they were. And they fired it right back - "Patrick, YOU are selfish!"

I was angry enough to start fighting back tears. Our interchange lasted for about an hour and most of that was listening to their complaints and trying to explain why we had what we had. It was emotionally and spiritually exhausting.

The next day Caleb went to school and the other two went to work with me because they had refused to go. While everyone was out of the house, Jennifer stripped everything from them. And I do mean EVERYTHING. Socks, shoes, bedsheets, underwear, balls, bikes, gloves, pillows, Bibles, music, radio, etc - you name it and it was taken away. When the boys came home they were absolutely stunned and had no response except for open mouths. We explained to them that EVERYTHING was given to us and they were disrespecting the givers of the gifts, they were disrespecting their parents, they were disrespecting their Ethiopian parents, and most of all they had dishonored the Lord. For each "good" day, they would receive 1 item in return.

Once they had sometime to talk to one another they decided that they didn't want anything from us - only their Ethiopian Bible (not Amharic/English bible) and their address book. We said ok. That night the first thing they asked for were their bed sheets. The next day it was their Bible and the next was their bicycles. It has been a week now and they just asked for their address books last night. Funny how perspectives change.

This seems to be working well. The boys have even asked if we would spank them instead of take things away, so we know the discipline is effective. Overall we have had a good week and a half and I pray that it continues.

The two pictures above are of the new truck I am picking up tomorrow...and the second picture is of me and Noah when I showed him the picture of Dad's new truck.

Learn Something New Everyday

2007-09-13T10:39:00.000-07:00

I took the boys to the hospital yesterday to have some blood work done. The boys have had their blood drawn before and were a little skittish but nothing major. We went to the hospital and filled out a ton of paperwork and then sat and waited. We eventually went back to the lab and Noah hopped into the seat first. Everything was moving along smoothly until the tech pulled out the "11" little bottles to fill with blood. We assured Noah that it would be ok because it was only one poke and the only pain would be getting the poke - not each bottle. I asked him if he wanted to hold my hand and he smiled and batted my hand away - typical boy. The first couple of bottles went fine, but he quickly began to get angry. The tech thought he was passing out but I knew the look - he was quickly flying into a rage - flared nose, red eyes. I asked him, "Are you ok buddy?" and I put my hand on his knee. He jerked his knee away from me and said something very harshly. The tech started hurrying up because he could now see the rage filling Noah's face. I asked, "Noah, is it hurting you? What's wrong?" He used his other hand to point at me and rattle off something angrily in Amharic. In the background Caleb was pacing around like a caged animal repeating over and over, "No daddy, no daddy, no daddy". I had no idea what was going on. The boys had their blood drawn in Addis so it wasn't a new experience for them and we had joked around about them being brave and they had seemed totally fine. Noah began crying and was only getting angrier when the tech finished. Noah stomped off and out the door he went. Josiah was next.

Josiah sat down in the chair and put his head in his hands and began to weep. I said, "Josiah, it's ok buddy, it's just one poke". He jerked his arm away from me and said something in disgust under his breath and would no longer make eye contact. He sat there and let the tech draw his blood. Caleb's apparent anxiety was growing feverish now and I told him sternly to sit down - his anxious movements were obviously causing Josiah even more distress. Josiah finished and I said, "ok Caleb you are next".

He ran out of the room, out of the hospital and hid behind some vehicles. I spent the next 10 minutes trying to coerce him back into the room and it was only through my insistence that he obey that he complied. It took us several more minutes to prep him. The nurse was trying to reason with him and Caleb was growing more and more animated. He was absolutely refusing to have 11 vials of blood drawn, so the nurse took out two larger vials and said "ok, just two". Caleb looked at the two vials and compared them with the 11 smaller vials and said, "No, they are the same - two big and 11 small, the same". I eventually told the nurse that she was just going to have to do it because he would not be reasoned with. A tech held his right side and I gently held his arm and knee. Another tech came in to assist. When the needle entered his arm you would have thought we had stuck his arm into a wood chipper. He screamed louder than any kid I have ever heard in my life and he maintained that scream throughout the entire process. Towards the end he started fighting us and trying to bite us at the same time screaming his head off. The female tech eventually told him, "THAT IS ENOUGH, NOW SIT STILL" - he slowed down in his screaming and stopped trying to bite us but it was still not pretty. Noah and Josiah sat in the background ranting and raving.

This whole episode sent the boys into a tailspin and they wanted to call Michelle and go back to Ethiopia immediately. I was trying to be empathetic as possible, which admittedly I probably did not do a very good job in because I thought they were being extremely foolish. We returned home and the boys were angry with me for the rest of the night.

I remained baffled about the whole experience until bed time. I was putting all the boys in bed when I noticed Caleb holding his left arm like it was limp and trying to move his blankets down at the same time. He asked me to move his blanket down and he told me he couldn't use his arm anymore. I asked him what he was talking about and he said that all the blood had been taken from his arm and he could no longer use it. I looked at him like he was crazy and noticed that Noah and Josiah were watching me. That is when it dawned on me. The boys think that when you have your blood drawn it does not replenish, so when they saw 11 vials leaving their arms they freaked out. I had a hard time trying to communicate how the body replenishes blood - they laughed at me like I was crazy and went to bed.

This morning Caleb was still holding his arm like it was no longer of anymore use. We are pretty sure that Noah told Caleb to stop acting like a baby, so that was encouraging. I am curious to see how they are doing this afternoon when I pick them up from school.

Catching Up

2007-09-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot going on in life in the past week and I have been finding little time or energy to blog. Overall, things have gotten MUCH better. When I say "MUCH", I mean that the police have not come again, no windows have been broken, and I have not had to disarm a steak knife from a son. We met with the Gardeners about a week or two ago at the Bade's and we all had a very candid conversation. Apparently Noah had been hoping that if he was bad enough he would eventually be able to be sent home. His whole goal in breaking windows and pulling knives was to go to jail and then be sent back to Ethiopia. His plan came crashing down when Michelle told him that there was no way that he was returning to Ethiopia. We explained to the boys that we believe that it would be a sin on our part to send him to another family. We explained to him that he could break every window in our home, pull knives on people, and be the most destructive that he possibly could and he would still be a McConnell. He may have to go to jail or some facility that would help him, but when he got out, he would still be a McConnell. It was a startling wake up call for him and it has made all the difference.

He still gives angry looks, says hateful and hurtful things, stomps around the house when he doesn't get his way, and is constantly looking for a reason to be angry. On a daily basis I hear "You are not my father", "I hate you", "I hate America", "My name is not McConnell", and my personal favorite "You are a bad Pastor". At one point he said your name is not "Pastor McConnell" it is "Pastor..." and he pointed at his groin.

Through it all I have seen that there is something broken inside him and as much as he "hates" us, he longs to really be a McConnell. He longs to really be loved. He longs to believe %100 that we are really his parents no matter what. I have read stories about kids like this and now I get to see him face to face.

It is not easy. One day I will be at the end of my rope and Jennifer will help recenter me and vice versa. Everyday we are absolutely mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted. I am not sure that we have ever been through anything so hard.

Well my "quick update" has turned wordy. I guess I would close by saying thank you all for praying. I have never had so many people tell me that they are praying for me. Literally, everyday someone emails me, calls me, or tells me face to face that they are praying for us and it has been a huge encouragement. Please continue to pray, we have a long road ahead of us.

Learning to be a Kid Again

2007-08-28T07:14:00.000-07:00

One of the challenges that an older Ethiopian boy who has last his father must face is learning to be a kid again and letting go of being in charge. Here are a few blissful pictures in the eye of the storm.

(The little boy with Noah is their younger biological brother who was adopted by a family in Spokane last year. That family was told that Micah was an only child and that both parents had died. Clearly Micah is not an only child and their mother is still alive.)

Caleb, Micah, and Noah (background: Josiah and Makayla)

L to R: Josiah, Ana, Makayla, Bri, Emma, Caleb, Hunter (Micah's adopted brother),
Micah, ? (Micah's adopted sister), and Noah

L to R: Caleb, Noah, Josiah and Makayla before the "big race"...(Josiah won by about 50 yds.)

F to B: Josiah, Caleb, Noah (this was their first time in a boat and their first time seeing a "large" [its not] river - Noah stopped us to pray and ask God to protect us...it was a little funny)

The Ride

2007-08-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

I am sitting at our new kitchen table - it seats 10 comfortably and we could probably add a few if need be. The boys and Emma are outside playing and Makayla and the babies are downstairs watching TV. Jennifer and Katie are running some errands...and here I sit.

The house
is quiet
for a moment and only a moment.

Even now Emma and Caleb are running in with the mail.

Our lives have been crazy this past week. I took the boys camping at Tshimikain Creek Camp to serve at the Union Gospel Mission's camp for troubled youth. It was a great time of introducing the boys to new things - a river, canoes, sharks (long story), a cougar, a campfire, and endless bicycle trails. There are many stories to tell and maybe one day I will get them recorded, but not today. We returned from camping on Thursday with great shouts of joy from the boys to see their Mom and sisters, and from their sisters to see their brothers. It promised to be a good next week.

On Friday morning, Noah woke up angry at the world and flew into one of his temper tantrums and the world turned upside down. He spent the vast majority of the day running away and sitting across the street steaming at us. He eventually began throwing rocks at our house and declaring that he was no longer Noah McConnell and that his name was Zelalem Tadios. He was also demanding to talk to Michelle from CWA so that he could go back to Africa because he was finished with us. It was a long, long day.

He eventually broke a window and busted the siding on the house and I had reached my breaking point. I chased him for a few blocks and providence would have us run right into a policeman. I eventually caught up to him before he reached the policeman. I picked up him and he began punching me in the face and chest. His first blow caught me by surprise and my grip loosened. I tried to secure his legs because he was kicking me as well. The policeman had started to make his way over to us at this time. I am sure it was a strange sight to see a white guy gently man handling a little black boy. We talked for awhile with Officer Stipe/Stine (something like that) and he encouraged Noah to return home or have Dad "carry him" home. Noah was obstinate during the whole conversation and actually asked to go to jail when the Officer suggested that he may end up there.

The Officer eventually left, wishing me well and we returned home. Noah continued to refuse to enter the house and returned to pelting the house with rocks. I chased him again and he ran to another neighbors house. I left him there and went home. That neighbor called the police and I called at the same time. A friend of ours was actually on duty and responded. Noah was so angry that he refused to obey me and the policeman. He was eventually handcuffed and put in the police car to be transported to Sacred Heart's psychiatric ward for attempting to kill himself with a steak knife. We continued to plead with Noah to simply come into the house and eat dinner and obey and he continued to yell and scream at us. Jennifer and Caleb were in tears and all the other kids were bewildered. Josiah simply said, "Zelalem crazy".

