2007 in a Nutshell

Since it's been so long since my last update, I'll just post my family's 2007 Christmas Letter for those of you that aren't on our mailing list.

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Merry Christmas! If we had to choose one word to summarize 2007 in the Adolphs home, it would be “change.” This past year has been full of changes, and we want to share some of the highlights.

Just before Christmas 2006, we found out that we were expecting our first child. So, our year began with us breaking the news to a small group of friends during our New Year’s party. In the following months, the preparations to bring a baby into our world seemed endless!

Steve completed his last semester of grad school at the University of Iowa in May. After two years and eight months of taking evening classes and spending all of his free time with homework and group meetings, he has his Master of Business Administration degree in hand. What a relief it is (for both of us) to have this done!

We were able to take an awesome vacation to the West Coast soon after graduation. We drove from Seattle down the entire Oregon coastal highway, stopping in several towns along the way. After a drive through the redwood forest in northern California, we made a stop at Crater Lake on our way back to Portland and the flight home. Ten days and about 1500 miles of beautiful scenery later, this was a perfect way to celebrate the end of grad school and to have one last vacation before our family expanded.

In June, Heather stopped working at Miyazawa Flutes in Coralville in preparation for staying home with the little one. It was difficult because she had such strong friendships with her coworkers, but we know this was the right choice. The summer marked her fifth season playing flute with the Cedar Rapids Municipal Band. She also spent the summer working as Nursery Coordinator at our church.

Our biggest news of the year, of course, was that Ella Lorraine came into the world on September 2nd. We remember driving away from the hospital for the first time and thinking, “they just trust us with this living thing??” It took a while to adjust to this new stage of life, but now there is no way we can imagine life without her. She is an absolute delight (most of the time) and every week it seems like she is doing something new… smiling, “talking,” laughing, etc.

And, as if enough life changes weren’t in the works, Steve took a new position at Rockwell Collins in mid-September. He said goodbye to engineering and became a Senior Program Manager in the commercial side of the business. He now oversees retrofit upgrade programs for business and regional aircraft. It has proven to be a perfect fit for his personality, and he has a lot of passion for his new line of work.

With all that’s happened in 2007, we’re excited to see what is in store for us in 2008. May God bless you throughout the next year!


-Steve, Heather, & Ella

Heeeeeeeeeeere's Baby!!

Ella Lorraine Adolphs joined our family on Sunday, September 2, 2007! She was born at 10:13am, weighed 8 pounds, and measured 20 inches. She's a huge blessing and the absolute cutest baby you'll ever see (of course, my opinion is biased).

I'm so humbled at this precious gift from God. I definitely have done nothing to deserve such a wonderful addition to my family. She is a true blessing.

PS: After seeing her, the "Robocop" nickname just doesn't seem to fit anymore, does it? :-D

New Job, Same Identity

Well, after many months of networking and figuring out where I want to move next in my career, the search is over! I'm happy to report that I accepted an offer to become a Sr. Program Manager in Rockwell Collins Commercial Systems. I'll be working in the aftermarket (ie, upgrades to old aircraft) segment of business jets. I'm super-pumped about this opportunity. I have a lot to learn, but I'm ready for the challenge.

It's really cool to look back at all of the various jobs I've considered over the past nine months. Through it all, even in the jobs that I did not get, I can see how God was preparing this specific opportunity for me. Even when I started my MBA in 2004, I had no idea that program management would be the right fit. I've learned a lot about myself and my passions in life, so I pray that I'll be able to fully apply my strengths in this new role.

Of course, this means I'm hanging up my pocket protector and saying goodbye to engineering after six-plus years. A large number of my friends are engineers, but I'm fairly sure this move to "the dark side" won't affect our friendships. I just need to remember to minimize my use of phrases like "leveraging core competencies" and "synergizing to increase shareholder value." :-D I wondered for awhile how I would feel about no longer being an engineer, but I'm completely comfortable with the idea. I know fully well that my identity is not in any job title that I may hold; it is fixed in Christ.

I'll leave you with a question to ponder: Where do you find your identity?

I'm Still Alive!

Two whole months have flown by. Amazing.