The car was about to leave when he relented and decided to come inside and obey if we promised to take him to see "Michelle at CWA". We agreed and he came in, ate dinner and then went to bed. We were on the phone throughout the situation with a couple of different counselors seeking wisdom and guidance. The next day we went to see Michelle and the conversation did not quite go the way he was expecting. She told him that he was not going to go back to Africa no matter how bad he was or what he did. Jennifer and I liken disruption to divorce and it is simply not an option for us no matter how bad it gets. We covenanted together to raise all of our children before a holy God and we take that just as seriously as our marriage. We also explained to him that the Ethiopian gov't. and American gov't. all say that he is our son. His Ethiopian Mom and even the Lord says he is our son. There is no way to go back.

After two, one hour sessions he relented and submitted. He hugged Jennifer and I, and said that we were his parents and that he was choosing to love and obey us. It was a lull in the storm and we were glad for it.

That was on Saturday and today is Monday. Since then he has had a couple of borderline moments but he committed to talking through them and not flying off into a rage. The emotional, mental and spiritual drain is that we end up having lengthy conversations about everything that he doesn't like that we decide. It is so exhausting trying to communicate using sentence fragments and single words. But we are committed no matter the cost.

It is quiet again.

I'm enjoying the momentary break.

Suffering for the Lord is good, but hard.

Thanks for praying.

Good Morning

2007-08-16T08:33:00.001-07:00

I like to read. I like to read a lot. In the pas several months I have added multiple blogs to my reading list because it encourages me to see what our Lord is doing in other parts of the planet as well as exposing me to great thinkers, church planters, and men exercising their faith. My time around a blog also gives me a little snuggle time with my daughters - so on one screen I set pictures up for them to look at and on another I read and write. This morning I was reading and posting on one of my favorite blogs - Keith and Amy Watson - and decided to take a picture. Bri is wearing her extra special Barbie princess night gown and Ana is wearing her extra special Strawberry Shortcake nightgown. These two night gowns have probably been worn every night for the past few months. Matter of fact, Bri has told me that she cannot be my little princess unless she is wearing her princess gown.

Even as I am typing Bri and Ana have gone to watch Dora and now Ana has returned. "Dad, I wanna climb up." She then sees her picture on one of the monitors and wants to take another. Here is the picture that we have taken together. She is nodding her approval and saying, "It's Daddy and the Princess" - and she is most assuredly right. It is moments like these that remind me why I love children so much and why my home will never have "enough" little feet running here and there. Parenting is the greatest opportunity to disciple and I have become very comfortable knowing that the Lord may never do anything "great" with my life, but he may use one of my precious gems to change the world.

Number 3 (Caleb) has wandered in this morning and is all teeth at looking at pictures of his sisters on our blog. I tell him to look right here and he doesn't realize it but...*flash* he has now joined the post.

So good morning and go make a difference.

Trip Pictures, Peace, & a 12 Year Old...oh my!

2007-08-15T16:41:00.000-07:00

I am still working on our new blog but in meantime you can enjoy some of the pictures that will be accessible through the site. You can view those here.

Hopefully I will be able to launch the new site in the next couple of days.

Life is still fragile around here. Noah has gone 3 days with a good attitude and being very obedient. He hasn't run away again and there have been no more "counseling" sessions. There have been a couple of moments when he has been corrected and you could see the wheels turning - rage or submit. So far, he has chosen submission, but it still creates eggshell moments.

Josiah and Caleb are starting to struggle a little. Nothing earth shattering - grief, loss, depression, a little brotherly arm punching type of stuff. We are working on it and getting through it. We have learned that Josiah is actually 12, well at least 12 and probably much older. I took all three boys to the Doctor the other day for their first check up and in general there health is pretty good. We have a whole list of labs and stool samples that we have to have done, but overall a decent bill of health. The Doctor confirmed my suspicions that he was much older than 9 years old, but the other two seem to be right on track. This has caused a little bit of concern for us simply because it forces us to rethink school and an appropriate grade. We are praying and talking through it.

So the parents of our new 8, 10, 12+ year old sons are still kneeling before the Lord and He continues to lead us one step at a time. It has been unbelievably hard and there have been many tears shed and walls punched, but God continues to remain good and we continue to remain vastly dependent.

God is Good...All the Time

2007-08-13T09:10:00.000-07:00

This has become our mantra. While we were in Addis our son Noah would sing this in a song over and over. Little did we know that we would be repeating this over and over in a different context. We have had an extremely hard time with Noah. When we first picked him up he seemed to be the most spiritual and grateful, but his attitude quickly changed. He has run away twice already and we have had several confrontations with him. He is a young man full of loss, anger and bitterness and this often manifests itself in absolute rage. I am hoping to post my journal as well as pics from the trip today, but we have been absolutely exhausted everyday since we returned and much of it is from trying to love and parent Noah.

Please be praying and remember...God is Good all the time!

Breakfast

2007-08-09T08:19:00.000-07:00

Come join us for breakfast!

3 lbs. of potatoes
14 slices of French Toast
10 slices of Pancake
4 Peaches
3 Bananas
1 Full pitcher of Apple Juice
1 Full pitcher of Hot Tea
1 Full pot of Coffee

The boys have gained about 4 lbs. in the past week.

Reality Check

2007-08-08T12:29:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a ride! We haven't been home a week yet and let me tell you, it has been faith stretching to say the least. Jennifer and I are both battling a touch of some stomach ailment, although not too serious. Jennifer got strep the day we came back and has been down and out for most of the past few days. I have been primarily running the house - meals, cleaning, dressing, showers, etc. The boys are adjusting fairly well. They are still getting used to being the only Ethiopians in shouting distance and our bland American food.

Our middle son (at first thought to be the oldest) has really been struggling emotionally. We had a little confrontation with him while in Addis and had a counseling session with his Orphanage counselor. She warned us that he is very emotional and stubborn - she has been VERY right. Nothing we can't handle with the Lord's strength, but it has been another challenge. He is currently curled up in a ball crying his eyes out in his bed for some unknown reason. I am sure that he is dealing with grief and loss - the language barrier is difficult both ways in trying to console and comfort him. I sat on his bed with him for awhile watching the other two play cards and having a good time.

**Update** - While I was typing the above Caleb, Noah's younger brother, came and asked me to come. Noah wanted a t-shirt. While I was in their room I asked the boys again what was wrong with him. They said they didn't know, but Noah spoke up and spouted out something. Caleb said, "Ahhh" and then used hand gestures to show me that Noah was upset because I took away his chips and gave them to the rest of the kids. At lunch Noah had dumped the bags of chips out onto his plate - I took half of them and distributed them to the rest of the kids. So he was pitching a fit about his chips...and nothing more. If he was a normal kid then he would be disciplined for that but I think it is a way of dealing with things. No doubt it was wrong and I tried to explain that to him. He may have told me that just to save face about crying over something else...I have no idea. Anyway, it is things like that they we are dealing with...ah, the joys of parenting.

I will try to post my journal sometime this week...I still do not have our pictures transferred to my computer yet so those are coming also.

Home Again!

2007-08-05T01:37:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to let you know that we have arrived in Spokane safely. Everyone is tucked away in their beds and trying to recover. Thanks for praying and I will update the blog over the next couple of days with our Addis Ababa Journal.

2007-08-03T21:51:00.000-07:00

We have safely arrived in Frankfurt and we are all doing well. We should bbe leaving in a few hours for Chicago and then on to Spokane. The boys are doing well and were only slightly freaked out by the plane ride, escalator, and hand dryer in the bathroom. See ya soon!

We are in Addis

2007-08-01T02:38:00.000-07:00

We arrived safely. Things have been going very well. Our luggage is still lost so we are roughing it. The Embassy date went very smoothly. We have taken a ton of pictures and will post those up as soon as we get back. The boys are doing very well and couldn't have been more excited to meet us. They are extremely affectionate - constantly touching, hugging, kissing and loving on us. They like to feed us as a sign of honor and often give up their shoes, food and seats for us. Will post more later. We are all doing well.

Patrick, for
Jennifer
Megan

Rerouted

2007-07-27T03:22:00.000-07:00

We have safely arrived in Frankfurt Germany. We are being rerouted to Cairo and then on to Addis. The trip has gone well so far with some thunderstorms, plane maintenance and some heavy turbulence just for fun. I will keep you uppdated as I can. Love and miss you all.

Patrick
Jennifer
Megan

Update on Life

2007-07-24T21:41:00.000-07:00

There has been much going on in the McConnell household and most of it has been overshadowed by the pursuit of our 3 sons, so I wanted to give you all an update on a few other extremely important things that have happened in our lives recently.

#1. Arianna Marie Jade Phillips (Jennifer is holding her in this picture) became Ariana Marie Joy McConnell on 6/20/07, her second birthday. Ana has faced many challenges in her young life and it has been God's grace that has brought her to us. We picked Ana up in Yakima when she was 5 months old and she was a beautiful, quietly sleeping baby. Within 15 minutes on the road back to Spokane we became very aware of how she would be for the next year and a half - a constant scream! I mean that literally and figuratively. She has been a great joy (Joy) in our lives and we couldn't imagine life without her. She is only one of two cuddlers (Makayla) among our daughters and has a HUGE laugh when you get her going. I have a tendency to pace around the house when I talk on my cell phone and Ana has picked that up. You will constantly find her walking all over the house by herself talking on one of my old cell phones. If you ask her about it she says, "talking Daddy, talking".

Many family and friends came out to Ana's court date including her biological grandparents, Roy & Charlene, who have become an important part of our family. They are also Bri's grandparents and have basically adopted Emma and Kayla as grandchildren. They have been a real blessing to our family. After the court date we went to Riverfront Park and celebrated by riding the carousel, eating ice cream and playing on the big red wagon with our friends the Streltzoff's and of course Grandma T (Takisaki). Ana is very excited about her brothers and everytime she see's a black or brown person she asks us "Caleb?" or "Noah?" or "Josiah"? It's really cute, but it shows how much we have been praying for them and how much we have tried to include the entire family in the journey.

#2 Katie Heidenreich is like a daughter to us and we had the great pleasure of sending her off to Romania on a mission trip to work with Romanian Orphans. Katie has felt like overseas missions could be a real possibility for life for her and we have been encouraging her in that direction. God made it very clear that she was to go on this trip through a lot of affirming circumstantial moments and the affirmation of the Elder's and the Church Body of VBC. Katie is in Romania this very moment for a week so please be in prayer for her. We are praying that the Lord would make it clear whether or not He is calling her into longterm overseas missions. Katie has been very patient and faithful in prayer as she has waited for the Lord to open this door and so it is very exciting to see her acting on her faith. We miss you Katie!!

#3 This past Sunday the Elder's and VBC body installed me (Patrick) as an Elder at VBC! This was a very exciting and incredibly humbling moment for me. The Lord has done so much in my life personally and I stand in awe that He wastes/spends His time on a lowly creature like me. It has been a great pleasure and an honor to serve among the VBC Body and I work along some truly great men. Currently our Elder Board includes Ben Orchard who is the Teaching Pastor, Doug Snook and Dave Jones. I enjoy ministering with these men greatly and am constantly encouraged by their commitment to the Body of Christ and His mission.

Although none of these men read my blog, I would like to thank several key men who have invested time, sweat, and tears into my life.

1. David Burns - Burnie confronted me in the Spring of 1992 with the Gospel and pursued me like the hound from Heaven. I will never know what he saw in me or what drove him to be so faithful in pursuing a pathetic wretch. But he was extremely faithful in pursuing me every day for 9 months and taking every opportunity to point me to Christ. Burnie is an evangelist and he taught me to love the unlovely and that everyone deserves to hear the Gospel again and again. In February of 1993 I knelt beside his bed and confessed Christ.
2. John Smith - I met John in 1997 and he was/is the most influential man in my life. For me John is the epitome of humility and has become no less than my spiritual father and mentor. Although we no longer serve in the same church I think of him continually and often ask myself, "What would John do in this situation?"
3. John Koh - I initially met John Koh on a church softball team and had no idea at the time what the Lord had in store for the intersection of our lives. At the end of our 3 years of ministry together I would say, "John Koh is the anvil that the Lord has brought to beat my life upon" and I meant every word of it. John taught me faithfulness, purity, "unction" and what it means to shepherd a family.
4. Roland Sanchez - I met Roland in 1998 in a discipleship group with John Smith, Geoff Kellogg, Roland and myself...and we positively did not like each other. Roland was very black and white and I was very....not. But over the years God fashioned a friendship that will stand the test of time. I love Roland as Jonathan loved David and he taught me what it means to make the family central, to be ready to sacrifice self, and how to be honest even when it hurts.
5. Geoff Kellogg - I never had an older brother, if I had, Geoff would be it. Geoff knows the scriptures like I never will and is as steady as a man can be. Geoff has taught me what it means to need a brother in this life and how to be a brother. He has taught me what it means to be a man who must stand up when everyone around him tells him to sit down. I talk to Geoff daily and I love our conversations which range from our current favorite micro-brew to the latest family issue in our sordid extended families. Geoff is a man among men and a brother among brothers.

These are probably the 5 men who have had the most impact in my life. There have been many, many more, ranging from my two Dad's, my two brothers, Mike Rosario, Bob DeLateur, Joe Sousa, Henry Yan, Keith Watson and many, many, many more. But there has been only one woman who has influenced me greater than all these men.

Jennifer and I have been married for 12 years this past March. We have been through soooo much together that we often sit and say, "That seems like a lifetime ago". Jennifer has taught me how to serve others even when you don't feel like it, she has taught how to exercise my faith and not settle with comfort and ease, she has taught me how to pray big, she has taught me how to laugh at myself, how to enjoy my family more than my job, she has taught me how to give love and receive love. The greatest thing that she has taught me is how to be a man. I know, it sounds weird. She has taught me to be a man by not trying to lead, by growing in submissiveness and by being the wife I can not image living without. By not stepping in and trying to run the show, she has forced me to follow the Lord and lead!

So thank you all for your investment into my life. I continue to be a pot in the Master's Hands and look forward to the next spin on the Potter's wheel.

New Pics of the Boys

2007-07-24T10:09:00.001-07:00

We received new pictures of the boys today. All three of them are looking good and we hear that they are very anxious to meet us and come home!

keith watson: THE Mission of the Church

2007-07-20T16:54:00.000-07:00

keith watson: THE Mission of the Church

Keith is a cousin by law and a brother by Royal Adoption. He is also very like-minded and at one point in our history we were entertaining the possibility of ministering together. We made our plans and the Lord directed our paths, so I am in Spokane and he is in Macon.

He is in the process of following the Lord's command to make disciples in Macon, GA. I was catching up on some of his posts today and stumbled across this one. I love reading Church Planters because they are forced to think through things that an established church usually does not. I loved the simplicity of the mission of the church as he sees it and as the Bible instructs us and wanted to introduce him and share his thoughts here.

If you want to watch the establishment of a local church come together by the supernatural leading and orchestration of God...then read along with Keith!

Congratulations,

2007-07-19T15:53:00.000-07:00

your American Embassy appointment has been scheduled for July 31 , 2007.

That is the way an email we received two days ago began. This is the date that we have been waiting on and now it is finally here. One would expect relief, excitement, perhaps overwhelming joy...I will assure you it was all of those things and more. Jennifer kept saying, "We are actually going to Ethiopia, we are actually going to Ethiopia" - I had to keep her indoors so the neighbors wouldn't think she was crazy.

The past couple of days have been an absolute whirlwind of emotion and activity. We are scrambling to finalize some last minute adoption paperwork, confirm airline tickets, hotel reservations, gifts for orphans, on hand money, childcare arrangements for our daughters, adding the boys to our health and life insurance, still working on the house, packing, etc.

We leave next Thursday, July 26th and will return August 3rd. I am planning on taking my Mac so I can record our entire trip as we go. There are Internet Cafe's in Ethiopia so I may be able to get an email out or make a post on our blog. If we are not able to en route then I will make sure it is one of the first things that we do when we get back.

Please be praying that the Lord provides the last bit of money for our trip, for Jennifer's Mom as she watches all four of our daughters, and for our hearts to be firmly fixed on the Lord as we journey.

Tell My Parents...

2007-07-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

Tell my Dad and Mom that I am praying for them. Can you please tell me their names? I want to pray for them by name. What are my sisters names? I want to pray for them too. Tell them that the Lord has been so kind to me for providing me with a Christian Dad - he is in heaven now with Jesus, and now God has given me another Christian Dad. He is so kind, praise to God. Please tell them that I love them and I can not wait to meet them. ~ Noah Zelalem Patrick McConnell (pictured with a little boy)

A friend of ours, Rona, met our sons a couple of weeks ago and had a conversation with Noah. He kept asking one of the Ethiopian women there, "Teacher, can you please ask the mom (Rona)..." and then he would pepper her with questions. Rona said she was pierced to the heart by his gentle prodding for answers about his parents and his insistence that she tell us that he was praying for us. She said that there was such a spiritual urgency about him that it left little doubt about his spiritual state. We were very encouraged to hear this about our oldest son. In all the early pictures that we had received of him he usually looked very somber as if there was a deep sadness lurking just beneath those tender eyes.

He told Rona that when he and his brother were at court some Ethiopian officials brought his mother into the courtroom for her to release custody of the boys. "They brought her in on a stretcher." The deep sadness there is watching his father die a slow, painful, messy death and then to see his mother heading down that road. It has made me even more determined to bring him home, love him, disciple him, and pray that one day the Lord may use my children to impact Africa for Him.

Positive Adoption Terminolgy 101

2007-07-15T13:51:00.000-07:00

Questions well meaning people ask...And our answers!

Q) So you couldn't have you own?
A) They are our own.

(I really want to ask those who ask us this question - and have 2 children in tow is " Oh, so you've had sex twice?" No offense to the non-adoptive families here, but where does one draw the line on intrusive questions?) Feel free to comment! Really, this is the saddest question we are asked. Noah and Olivia are OURS. No difference. We love the different ways that our children made it into our family!

Q) How much did she cost?
A) SHE IS PRICELESS.

But if you would like to find out what the US Government charges for the services they require concerning international adoption, you can talk to me when the children are not around. ( I would never go up to a pregnant lady and ask her what her OBGYN is charging her! )

Q) Why did you adopt?
A) Because there are 140 million children who do not have a mom and/or dad to tuck them into bed at night.

140 million children do not have guidance, love or acceptance. We adults all complain that our world is going to Hell, but none of us are stepping up to the plate to change things. We, our family, want to be a part of the positive change in this world. One at a time. ...One at a time.

Q) Why don't you adopt an American child?
A) That is a very real question with a variety of answers.

Each family who chooses to adopt needs to find out what type of situation is right for them. International adoption appealed to us because, #1 we didn't feel the need to "blend in" and so we did not care if our children looked differently than us. #2 We felt an overwhelming need in the countries we have adopted from. God has put adoption in our hearts and he has led us to our children. We have been extremely blessed by listening to God's guidance. Our reasons for adopting are as personal as each person who gets pregnant. And our adoptions are as wonderful as each pregnancy! We hope that we educate everyone in this forum to understand that adoption is as real and tangible as pregnancy. Unfortunately, the adoptive parents do not usually benefit from all of the attention and concern that a pregnancy dictates, but they do go through the same set of stage by stage concerns. Often it is a very lonely journey...

(Copied, with permission, from http://www.ourferrisfamily.blogspot.com/; thanks to the Ferris Family)

Dear Elliot...

2007-07-15T13:32:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across this video on an adoption blog today, watched it and cried. I hope that it will remind you to hug your child while you can, I know I will.

Lord, Give Me Eyes that See

2007-07-14T13:04:00.000-07:00

I have recently discovered that I am inundated with opportunities for the Gospel and I just rarely take them. Usually, I am so self-absorbed that I am not thinking about being interrupted, and instead I am focused merely on the task at hand. Why can I not see what the Lord has for me to see??

Case in Point

This morning I woke up at about 4:58am for my weekly Saturday morning men's group. I head out to pick up coffee for us with a friend of mine before making our way out to SplashDown Water Park to meet. I place my order at the Starbucks counter and just by "coincidence" I am wearing my "Christian Starbucks" t-shirt...totally unplanned by me, just blearily grabbed something from the depths of closet murkiness.

Missed Op # 1

She then says, "Cool shirt, I have never seen one of those!"

"Thanks, a friend gave it to me."

Missed Op #2

The girl who is making coffee (Girl #2) looks over at Chad and I, and also remarks, "Cool shirt, I have seen those around."

"Thanks."