I just wanted to let all (heh) of my regular readers that I'm still breathing. Ever since returning from our vacation (which was awesome), things have been really busy and there have been many changes. Let's see what's happened over the last couple of months:

- Heather celebrated her 26th birthday
- I had a graduation party to celebrate finishing my MBA
- We went camping in South Dakota for the annual family reunion on Heather's mom's side
- Heather started the summer of CR Municipal Band (and this coming Sunday is the last concert already!)
- Heather stopped working at Miyazawa Flutes and is now working part-time as the Nursery Coordinator for our church
- Watershed began its summer sabbatical, meeting only once per month, in order for the leadership team to concentrate on finding a new location and defining our vision going forward
- I saw Weird Al in concert here in CR
- I finished replacing all the carpet in our house with hardwood flooring (what a slow job, but the results look great)
- We finally have the baby room 100% ready to go! (only four weeks until the due date)
- I had tons of interviews, both formal and informal within Rockwell Collins for possible new positions (see below for details)
- I traveled to Singapore 7/20-7/27 for business, and my body is still somewhat screwed up today (27 hour trip one way, 13 hour time difference)

Looking back on all that, I can see why I haven't taken the time to Blog recently! Sorry for keeping the two of you that actually read this thing out of the loop!

Baby is really growing like a weed. We're able to feel her moving around a lot and she actually had the hiccups this morning as I was feeling her. :) It's hard to believe that she'll be out here in this world in about a month!

Work continues to be busy, but I've finally been able to pass off some of my assignments to another engineer. The program for which I traveled to Singapore is my biggest effort now, but it's actually enjoyable. As I mentioned above, I've been continuing in my fact-finding meetings around the company. Off the top of my head, I'd say that I've met with at least six different people,some more than once, to inquire about careers in five different areas. After all of this, I belive I've found the next place I would like to move. I'm still in communication with two people in that area and have another meeting next week to discuss some options. There's a chance I could be moving into a new job within the next several months, which is pretty exciting. As I've said before, I'm really happy with the way things are going in my current job, so I'm able to approach this with a lot of peace.

I'll try to not let so much time pass before posting again! Stay tuned, because you'll soon be seeing some pictures of our baby up here!

Random Updates on Life

It's been awhile since my last entry, so here are a few updates on life in general.

I attended the University of Iowa commencement on May 11 and now have my MBA! What a relief it is to be finished. It is an awesome feeling to not have classwork taking up all of my free time.

The baby and Heather are doing well. The doctor did notice something on the last ultrasound that needs to be watched, but she said it's nothing to be concerned about at this point. We will have another ultrasound at our next appointment (June 6), so hopefully everything is better by then. It's been exciting to feel the baby kick and move around from the outside! Sometimes I swear she's moving around when she hears me talk. :-)

Our vacation was awesome. Our first flight was delayed to Chicago, so we ended up having to reroute through LAX and arrived and in Portland nine hours later than originally planned. We then had to drive to Seattle and were awake for 23 1/2 hours straight. After that, things got much better! We spent a day in Seattle, drove down the Oregon coast and stayed in several towns, went through the redwood forest in northern California, headed up to Crater Lake, and then drove back to Portland for our flight home. We drove a total of 1400 miles over 11 days.

Work is going well, although I'm still being spread across too many programs (six, at last count). It gets old trying to decide which project(s) to put off in order to devote time to others. There is a chance that I will have some changes in my career path in the next few months, so stay tuned for updates...

That's about it. Most of my free time these days has been getting stuff ready for the baby to come. I get to start the big project of laying hardwood floors in our upstairs living room, hallway, and bedrooms within the next week or so. Then, we have to start putting the baby room together, because Robocop will be here before we know it! At least I won't have any pesky homework distracting me from this stuff anymore!

Farewell, University of Iowa!

I can't believe it. I have now taken the very last exam in my MBA program! The exam wasn't too bad, although it took me over three hours to complete. I thought this day would never arrive, but I no longer need to spend most of my free time sitting through evening and weekend classes, doing homework, reading textbooks, or having class team meetings!

I give God all of the credit for giving me the energy to make it through this program. It has definitely put a strain on my family life over the last 32 months, but it's been worth it. I've gained a lot of knowledge that I can not only use at my job, but in my areas of ministry and home life as well. I'm very thankful that I had this opportunity to return to school. I don't think I'll be seeking any further education in the foreseeable future, however.

Heather and I are flying out to Oregon tomorrow morning for 11 days alone. This vacation is much needed after a hectic semester. I'm really looking forward to a time of reconnecting with her and enjoying this one last big trip before baby arrives. After we return, I have to get busy on finishing our improvement projects at home! I guess I'd better enjoy the time away while I can! :-)

Magnet Mania!