Missed Op #3

I hand Girl #1 my credit card and she notices that it is the church's. She asks, "Cool, so what are you guys doing up at the church so early this morning."

"It's a men's bible study/accountability group."

"Cool."

Missed Op #4

Girl #1 then asks how many guys are in the group and she will give us some larger cups. Which is "cool" because the cups are usually really small. So I count them up and say, "About 5 or 6", to which she replies, "Ok, 6 it is...wait, how about "lucky number 7".

"Sounds great".

Missed Op #5

Girl #2 then says "Hope you guys have a great morning".

To which I reply, "Thanks, you too".

I mean, for the love. How many opportunities hit me square in the face everyday and I just never notice them!?! Lord, give me eyes that see!

Feast or Famine

2007-07-11T21:21:00.000-07:00

The title says it all. We go for months with no word and no pictures and then we get flooded with pictures. Here are a few more shots of the boys that we just received minutes ago and we will be posting up another batch tomorrow, hopefully.

Apparently Noah can play some Foosball! Nathan Snook look out! ;)

Caleb is sporting a sweatshirt because it is Winter in Africa...you know...85 degrees outside...oooh, chilly. :0

Here is a group shot with Noah and Josiah buried in there.

New Again

2007-07-11T11:04:00.000-07:00

I am a fundamentalist, I am a postmodernist. I am closed, I am open. I am Baptist, I am Presbyterian. I am a Calvinist, I am Arminian. I am Bible Centered, I am Missional. I am a Cessasionist, I am charismatic. I am Elder ruled, I am a congregationalist.

At the center of all of our "I Am's" there is only One I Am - God forbid we get so caught up in ourselves that we forget who stands at the center of all human history and declares... I AM!

Coming Together

2007-07-10T15:19:00.000-07:00

Some friends just returned from Ethiopia and we received a few new pictures today. We are very excited to see the boys hanging out together. It looks like Caleb has put on some weight since we saw him in the last picture so that was very encouraging. They are enjoying some candy that a family must have brought over to them. Caleb is on the left and standing on a step, then Noah and Josiah.

My boys are lookin good! :)

My Eyes

2007-07-09T09:15:00.000-07:00

Last summer Jennifer and I went out to eat. It's not unusual for us to do this...in fact, this may be the only pastime that we have in common. While I was in the restroom, and I was up close and personal with a wall (I know it sounds crude and I apologize, but it is part of the story) I caught my reflection in the tile. It was a distant reflection as tile has a tendency to do and the only thing that really caught my eye, was my eyes. I have no idea where this thought came from, but I immediately thought "I will never have a son look back at me with those eyes". It was a sadly embarrassing moment for me. I have never longed for a son and have always been perfectly content with my daughters. Jennifer has longed for a son for many years and still desires to adopt a baby boy one day, but it has never been an issue for me. Until that moment, standing in a restaurant bathroom, looking at tile. Honestly, I teared up. We had been wrestling with dealing with some health issues that Jennifer was struggling with that affected her energy level and I had been coming to terms that we would never adopt another child. You have to understand, for many, many years people have always asked how many children were we planning on having and I would always answer "We will probably stop at about 21". The reply was usually a nervous laugh and then they would move on. The heart behind my answer has always been serious. I desire a gynormous family! So, I was seeing that dream come to an end and it struck me that I would never have a son to look back at me with my own eyes.

That fact has not changed. I will never have a son birthed from Jennifer and I, but...I do have 3 sons now, something I would never have thought possible a year ago. And we have to flex and change and adapt to bring more children into our home and to be quite honest, it has been a very good humbling experience for me.

Many of you have been asking for an update on our trip and unfortunately the answer has been the same for many weeks now...we are still waiting. But in the meantime, I have a couple of pictures of the boys that we haven't shared yet and wanted to do that now. Josiah (9) is first and Caleb (8) is the second picture. We didn't receive a picture of Noah (10) in this group. As I looked at my sons I realized something about them. They have suffered greater loss then I could ever imagine. They will never look into the eyes of their birth mother or father again. Broken people loving broken people.

And I take great pleasure, even though we are thousands of miles away, to look into their eyes and know that I have sons.

Enjoy your kids today!

Daddy, Where Do Babies Come From?

2007-07-08T00:28:00.001-07:00

The family went out to Zips for dinner tonight. Jennifer wanted to treat me - Zips is one of my favorite greasy hamburger joints but she is not the biggest of fans. As we sat eating dinner Emma, Kayla and myself began to reminisce all of the Daddy/Daughter dates that we had several years ago. On Friday nights I would go over to a friends house and play video games with a bunch of High School students and Jr. High Students. Our friend had a daughter that was a couple of years older than Emma and the girls loved playing with her.

Well, during dinner the girls wanted to know why we didn't do that anymore and I explained to them that he had gotten married and that didn't fit into his lifestyle anymore. The girls took that in stride and continued eating. Then Emma said, so this is his second marriage? I explained to her that he had not been married before and had made a mistake earlier in life. He had a daughter with a woman but they were never married. I was so consumed with my Zip's Papa Joe burger and zesty fry sauce that I never saw Emma's next question coming. But Dad, I thought you said that you have to get married to have babies?!? How did he have a baby and not be married?"

Suddenly my 7 year old, 3 year old and 2 year old were all ears! Never in all of their lives have they all looked so inquisitively at me at exactly the same moment. But no worries, I am a Pastor and have worked around children and with parents for many years. So I said the first thing that came to mind..."Uhhhhhhhh!"

The Elders' at my church would have been dumbstruck...Patrick didn't have something to say. (lol)

So I did what any good Pastor who is scrambling for an answer would do...I turned the question back on her! "Well, where do you think they come from?" Emma wasted no time, "Well, somewhere around Mommie's tummy but that is because you are married. So how does a baby get born between two people who are NOT married?"

I am gathering my thoughts now and am very close to pulling out the old "lifeline" answer..."we will have to talk about that when you get older". Meanwhile, Jennifer is fighting hard not to burst out laughing.

"Well Emma, it takes a man and a woman to have a baby. It is God's design for that baby to be born from two Christians who are married." At this point I think I have given her a pretty good biblical answer as well as some more details and I am hoping that she returns to her corn dog, but it was a futile hope.

"Well, what does the man have to do? The woman has to carry the baby and that's a lot of work." Drats!! She is smarter than she is supposed to be. Jennifer can no longer hold her laughter and the other three see their Mom laughing and join in. Emma says "Whaaaat?!? thinking that everyone is in on something that she is not. I can't really go any further in my explanation because my other 3 are still sitting there and plus I haven't really thought through how I am going to explain this to MY daughter! So I pull out that line that has saved me more times then I can count - "Well, that is another discussion for another time...now eat your corn dog."

They grow up too stinkin fast!

Online Backup Service

2007-07-07T22:04:00.000-07:00

I just stumbled across a great website that offers a free solution to making online backups of your important files. I have lost several hard drives over the years and many times I did not backup my files. Mozy takes care of that for you and it's free! You get 2 GB of online storage and the program that automatically backs up your files. There is also a premium version at $4.95 per month for unlimited storage. The application will let you choose what you want to backup from your hard drive. You can let Mozy generate an encryption key or use your own. You can also schedule automatic backups. I am currently using the free 2GB service.

If you click on the link below you get an additional 256 MB of space. Pretty suweet deal! It works for Macs and Pcs.

Mozy Online Backup Service

Big Truths for Little Kids

2007-07-07T11:46:00.000-07:00

I was asked recently for a recommendation on a good family devotional book. I read quite a bit and love to find good books for our kids. Big Truths for Little Kids: Teaching Your Children to Live for God is an excellent primer for younger children as well as parents for night time or after dinner family devotions. Each day there is a little story that follows a group of kids through normal modern, everyday life and chronicles the spiritual decisions that they are faced with. At the beginning of each story is a series of questions from the Westminster catechism that have been simplified for a younger audience.

Amazon lists the reading level as baby to preschool, but seriously any child up to 9 or 10 will love this book. I know as a parent it has taught me much about applying theology to everyday life. For 36 chapters this book did not dumb down Christian Theology or be so dry that it lost anyone's attention. My 3 year old, 7 year old and 8 year old all enjoy it and are greatly rewarded in a sense of accomplishment as they memorize the answers to the questions.

I have highly recommended this book to parents in the past as they have taken God's call seriously to train their children in the ways of the Lord and I continue to recommend it today.

Let Your Kingdom Come

2007-07-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

Bob Kauflin is giving away this song over on his blog. It is from the "Valley of Vision" CD put out by Sovereign Grace Ministries and includes charts for you music geeks.

We have been thinking, praying, talking and sharing vision at Valley Bible Church lately and this song really captures our hearts in worshiping our Great God! Hope you are blessed by it.

Let Your Kingdom Come

Your glorious cause, O God, engages our hearts
May Jesus Christ be known wherever we are
We ask not for ourselves but for Your renown
The cross has saved us so we pray,
Your kingdom come

Let Your kingdom come
Let Your will be done
So that everyone might know Your Name
Let Your song be heard everywhere on earth
Till Your sovereign work on earth is done
Let Your kingdom come

Give us Your strength, O God, and courage to speak
Perform Your wondrous deeds
Through those who are weak
Lord use us as You want, whatever the test
By grace we’ll preach Your gospel
Till our dying breath

The McConnell Boys

2007-07-02T09:55:00.000-07:00

You need to give it 30 seconds to get through the "Title" portion of the video and then the actual movie will start to play

Still Waiting!

2007-06-29T17:37:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone! We are still waiting for our embassy date. We were hoping to find out this week but we didn't so maybe next week. We will let you know as soon as we have one. Then we will be off to Ethiopia! We will be in the country for about 10 days so we are very excited. My mom is coming to stay with the girls while we go pick up the boys so pray for her stamina with 4 very active little girls! We are very close to having all the money raised to go pick up the boys so we are very thankful to everyone and esp. to God who has been just amazing with providing for us. He is a good and gracious God whose name is most glorified in this process of our adoption.
Our church had a Big Boy Shower for us this past Tues. night and the boys are set with clothes and sports equipment. We were overwhelmed with everyone's gererosity and love for our family and for our new sons! Thank you Valley Bible Church!!!! We love you!!!!

Four New McConnells!!!!

2007-06-20T18:45:00.001-07:00

Hello, everyone! Well, we received some unexpected but very exciting news on Tues. Our 3 boys Noah, Josiah, and Caleb went to court and became McConnells without us even knowing about it. Usually our agency gets the court date a couple of weeks before it happens and lets us know but for whatever reason(GOD HIMSELF) we didn't find out until after it happened. So now we just wait to hear what our embassy date is and then we are off to Ethiopia to pick them up. We think probably mid July. You can keep praying that we can finish raising the support by then. We just have a little bit more to go. But God has been so faithful so we are not worried!
You say 4 McConnells? Well, Ana our youngest became a McConnell today in court on her 2nd birthday! It was very exciting! Several of our friends were there and the girls birth great-grandparents were there also! We went to the park and rode the carousel in celebration. She just loves horses! Of course she BAA, BAAed like a lamb during the court hearing!!!!!

Praise God from whom all Blessing Flow!

Just another day in the Life of the McConnell

2007-06-06T06:42:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone! Exciting things happening here. We received new pictures of the boys and the first one we have gotten of all three of them standing together. It was very cool to see them smiling and looking very healthy and happy. We are still waiting on the court date but it is kinda of good because we are still raising support for our tickets. We did receive a blessing on Sunday which covers one of our tickets so that was very encouraging.

Our carpet goes in today!!!!!!! Someone from the church has painted downstairs. The bathroom fixtures go in on Thurs. and the ceilings on Friday so hopefully we can start moving everything into the basement this weekend!! Yeah! Thank you Dave and his crew!!!!!!!!!

We sign the final court papers for Ana on Monday and then we will have a court date either the end of the week or that following week for sure. She will be Ariana "Ana" Marie Joy McConnell!!!!!!!!! We are very excited. All 4 of the girls last day of school is today!!!!!!!!

Two updates in one week!

2007-05-23T18:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, another update! We heard from our case manager about our oldest, Noah. He is doing good so we can move forward for a court date. So you can be praying that in God's timing our court date will come and we can get good plane tickets because right now they are in great demand and are very expensive!

We also should be hearing from our lawyer pretty soon about a court date for Ana so we will let you know as soon as we know!

The basement is really starting to come together. We will be able to paint over the next few days. Then the carpet guys can come in and lay the carpet and tile down hopefully next week. Then we can start moving in down there and get the boys room ready!

Update

2007-05-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone! It has been a while since we have posted just because it has been crazy around here trying to get everything ready. We had a rummage sale at the church where people in the church donated things to be sold to help us raise money. We made almost $2000 so we were overwhelmed with that and all the work everyone did to make it happen.

We have received the 2nd medical on all 3 boys. Our oldest has to be on medication for awhile until we can get a court date so we are waiting on that. You can be praying for that.

We are calling the carpet guy today so hopefully they will be able to lay the carpet really soon and then we can start moving things down to the basement. We have tickets on hold for the first week of July so we will see!!!!

Great News!

2007-05-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone! We have some VERY exciting news! All three boys have been moved to the orphanage in Addis the capital. They are together now and this is the final step for us to get a court date and then be able to pick them up!!!!!!!! On the other side though the 2 that are bio brothers had to say good-bye to their mom for the last time. Pray for them and her also as this is a very hard thing for all of them and something I can't even imagine as a mother. Even though the boys were explained that this was the final time they will see their mother most of them don't fully get it for a few days if not weeks so pray for them as it sinks in.

Carrie Underwood - I'll Stand By You

2007-04-30T13:15:00.001-07:00

(You can Google the video if you still want to listen to it)

Above is a video of American Idol 2005 Carrie Underwood singing "I'll Stand By You" The video is a montage of Ms. Underwood when she was visiting Africa for Idol Gives Back. If you purchase the song on iTunes the purchase price will be donated to Unicef, Save the Children, Malaria No More, Nothing But Nets and the Global Fund.

We saw this on someone else's blog and wanted to share it.

Snaffu

2007-04-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

It has come to our attention that there was some slight droppage of a few balls with our adoption of the boys over the past few weeks. We were supposed to receive a grant from an agency but it was never sent. They were waiting to receive an invoice from our Adoption Agency who had no idea that we had received the grant. Our Adoption Agency needed to be told to send the invoice by us who didn't know that we needed to do anything except receive it. Soooo....our paperwork has simply sat on someone's desk until Jennifer started asking questions and pushing buttons - she is made for that kind of stuff.

Kingdom Kids came to the rescue! They coordinated between the giving and receiving agencies and expedited all of our paperwork - they went above and beyond what we would have expected and have lavished the love of Christ on us. I told Steve, the President of KK, don't worry about it - you don't have to spend so much time, effort and money on this. We are patient and can wait. Steve simply said, "That is not good enough for us. We need to get your sons home to you and will do whatever it takes to insure that!" And he MEANT it.

We received an email from CWA telling us that our dossier (all of our paperwork) has been sent and should arrive in Ethiopia in 4 days!! We are so excited! The dossier is one of the largest hurdles to jump in this process and now it is completed!! We now begin the waiting process. The paperwork has to be processed/translated in Ethiopia and then we wait for a court date.

Remodel Update

2007-04-25T20:33:00.000-07:00

The progress on the basement has slowed considerably with the family being home and a couple of our key guys taking vacations. So far they have hung all the Sheetrock and are about %85 done with the mudding, taping, and sanding. The outlets have been wired and turned on as well as the light switches. We have a few more small electrical things that need to be finished but that portion is mostly complete. The things that remain are:

1. Carpet
2. Texture/Painting
3. Toilet/Sink
4. Doors
5. Ceiling

Just a few minor things ;)

We are excited and can not wait to finally move in. Cutting our living space in half has been quite the challenge but we are adjusting - its amazing what Benedryl and Barney does to kids ;p

We're back!

2007-04-24T07:59:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone! The girls and I are back from Georgia. It was a great visit to be able to see all of our family, but it is also very good to be home. We are quite a bit to do before the boys come home. The basement is looking really good and the guys are really working hard to try and get it finished! We had a few mishaps in Georgia. Emma and Kayla both got metal in their eyes and Emma's had started rusting so that was a huge ordeal. They both were very brave girls, and they are doing fine now. Kayla also got knocked down by her cousin's horse, and it was a very scary thing. God was definitely looking out for her that day and we are very thankful she is still with us. Remarkable she still loves horses, and she would love to have one in our backyard! Well, I just wanted to say hello. Thanks for continuing to support us in prayers and finances! As someone said to me, "It is just not the McConnells who are adopting these boys but all of us!"

Disneyland on Crack is Open!

2007-04-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

Everyone returned safely on Wednesday and we have been enjoying family time since then. I took a few days off and we have been taking it easy and just spending time.

Almost Home

2007-04-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

Saturday night I had one of those life changing experiences that you encounter when faith bumps up against reality. I have a good friend who has been after me for joining him at En Christo all year long and this past weekend I committed to going with him. En Christo is a ministry founded and hosted by Whitworth College students and has been reaching the homeless and down and out for the past 17 years. Here is a link to find out more about thier ministry.

I joined up with John and Chelsea and we headed up to Otis 5 (5th floor of the Otis Hotel) where we began passing out bagged sandwiches to the residents. We handed out lunches to several of the residents who just took the bags and then retreated back into their rooms. However we had substantial conversations with 3 of the residents - for confidentiality reasons I will just affectionately call them Larry, Moe, and Curly.

Larry was the first guy that we met and probably impacted me the most. The college student who normally ministers on the hall had started a bible study in 1 John with Larry and so John and I picked up where they had left off. Larry is married and as far as I could tell had no children. His wife stayed in the living room and talked to Chelsea so I never met her. Larry explained to us that they normally study the passage all week and then they come together and talk about what they had observed. Honestly, I was expecting a surface level look at the passage and thought our time would be more encouraging to him than anything. I was absolutely stunned by his depth of thinking, theological understanding, and the uncanny ability of applying the passage to real life. He must have talked for 10 minutes about the things he had seen in the passage and took us to several other passages where he saw a connection and I was honestly having a hard time keeping up with his theological implications.

He finally came to the end of his observations and I sat looking at him scrambling for something wise and pastoral to say. All I could muster was, "Have you ever been to seminary? Ever think about being a Pastor?" He chuckled and looked down at the floor. "There are some things that we do in life that prevent us from doing other things in life. You see, I am a sex offender." He kept talking but I don't remember what he said after that because I was stunned. I was sitting across the table from a sex offender. Now it is one thing to read this or to have heard stories, but to enter the home of an offender and to sit across the table, to shake his hand and to share over the Scriptures together...well, that is quite a different thing.

We continued talking and he told us his story and the tragic lifestyle that he had come out of. He said he had hurt many, many people. I have no idea what kind of baggage, guilt and shame that he must carry with him. At the end of our conversation I was profoundly affected by the experience. I prayed for and with him and shook his hand again. My one encounter with Larry opened up so much of the New Testament Scriptures to me. No longer was Jesus' encounter with tax collectors, rebels, and prostitutes just words, but now they had a face.

We then met Moe who was probably a 50 yr. old sitting in the middle of his floor surrounded by at least 20 beer cans and smoking the tip end of a cigarette. He is a member of the Hell's Angels and was even polite enough to show us his tattoo, jacket and some pictures. He told us that a year ago he had crawled into the bottle after a friend had been killed downltown and not found the courage to crawl out again. We stood at his doorway and talked for several minutes - mainly we listened to his stories, gathered a few prayer requests so that we could "shoot them up to the man upstairs, because prayer really works".

Curly was an interesting guy who has a lot of medical issues. He also stood at his door and talked for quite awhile. We talked about the tv show "cops", the nature of man, the state of technology today and man's laziness in the area of creativity.

After I finished meeting these men and hearing their stories I felt compelled to come back again and again. I'm already looking forward to my next opportunity to rub shoulders with the unlovely in this world. I am praying for them this week and hope to build deeper relationships so that I may grow in my own intimacy with the Lord as well as introduce them to the Christ I love.

I have included a song that I heard last night as I was driving home. It was very timely so I thought I would share it along with today's blog.

(Craig Morgan, "Almost Home")

Remodel: Sheetrock

2007-04-14T08:06:00.000-07:00

Above: Master bathroom entrance from the bedroom
Below: Master bedroom

Above: Office - extended a little to include a window and add more space to the office.
Below: Family Room closet that holds the bathroom pump

Solitude

2007-04-13T07:52:00.000-07:00

I have a friend, we will just call his name David, who is constantly reminding me to be teachable. Don't get me wrong it's a good thing to be reminded to be teachable and I thank God for men like David who are in my life and do not hesitate to challenge me.

So today, this post is in honor of David.