Well, the enginerd in me must really be coming through this week. A coworker just got an order of "rare earth" (neodymium) magnets, and they're amazing. They're like 1/3 the diameter of a penny and a little thinner, but they each have a pulling force of 2.88 lbs! All of a sudden, magnet mania broke out around here. From chatting with some coworkers and friends, everybody thought these were the coolest things ever. There are over 300 different types at the website he used! Check 'em out at www.kjmagnetics.com.

I came across one that weighs under four pounds, but it has 368.22 lbs of pulling force (see the picture with this blog entry). That could easily hold a small person wearing a suit of armor to a metal beam... which I guess is practical at $195 if you have a need to perform such a task.

Long story short, eight other people and I went in on an order, and I placed it last night for 492 various magnets! Big surprise, we're all engineers or former engineers. The company has a cheap flat shipping rate no matter how much you order, so the prices are great for a group like this. I feel so geeky, but at least I know I'm not alone in my geek fascination with these things.

I also just have to mention that I'll be taking my final-final exam in four days. I'm a little worried about remembering the entire semester worth of material (finance), but the light at the end of the MBA tunnel is practically blinding me now!

In the Home Stretch!

It's really hard to believe that I will be done with my MBA in less than two weeks! My team gave our final presentation in our business strategy course last night, and it went really well. That course took up an insane amount of time, but it was pretty fun. I had a great group to work with, which made all of the difference.

I realized this morning that I'll never have to write another paper or give another presentation in an academic setting! I only have one more lecture to sit through next Monday, and the following monday will be a three-hour final exam in Finance (bleh). Eleven more days to go!

PS: What is up with all of this snow in mid-April??? I want our Spring weather back!

It's a Girl!

We had an ultrasound appointment this morning, and it looks a little girl will be joining the Adolphs household this August! We didn't see any boy parts, so the doctor was pretty confident. The little bugger was pretty stubborn, though, and she wouldn't give us a clear shot of her face. She kept her arms crossed in front of her face the entire time, and then it looked like she fell asleep at the end. Now that we can start picking out names, what's a pretty word that means "Stubborn & Lazy"? :)

Heather and I are really excited that this little one appears completely healthy. We saw all of her fingers and toes, her heart was beating strongly (134 bpm), and her brain looked like it was developing perfectly, according to the doctor. She weighs about 11 ounces right now. I can't believe we're at the halfway point already!

Men's Fraternity Comes to a Close

For the past 24 weeks, I've been a part of a great men's group. Men's Fraternity has been meeting each Wednesday morning at 6:00am, and I gotta say that I've learned a lot about authentic manhood. Today was the graduation ceremony for those men that created a manhood plan. The process provided great insight to my own past, present, and what I hope to make my future. I've learned that my biggest struggle as a man is that I do not reject passivity in all situations. I know that I need to step up and be a responsible leader of my home, and this is something I'm glad I heard before children come into our family. Men's Fraternity is something I highly recommend to ANY man. Period. If you have the opportunity to participate in this group, do it! You won't be disappointed.

One bummer from this week is that I did not get an offer for the other job position. It ended up going to someone internal to the department. However, the hiring manager wants to meet with me again to discuss other/future opportunities, so maybe something will work out in the end. For now, it looks like God has plans for me right where I am (I get to practice "being all here"). Continuing in my systems engineering role includes a trip to Singapore this July, about which I have mixed feelings. It will be fun, but I don't like the idea of travelling to the other side of the world when Heather is eight months pregnant! I just pray that Junior doesn't decide to show up a month early. Robocop, if you have internet access in there, listen up! I know you've been growing for over 17 weeks now, but please keep hanging out until August, mmkay? Yes, it's probably pretty boring just sitting around for so long, but you have the rest of your life to be out here!

To wrap things up, the obligatory end-of-my-MBA countdown: 33 days 'til my last class!

Midterms: Done! Interviews: Ongoing.

My midterm Finance exam grade was posted, and I'm VERY relieved to see that I got an A!. This will take some of the pressure off of the final exam (meaning I won't have to ace it to get a good grade in this class)! I'm now down to 39 days until that last exam. That's less than six weeks!