10 Things I Have Learned,
Alone

10. I enjoy silence for short periods of time, but am comforted by the sound of life, activity and energy.
9. My family has become so much a part of my life that I have a difficult time having a direction and acting on it when they are not around.
8. The human body is made to sleep for 6-8 hours at a time with no jarring breaks in the middle of it and when the body is allowed to get that kind of sleep it functions much better.
7. 'Coffee Time' with my wife every morning is extremely important to me and I value her prayers, her feedback and her interruptions when I am reading. :)
6. The Rocket Bakery, a few blocks away, is a great place to have a cup of coffee, eat a day old Danish and watch people laugh, love and argue.
5. I do not enjoy cooking for one person, but love the hustle and bustle of preparing a meal for 6!
4. It takes about 2 weeks and a good cleaning for the weird kid smells to leave a bedroom and I am beginning to miss it.
3. I have been disciplining myself to go to bed at 12 instead of 3, and have learned that the sun comes up well before 6am.
2. I have learned how to take a digital picture from a video camera, how to manage a blog, how to operate a Mac, and how I know nothing about contruction.

1. I have learned that I am a family man. Whether it be a gift or a curse, I love our growing family and honestly have a hard time operating without them. Many people have told me that they are always challeneged and amazed at our faith in pursuing kids - now I know that it has more to do with the way God has built me than it does with faith or courage. I have learned that I have many areas I need to grow in in order to parent my children in a God honoring, life preparing, joy filled way. I have learned that I am not obeying God in diligently teaching my
children the truths of Scripture and that I rely too much on others to do it for me. I have learned that a gentle word turns away wrath and that I need to exercise that more with my wife and children. I have learned that my Mom thinks I can walk on water and that my Dad thinks I have the faith of Abraham and the stength of Samson.

I have learned a lot in the past two weeks and I still have a week to go.

"Wrenching Politics" Concerning Stillborn Babies?

2007-04-12T11:18:00.000-07:00

Dr. Al Mohler wrote the following in his blog yesterday as he considered a bill going before the CA Senate.

Should stillborn babies be assigned birth certificates?
Here is the perverse logic of our times comes down to this: A baby stillborn in one hospital room is granted a birth certificate and a death certificate. The baby's parents are required to bury or cremate the baby's remains (true in all 50 states) and the baby is usually named.
Meanwhile, just down the hall, another baby of the same gestational age can be ripped apart in its mother's womb and removed as unwanted biological material. That baby is not named, is not granted a death certificate, and is not listed among the hospital's births. The insanity of this should be obvious to all.

You can read the entire post here.

Remodel Update

2007-04-12T11:12:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of the can lights that are being installed downstairs. These two are in the guest bedroom and are similar to what will be throughout the downstairs..

Wiring has been run throughout the basement.

The floor has been poured and is now nice and level. You can see the pump center-left that was installed for the master bedroom bathroom.

Obediently Irresponsible

2007-04-11T08:12:00.000-07:00

We just received another large donation from a giver which enabled us to meet the deadline to send the dossier. We have been absolutely overwhelmed by donations (many of them anonymous, small and large), work on our home, prayers, gifts, and promises of support once the boys get here.

Someone asked the question, "Do you think it is irresponsible to pursue an adoption when you have no money to support it?" My answer, yes! Financing this whole thing was the very issue that made me tell Jennifer "no" when she first brought up the idea of adopting. This is an issue that is heavy on my heart and mind and I constantly fight to give it to Christ. But as I have reflected on this issue I have rested my mind on several points.

I would rather be obedient and irresponsible, than responsible and disobedient.
Noah was probably pretty irresponsible when he dedicated a huge portion of his life, earnings, and time to building a boat in the middle of nowhere.
Moses was probably pretty irresponsible when he led millions of people into the desert with little to no means of feeding, housing and protecting them.
Barnabas was probably pretty irresponsible when he approached Saul, the Christian killer, when no one else would trust his salvation experience.
Jesus was probably pretty irresponsible when he allowed people to beat Him, mock Him, and ultimately kill Him to save many people who hadn't even been born yet.

We "felt" like God was calling us to obey Him, to exercise our faith in doing something that didn't make sense. In that, we have been put into a place of trusting the Lord with things that we have absolutely NO control over. And He has been very faithful in starting this good work and we are convinced that He will complete it. So when I put it in that perspective, I figure we are traveling in pretty good company.

Thank you all again for making this Adventure with us through your encouraging words, service, prayers and support of irresponsible people. I am sure our sons will thank you when they get here also ;)

Remodel: Master Bathroom

2007-04-10T08:07:00.000-07:00

You can see our window down the bathroom hallway looking into our bedroom.
The open space to the left of the shower is the entrance from the bedroom into the bathroom.
The plumbing for the bathroom is in. You will see a black pipe in the walls and that is connecting to the sink which will be on the left. In front of the shower and a little right of the window will be the toilet.

The bathroom, master bedroom, guest bedroom and 3/4 of the office have been roughed in. The plan is to start running the wiring today, do some more framing and finish up some small plumbing things.

Many of you have been asking if we have heard anything else about the boys and the answer to that is no. News out of Ethiopia is pretty limited so we cling to any little bits that we receive. As far as we know all 3 are doing well. Josiah is still at the Infant Orphanage in Sodo and the brothers are still living with their Mom. Our Dossier (all of our paperwork) is getting ready to be sent to Ethiopia now.

Georgia On My Mind

2007-04-09T13:57:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the pictures from the family in Georgia. Jennifer's Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister-n-Law and new nephew are pictured alongside the girls. I have been talking with them everyday and it sounds like they have had a good time catching up with everyone and are ready to come home. April 18th seems like a lifetime away, so please continue to pray for us.

The Darkest Day

2007-04-07T08:15:00.000-07:00

(Just sharing my journal entry for today)

Most people think that yesterday was the darkest day. It is the day that we celebrate the murder of Jesus. But I think in the moment, today was actually the darkest day for the Disciples. The day of the crucifixion would have raced by - the trials, the crowds, the whipping, the beatings, the mocking, the march to Golgotha. I could never imagine what those men were feeling as they saw their Lord hanging on a cross, I am sure it was surreal. And I do not want to take away from the horrors of that day - it was the day that the King of Glory died. Jesus, the I am, the bread, the life, the way, the truth and the life - dead.

But the next day, the horrific shock would have begun wearing off. Logic, reason, cold emotions - reality would have begun to set in - Jesus is DEAD!...and we may be next.

It's hard when someone you love dies. The shock of the moment is overwhelming, but it brings numbness with it. Death overwhelms the mind so much that you begin to have a hard time thinking, reasoning, making decisions...operating, it's a very pleasant and built-in thing. It's the next day that the reality of that death sets in. It's the vacancy of carpenter smell, rough touch, a familiar laugh and presence. It's not being able to walk behind him down the road and wonder at this man that you follow after. It's not being able to see his feet strike the ground when He walks, it's having your reason for living suddenly torn from you. It's the vacancy of life that wakes you from your terrified numbness.

It's the next day that it wears off and you feel the thundering loss of the whole thing. Today is that day or at least the day we remember it. So as we go about the normalcy of our day today, remember that it was today that the Disciples were waking up to the reality that God had been killed.

The Work Continues

2007-04-05T19:13:00.000-07:00

The remodel of the basement continues to go well. They have broken through the concrete floor to install a pump for the bathroom. Some more of the framing was finished today and they created the master bedroom closet. Lot's of heavy hammering and digging went into breaking through the floor. The spaces around the windows were also cemented and insulated. Lot's of good work done today.

Participants
Dave P.
Daryl L.
Kyle B.
and Tom G.

Plumbing Work New Shower & Window Light
Master Bedroom Window Well
After the Day is Done

Daryl Tears Down the Old Closet in Order to Build the New One
Dave Applies the Sledgehammer
Kyle is on the Prowl
Dave Throws Lumber Through our Window

Dossier, Demo & Wordpress

2007-04-04T17:29:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Thank you all for the encouraging words and continually stopping by and keeping up with our happenings. We are very close to sending our dossier off to Ethiopia, so that is very exciting news.

The guys were downstairs today beginning to do some demo and frame work, so I will post some picks up later this evening or in the morning.

We are in the process of moving our blog to a WordPress blog. There are a lot of reasons for our move - mainly customization and an expansive list of options that WP offers. When we make the switch I will post up our new link so you can update your bookmarks.

Remodel: Windows

2007-04-02T14:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the remodel in progress. Two egress windows were cut last week and new windows installed. Dave is outside right now putting the window wells in place. I was amazed at how much light flooded into the basement with those windows opened up. Wednesday they will start framing and hanging insulation. I am going to go and pick up a new toilet and pedestal sink for the new bathroom sometime this week. Jennifer doesn't have an Internet connection where she is at so you will be seeing this even before she does. I'll keep ya updated.

Master Bedroom Window

Guest Bedroom Window

Master Bedroom Exterior Window

Guest Bedroom Exterior Window

Video Available

2007-03-29T19:56:00.000-07:00

I put together a short video introducing our sons to our church family this past Sunday. I have a private, secured download link for any of you who would like to see it. Simply shoot me an email (paddy1mac@gmail.com) and I will pass along the information. Please do not forward the information or video to anyone as the information and pictures of the boys are completely confidential.

Remodel

2007-03-28T19:50:00.000-07:00

Our remodel has begun!! We now have two gaping holes where the egress windows will go and the outline of a room has been painted on the floor. We have been absolutely blown away by the kindness and generosity of our Church family - seriously, we have been stunned. Men from the church are donating their time and skills and the ladies will be helping Jennifer with our Spring yard sale and they are throwing a "Big Boy" baby shower for us. This has been another great reminder for us that as the Body of Christ works together, we see the love of Jesus poured out. I am hoping to get some pictures of the progress posted tomorrow.

The Eagle Has Landed

2007-03-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

Well they made it. I think after this trip Jennifer will never try such a crazy stunt again. Overall the girls did fine, but it was a long and trying plane ride. They are currently at my parents for a few days and then off to her family's place. Both of my brothers, sister, and grandmother were all able to see the girls, so the visit has gone very well. Ana is having a hard time adjusting to a new schedule, faces, and timezone and Bri...well, she is just being Bri. My parents have come to the realization that my kids are high energy and high maintenance...lol...go figure!

Off to Georgia

2007-03-22T03:34:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone! It has been awhile since we posted but life has happened! We are also at a point in the adoption where it is just a waiting game. The paperwork has been turned in and now it is the gov'ts turn to go through everything and decide if everything is in order. I talked to my friend and you can pray for the boys' paperwork. It is running a little bit slow. We give an update at our church on Sunday and we will have table set up with things and info about Ethiopia so it should be really good.
The girls and I are off to Georgia on Tues. Yes I am flying by myself with 4 kids to GA!!!! You can definitely pray for me for that flight. It is 2 hours to Colorado and 3 hours to Georgia. Thankfully this airline has individual TVs at each seat with a cartoon channel and I think it will be well worth the $5 to get that!!! We are still having issues with our youngest, and she will be tested for Aspergers when we get home. She does not do well with new things and she has a very hard time seating still for long periods of time like 30 seconds! She does well in a car seat so I am bringing one on the plane but we haven't done long trips in one so pray, pray, pray!!!

Grant Money and Dossier!

2007-03-07T09:31:00.000-08:00

We got a grant!!!!!!!!!! We are so excited about this. It is almost $2000.00. God has been so faithful with this. Each week we have had people giving to help us adopt our boys and we are just overwhelmed with gratitude.
We also finished our dossier which is the big paperwork that goes to our gov't and then the Ethiopian gov't where we get permission to adopt the boys. You can pray that God's hand will be on that paperwork and that nothing gets lost and it all gets to every where it needs to in a timely manner.
We also learned from my friend that our middle son, Josiah is causing some trouble in the orphanage that he is in. It is just harmless boy trouble but they are really wanting to move him to a place that has more boys his age. Right now he is in an orphanage for younger kids so he is bored. He can't be moved until they get the paperwork we just sent out yesterday so pray for this.

Orphans in Need all over the world

2007-03-04T17:48:00.000-08:00

This weekend we had our dear friend Stuart come to our church who is part of the ministry organization called Proclaim International. He has his hands in minstry all over the Balkans-Albania, Serbia, Croatia, Romania, and many more. Our church is sending a missions team to Romania this summer to join with Stuart's daughter and son-in-law who run a camp for the orpans of Romania. It is a team of about 15 with Patrick heading up the team that will go in June to help minster to about 50 orphans. The situation is very sad in Romania because the gov't has made it pretty much impossible to adopt from there so these children will probably never have a stable home. So for this week they will be loved by the team and they will hear the love of Christ and how He can be their Father always. Pray for them as they prepare to go this June. Also pray for your heart and how you can minister to the many orphans all over the world!

Another video

2007-02-18T17:26:00.000-08:00

As we were frantically trying to get Patrick ready for his youth Skiing trip to Canada we received the video of our 3rd son, Josiah. It was such an encouraging tape! He looked so much better since he has been in the orphanage for a while and off the streets. He had on clean clothes, and they had cut his hair so he was looking very sharp. He was all smiles as my friend showed him our pictures and told him we would be his new family. He gave my friend a big hug and told her peace be with you. He also immediately put on the new baseball hat we gave him. If anyone would like to get their pictures sent to them just email me your address and I can send you one. Until they are officially our children we cannot post their pictures on our blog. We also received their measurements and the 2 younger ones are the exact same height which is 2 inches taller than Emma. Noah, the oldest is 4 inches taller than the 2.

I-600A

2007-02-12T22:19:00.000-08:00

We finally got our immigration paperwork off to homeland security. I almost sent it to the wrong address! Thankfully a friend caught my error before we sent it. Pray that it goes through quickly because it could take a long time.
We are also almost done with our dossier. We have a few things to get notarized tomorrow and then we can send it off. We are hoping to get a little bit more money in before we send it. I have applied for 4 grants and we have friends and family that have been helping which we are so very grateful to see how God uses them in this mission!!
We also got the paperwork for Ana's adoption so you can also pray that that goes through pretty quickly also!

New video

2007-02-10T09:15:00.000-08:00

Hello, everyone! We received the first video of Noah and Caleb, the bio brothers. They were being told for the first time that we would be their new parents, and they were given our photo album that we made for them and the presents we sent. It was neat to see that they were more interested in our pictures then the gifts! They were all smiles. They were also told of their new brother, Josiah, and they seemed to even know who he was which is very likely since they are from the same area.
The hard part was seeing how hard it was for the mom. She was very excited to hear her boys had found a home and that the dad was a pastor because she feels Caleb would make a good pastor. However, it was very hard also because she was having to let go of her boys which I can't even imagine. My friend prayed with her on the video with the boys for courage and strength as she has made this very hard decision. We have also been praying for her as soon she will have to say goodbye to her boys forever. Please pray for her with us.

I-600A?

2007-02-06T17:57:00.000-08:00

Well, we have run into our first hiccup in the adoption. The Secretary of State's office called today. They have to authenticate 2 of our documents in our dossier. Well, in WA there have been several families that have done the same thing we have done through the same office and the same agency but they want to be difficult with ours. Our case manager is trying to smooth things out so pray that that happens because otherwise it could become longer and more expensive.
Also my kiddos are better but my purse got stolen on Sunday night right in our garage so we are a bit discouraged by that because we had to change our locks because my other set of keys were in my purse! We could definitely use prayer just to help with encouragement!!!!! Thank you everyone for your support during this time.
OH, also we heard our boys are doing really well. The mom of the 2 brothers was really encouraged to hear her boys were going to a pastor because she thinks the youngest(Caleb) should be a pastor. We also had to sign some paperwork for Josiah, the one that is unrelated to claim him so he could be moved to another better orphanage so that was exciting to actually claim him!!! Well, my other 4 are calling so I must go!!

News from Ethiopia

2007-01-28T09:52:00.000-08:00

Hello, everyone! I just got an update of my friend that is in Ethiopia. They are back in the capital of Addis preparing to return home. I don't know details about our boys but I do know their trip was very productive and they were very encouraged. I am anxious to hear how the boys are doing and how they took the news that we will be their new parents. I am also anxious to hear how Bamura is doing in the orphanage. He is not use to routine and someone else calling the shots because he is use to taking care of himself.
You can also pray for my 3 asthmatic girls(Kayla, Bri, and Ana). I was up until 4 with Bri trying to get her breathing back to normal. I will probably be taking them all back to the doctor tomorrow. Kayla is doing much better. They thought she had pneumonia but thankfully she didn't. Ana I think is either teething or has another ear infection. Bri I am not sure but she seems a lot better this morning.
Thanks again for all of your encouragement and prayers! We would love to hear from everyone either on the blog or by email.

This is a BIG Week!

2007-01-15T07:43:00.000-08:00

Our case manager left yesterday to head to Ethiopia. She is taking our photo albums and 3 gift bags that we made up for the boys. This is all very exciting because she will actually travel out to the orphanage to see the boys and tell them that they have a family waiting for them. We are hoping that she will be coming back with more pictures, video, and updated information regarding the boys.

My travel plans are still early summer between June and July. We have much to do until that time so we are plowing ahead.

Prayer Requests

Please be praying for the health, physically & emotionally, of the boys as they spend these last few months in Ethiopia. I am sure that the transition will be rather traumatic for them.
Pray for our case manager as she travels into Ethiopia. While Ethiopia is a pretty safe place to travel to in Africa, Americans can be a prized target among the terrorist world.
Pray for the boy's hearts as they hear that a family is pursuing them for adoption - a flood of emotions will hit them like excitement, anxiety, depression, fear, and doubt.

Thanks!

CWA & KK Adoption Training

2007-01-14T21:13:00.000-08:00

We have finished our adoption training through CWA/Kingdom Kids. We spent this past Friday and Saturday from 8-5 each day going through the training. Although the days were long and we were both sore from sitting so long, we received some great training. We were hit with everything from cultural info to dealing with grief/loss issues. Some of it was repetitive for us because we have went through the Foster Care training but the cultural information was priceless. I know we have a lot to learn about Ethiopian culture and the issues that we will experience once the boys are home, but I feel like we are light years beyond where we were before the training.

We also enjoyed some Ethiopian food and other cultural items (hand made scarves, crosses, woven baskets, coffee, etc).

If you want to check out the training agenda you can see that here.

Gift Bags & Photo Albums

2007-01-11T09:38:00.000-08:00

Jennifer was up most of tonight putting together gift bags and photo albums. One album to Josiah, one album to Caleb & Noah, and one to their mother. We are sending those with the CWA rep who leaves on Sunday for Ethiopia. This will also be the first time that the boys hear about us, so we are excited.

Training and more paperwork

2007-01-09T12:49:00.000-08:00

We have started the task of trying to complete our dossier which is overwhelming. We have to get several things notorized. We are trying to take it one step at a time and imploring the help of our friends who have done this before. You can pray that we can get it done in a timely manner and that we are thorough in completing it.
We also have our adoption training this Friday and Saturday all day for both days. I am looking forward to it because it is a place to get a lot of our questions answered. We also get to meet other parents who have already adopted from Ethiopia and those that are in the same boat that we are in and that is waiting to go and pick up our kids. We will have a lot to blog after this weekend I am sure.

After Christmas Sale

2006-12-30T12:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I had a chance to sneak away while my mom watched the kids, and Patrick and my dad were working on putting up lights in our living room so I went shopping! After shopping for 5 girls, I was finally able to shop for boys clothes! I was so excited. I started picking out 3 of everything the same and then it dawned on me that boys probably didn't like dressing alike like girls do so I had to start over. I did buy them all the same red baseball hat that is similiar to Patrick's hat. My friend is going over to Ethiopia in a couple of weeks and she will take each of the boys a care package from us and I am sending the hats with her. We will also send a photo album to show them our pictures and where we live.

Ana & the Lights...the pretty lights!

2006-12-28T21:32:00.000-08:00

Ana came home from the hospital today. She was having a hard time keeping her oxygen levels up but now she is back to her normal split personality - extremely happy one second and possessed the next.

On a more enlightening note we installed recessed lights in our living room. We have been lighting our living room and dining room with lamps for the past two years so it is nice to actually have lights hardwired into the house.

Hospitals, Toilets & Brownie's Oh My!

2006-12-27T21:29:00.000-08:00

Ana went to the hospital with flu induced asthma, we installed a new toilet and ate some yummy brownies...all in a days work!

Genna ~ Christmas in Ethiopia

2006-12-25T20:57:00.000-08:00

We couldn't help but think of our boys on this day of huge celebration here in the US. Emma pondered, "I wonder if they have a tree as big as ours?" It got us to thinking about Christmas in Ethiopia and what it is like. We know that culturally Christianity is very different in various parts of the world, so what would it be like where are boys are? A little googling turned up quite the insight.

To begin with, Christmas isn't celebrated until Jan. 7th! And their celebration is sooo different from our own.