In other news, I found out that I didn't get an offer for the first job opportunity. It was a long and drawn-out process (I first applied on December 5, 2006). I went seven weeks without any contact from the department, only to receive an auto-generated email from HR saying I wasn't selected. But, I came across another job opening and applied for it. This other department really seems to have their act together, because I had an interview scheduled within 24 hours of inquiring about the position. And, to top it off, I was selected for the second round of interviews less than one day after the first interview! The follow-up interview was yesterday morning, and it went great. Supposedly I'll know whether or not I was chosen for the job by sometime next week! If you're one of the two people that actually reads my blog, please pray for this opportunity. It would be a major shift in my career path toward something I am much more passionate about. I'll share the details if everything works out. :)

Midterms - Gotta Love 'Em.

Tonight, I have my last midterm exam EVER! I'm kind of dreading it, but I always tend to think exams are going to be worse than they are. At least I can look forward to only one more week of tests after this (finals)! In just 49 more days, I'll be taking my last exam of my MBA career.

After this last exam, Heather and I have been planning an awesome getaway. It will be kind of a post-MBA, pre-baby trip for the two of us. We'll be heading up to the Portland/Seattle area for 11 days! We haven't been on a vacation since our first anniversary in May 2004, so we are VERY excited about this trip! We'll fly out two days after my final exam, and I'll attend my graduation commencement the Friday after we return home. :)

Speaking of midterms (how's THIS for a segue?), Heather is quickly approaching the mid-term of her pregnancy. She is now over 15 weeks along and in the second trimester! Time sure has been flying by. We have our next baby appointment this Wednesday, for which I am really excited. I'll close by sharing where our baby is in the development stage:

"At around 4 inches long, crown to rump, your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 ounces. He's busy inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid, which will help develop the air sacs in his lungs. His legs are growing longer than his arms now, and he can move all his joints and limbs. That means his hands are more functional, too. Sweat glands are appearing, and although his eyelids are fused shut, he can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, he's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but his taste buds are beginning to form."

:)

Still Countin' Down

I don't have much to say today, but I thought I'd post some updates on some of my life countdowns.

~ It's been 33 days since my job interview and I still don't have an answer ("later February" is what I heard earlier this week).

~Classes were cancelled on Monday due to weather (which ended up not hitting us), so now I have to go an extra week. That makes it 68 days until my last class. My capstone class is pretty fun, albeit very time-consuming. My finance class is really time-consuming, and not fun to boot. :) At least being busy makes time pass more quickly!

~There are 193 days until Robocop is expected to arrive. I like this countdown the best!

weeoo-weeoo-weeoo-weeoo

I had a cool experience today! Heather and I had our first baby appointment and we were able to hear little Robocop's heartbeat. The rate was right where it should be, 160 bpm. It's kinda hard to explain what it sounded like in text, but the title of this entry is kinda close. It didn't sound like there were twins in there, so it looks like this little guy/lady is going to have the place to himself/herself.

This weekend will mark 12 weeks since the baby-farm started its operation. At this point, our child weighs about 14 grams and is about 2.5 inches long. See the attached picture of a fetus (not ours) that is about 12 weeks old. I can't believe some people can claim a baby isn't a human being at this stage of pregnancy!

Another Task Checked Off

My last semester at the University of Iowa is finally underway and I just submitted my graduation application. What a great feeling! I'm so excited to get my degree and say goodbye to exams, term papers, studying, and group class projects! One of my classes started this past Wednesday, and the other will begin Monday evening. Just over 12 weeks until freedom. :-D

Thankfully, Watershed has recently become much more manageable during this busy time. My buddy John is helping out with the worship team leading/organization. This is reducing a huge weight on my shoulders! Thanks to God for providing a partner for this ministry.

The Times, They Are A-Changin'

Here I am, not even two weeks into 2007 and I can already see that this is going to be a year of many changes. My family is getting a new member in August. Heather will soon stop working full-time outside of our home. I will finish grad school after this semester (only three months until I’m finished, but who’s counting). And now, there’s one more possible change: my career.

Let me preface this by saying I don’t hate being an engineer. I’ve been such for almost six years now and have learned a lot. But, as I realized a few years back, my personality would be a better fit for something else. That’s why I started pursuing an MBA in 2004. And here I am, 13 classes completed and 95 days until my last class meeting (ok, obviously I *am* counting). When I started the program, I didn’t really know where I wanted to go next. Program management? Project management? People management? Something else?

Just before Christmas, I was given a phone interview with a completely different area within my company. I’ll save the details of the position for later in case something comes of it, but it looks promising. I received a phone call last week and was informed that they want to meet with me face-to-face. I haven’t had a formal interview in six years, but I’ll be doing just that from 2:00-4:00pm today.