On Christmas Eve the husband will buy a chicken, sheep, or goat and will slaughter it early in the morning. While the father is slaughtering, the mother prepares coffee over a small charcoal fire in preparation for the coffee ceremony that I wrote about earlier in the blog. During the coffee ceremony, the father will ask a blessing from God and then cut a large wheat roll called henbasha for the family to eat. It sounds very ceremonial.

Here in America most churches shut down for Christmas...it is very different there. They have an all-night worship service where people move from one church to another celebrating the coming of the Messiah. Favorite worship spots are usually the ancient church sites which were carved from solid volcanic rock!

They form up concentric circles with the men siting separately from the ladies. A choir sings from the outside circle. Usually candles are given to worshipers as they come into the church.

Later the next day the young men traditionally play a game similar to field hockey and they eat tons of food. Traditional Christmas dishes includes Injera, a sourdough pancake like bread, which serves as both plate and fork along with Doro Wat, a spicy chicken stew served in ornamented baskets, dulet which is made from sheep’s stomach and home made beer called Tela or honey beer called tejie.

It wasn't a big surprise but I read that gifts are not a big deal in Ethiopia. It kids get anything it is usually clothing.

There are so many dialects and cultures in Ethiopia that you will find various ways of celebrating Christmas - but what is true of them all is that worship, dance, color, food and music play huge roles.

Legend has it that the king bearing frankincense was King Balthazar of Ethiopia, so infusing frankincense in the celebration is a must. The locals throw in spices or nuts to flavor the frankincense which was traditionally a gift suitable for only a high priest.

And for Emma's musing - they do not typically use a "Christmas tree" as part of their celebration.

Regardless of the tradition, it tires me out just thinking about it!

Christmas Eve

2006-12-24T23:10:00.000-08:00

Today was fantastic. We had a lot of fun worshiping with our brothers and sisters at VBC today. The sermon prep was surely freed up from my own sinfulness as many people were convicted and encouraged by the message and in turn blessed my socks off as they encouraged me with their comments. One of the older men in the congregation actually shouted out "Excellent Sermon" and people applauded. I can assure you that I have never had anyone applaud one of my messages so that was, at first, a little bewildering and then VERY encouraging. I really felt like the Lord was moving among us as the Spirit, dwelling within us, was encouraging the Body of Christ at VBC. Our current Worship Pastor changed songs at the end of the message to something that flowed with the tone and rhythm of the message. It was a wonderful way to reply to God's Word and I was especially encouraged by it.

I wondered throughout today what the boys were doing? What does Christmas Eve look like in Ethiopia and how would they respond to a totally different culture here? I am also excited to have them hear me preach and to teach them the ways of God. The entire day was encouraging with a great worship time, great lunch with family and friends, a great nap, and great fellowship with Jennifer's parents. Emma and Granddaddy prayed some deep and worshipful Christmas prayers for us and we are ending the day with great anticipation for tomorrow.

I asked the girls if they were excited about opening gifts tomorrow fully expecting the child-like answer of YES! But instead I was promptly reminded by Kayla and Emma both, "Dad! Remember, Christmas is about Jesus' birthday and not about opening presents!" So I said, "Well, you can be a excited about tomorrow's birth and the presents." They both beamed, "Then yeah, we are excited!" They probably won't sleep a wink tonight.

Blogging Delayed

2006-12-24T08:56:00.000-08:00

Jennifer's parents are visiting us this Christmas so blogging will be slow to nil until more time gets freed up. We are busy playing dominoes and working on home projects, so I will see ya after the 30th.

(I will be journaling offline until then and will update the blog very soon)

Christmas Eve, Eve

2006-12-23T23:15:00.000-08:00

We had a great time with family today - we were able to talk about a lot of things and really clear the air in many ways. It's amazing how assumptions you make about others can derail a relationship and corrupt any intimacy that may have possibly existed. I spent some time getting ready for my message on Sunday and I think that working through some of the relational issues really bared some ingrown sin and helped me think more clearly.

I am also realizing how important it is to have the support of family in pursuit of an adoption - not just financially, but prayer and love that only a family can give. I feel like we have the full support of all of our family now and are working through "wisdom" issues as we proceed. God is soo good when you least expect it.

2006-12-22T12:44:00.000-08:00

"Cowardice asks the question, Is it safe? Expediency asks the question, Is it politic? Vanity asks the question, Is it popular? But conscience asks the question, Is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him that it is right."

~ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

What are We Doing!?!

2006-12-21T11:50:00.000-08:00

For those of you who I have not talked to, this blog may be a little confusing so let me bring you up to speed.

Jennifer and I are pursuing three boys from an orphanage in Addis Abbaba. Two of them are brothers and one is a street orphan.

Zelalem(11) and Yosef(9) are brothers who are in the 5th and 3rd grade respectively and who know some English. Their father had died of HIV and their mother is dying.

Bamura (10) is a street orphan who has lost both parents and does not know where his siblings are located. He has been living on the streets for the past few years working as a day laborer by carrying luggage at the local bus station.

It has taken quite a bit of prayer and heart searching for us to arrive at this position. A great Korean Pastor that I once worked for told me that parenting is the best method of discipleship, so we are heeding that counsel. It is a dangerous and crazy journey but we are trusting the Lord to lead us as He has done in the past. Faithfulness to follow seems to be the tricky part ;)

I will be posting up some specific prayer requests soon. I am not able to post pictures of the boys up because of the hostilities between Muslim's and Christians in that area. Contact me for more info.

Shaohannah's Hope Grant

2006-12-21T02:19:00.000-08:00

Jennifer applied for this grant yesterday; it is the first grant that we have really applied for. You can read more about it here. The site is a great resource for global adoptions and I am adding it to my steadily growing list of "reading" I need to do.

It's 2:22 in the morning right now - Bri is sitting on the couch watching a Barbie video because she is having a hard time sleeping with her asthma flare ups; everyone else is sleeping soundly. I am keeping myself awake by researching Ethiopia.

I added a map and also a weather script to the site so that we can watch the weather over there. The boys will be in quite a shock when they see how long our winters are and what snow looks and feels like.

Current McConnell Pics

2006-12-18T23:06:00.000-08:00

We took this picture last week at church before I preached.

Clockwise: Patrick, Jennifer, Ana, Emma, Kayla, Bri

New Videos

2006-12-16T16:58:00.000-08:00

We received new videos of Caleb and Noah. We quickly unwrapped the video and put it into the VCR. We had been waiting for awhile for the new footage and was very anxious to see how the boys were doing. This second video had just been filmed opposed to the several month older video and pictures that we had.

We popped the video in and sat baffled for a moment. I said, "Who are these kids?" The boys totally didn't look like the earlier videos and pictures that we had received. Caleb had grown his hair out and Noah had shaved his head - they were totally opposite. Caleb was also much darker (black) and Noah was lighter (caramel). The boys looked like they had received some newer clothing and were clean. Their Mom was with them this time and shared several comments. She hopes that Caleb will become a Pastor one day and Noah either an engineer or doctor. She hopes that both boys will one day adopt like she hopes they will be adopted. The boys looked like great young men and we were even more encouraged by them.

Away We Go

2006-12-15T14:47:00.000-08:00

We sent our first installment and all of our paperwork today! So the boys will be told this January about us and they will receive their first set of pictures of their new family. Exciting stuff!!!

Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony

2006-12-08T22:57:00.000-08:00

Ethiopian coffee ceremony is one of the most enjoyable event you can attend at an Ethiopian Restaurant. The coffee is taken through its full life cycle of preparation in front of you in a ceremonial manner. Coffee is called 'Bunna' (boo-na) by the Ethiopians.

The ceremony starts with the woman, first bringing out the washed coffee beans and roasting them in a coffee roasting pan on small open fire/coal furnace. The pan is similar to an old fashioned popcorn roasting pan and it has a very long handle to keep the hand away from the heat. At this time most of your senses are being involved in the ceremony, the woman will be shaking the roasting pan back and forth so the beans won't burn (this sounds like shaking coins in a tin can), the coffee beans start to pop (sounds like popcorn) and the most memorable is the preparer takes the roasted coffee and walks it around the room so the smell of freshly roasted coffee fills the air ...

The roasted coffee is then put in a small household tool called 'Mukecha' (moo-ke-ch-a) for the grinding. Most restaurants at this time incorporate modern coffee grinders into the process, this is to save time and it does not take much from the ceremony. For those interested mukecha is a heavy wooden bowl where the coffee beans are put and another tool called 'zenezena' which is a wooden/metal stick used to crush the beans in a rhythmic up & down manner (pistil and mortar).

The crushed fresh roasted coffee powder then is put in a traditional pot made out of clay called 'jebena' (J-be-na) with water and boiled in the small open fire/coal furnace. Again the boiling coffee aroma fills the room, once boiled the coffee is served in small cups called 'cini' (si-ni) which are very small chinese cups.

As you sip your first cup of coffee, you've gone through the full process of watching seeing the coffee beans being washed, roasted, grinded, boiled & now the culmination you're drinking them. By now the process is finished at most restaurants, but traditionally Ethiopians stick around to get at least a second serving of coffee and sometimes a third.

The second and third serving are important enough that each serving has a name, first serving is called "Abol"; second serving is "Huletegna"(second) and third serving is "Bereka". The coffee is not grinded for the second and third serving, a portion of coffee powder is left on purpose for these two ceremonies.

I took the above article from Ethiopian Restaurant's site.

Ethiopian Food - Injera

2006-12-06T15:49:00.000-08:00

As Jennifer and I have been reading, the culture of food is very different from the US. The following is a staple in Ethiopia.

The sauce shown on the injera in this photo is called shiro. It is suppose to be very yummy!!

Injera dough must ferment for several days to produce a good quality Injera. (It seems to be very similar to a sourdough-type batter.)

The entire prep process can be read about here. It looks like we have a lot to learn about good food! When I get a moment I will tell you about the Coffee Ceremony that is celebrated in Ethiopia and I am thinking about adopting it here =)

Christianity Today Reports on Ethiopia's Orphans

2006-11-29T15:40:00.000-08:00

These are the faces of Ethiopia's Orphans. Read an article from Christianity Today.

My Son's!

2006-11-21T21:48:00.000-08:00

We have officially started calling "the boys from Ethiopia" our sons! After being in a family with all girls for so many years it is weird to even say that I have "sons". It is even stranger to say since they are currently in Ethiopia and anything could happen to them in the next 6 months or so. I think I am still in paternal shock and it will take some time for me to understand all that it means to have sons!!