An older and wiser man once told me not to start a new job simply to get out of your current position. Rather, he said to take a new job when it’s a better opportunity. This subtle difference in attitude has really impacted me. As I said before, I definitely don’t hate what I’m doing now. In fact, I’m rather enjoying most of my current projects at work! If I’m not made an offer, at least I can still be happy in my current position. I’m thankful that I can approach this interview with peace.

It's the end of the world as I know it...

...and I feel MORE than fine! My world is going to be going through some big changes soon, as Heather and I are expecting the first little addition to our family! Yes, baby #1 is due to arrive in August 2007.

It's really hard to sum up my feelings, but I think a combination of excitement and anxiety will do. I love kids, but it's hard for me to imagine myself as a father. Each day it becomes more real to me that I am going to be responsible for watching over another human life. Scary stuff. At this point in the pregnancy, I think the anxiety comes from worrying about the baby's health. The first trimester is definitely the most risky time, and I've been praying that God will protect this little life until we are able to meet him or her.

People keep asking if we've started thinking of names, which we have, of course. I think the top names are Ichthar Richard (Icky Ricky for short) for a boy and Egberta or Robocop for a girl.

I'm not sure that I've sold Heather on those choices yet.

At any rate, for the very few of you that happen to read my blog, I wanted to share the good news since we've already let the cat out of the bag with most of our close friends. Parenthood, here we come!

How Fortunate

Adele Booysen is back in the United States for a visit. For those that don't know her, she is a full-time missionary to Kenya.

As most people reading this blog know, I have taken two journeys to the nation of Kenya to work with orphans in a homeless children’s organization. After seeing the desperate conditions of this third-world country, I have strived to never take for granted those things with which I have been blessed to have. For example, the first time I returned home, I couldn’t believe how large my home seemed, despite the fact that its size is considered to be small in the American housing market. While in Kenya, I visited Kibera – one of the world’s largest slums. Over one million people live on just one square mile of land. Not sure if I've mentioned this before (I probably have), but it is nearly equivalent to ten times the population of Cedar Rapids living on the city’s largest golf course. The average home in Kibera is a scrap lumber and sheet metal structure three feet by four feet in size. Such a building, on average, houses one parent with three to four children. Six of these makeshift residences would occupy the same square footage as my master bedroom.

Adele is serving full time with an organization in Western Kenya. While back in Iowa for a short stay, she was able to share about a recent trip to serve in the nation of Sudan (the picture with this post is from her trip... she is such a great photographer). She said the conditions in Sudan, when compared to Kenya, are like comparing the dire conditions of Kenya to the abundance in America. When the children with whom she works heard about her upcoming trip to Sudan, they wanted to help. Many children brought articles of clothing that they owned to my friend, telling her to give them to other children with a bigger need. These Kenyan orphans are children who can fit all of their earthly possessions into one small suitcase. Yet, they were willing to give up a large portion of what they had because they heard of others who were in less fortunate circumstances. Given the abundance of wealth with which we’ve been blessed in the United States, I’ve been once again reminded of how willing I should be to give a portion from of my own “suitcase” to help those in need.

It's the Final Countdowwwwwwwn!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5Ym5g3DR1M

If these guys ever make it to the US Cellular Center, I'm there!

I remembered this video because I'm sort of in a "final countdown" of my own right now. I found out my MBA program will allow me to take my final two courses at the same time (one is a prerequisite for the other). This means I'll now be graduating in May 2007! WOO-HOO! My last actual class in the program will be on April 16, less than six months from today (178 days, to be exact).

While I'm excited to be graduating seven months earlier than I had anticipated, I'm a bit nervous about these 13 weeks of class. The two courses I'll be taking are supposedly among the most time-consuming, which means even less free time than I'm experiencing now. For quite awhile now, I've wanted to get other people involved with helping to lead worship on Thursday nights for Watershed. Now it's not just a desire but a real need. I'm excited to see who God will bring forward to help out with this area of the ministry. If you wouldn't mind, I'd appreciate your prayers.

New Plans for Christmas

Today God answered my prayers in a very clear way. As I mentioned before, Heather and I were considering travelling to Kenya over Christmas to be with the children of HCI. It turns out that most of the kids will be leaving Oloitokitok (LTK) over the holiday to stay with people from HCI's social work department. I thank God that the children will have somewhere to go, but I'm a little sad that this means we will be unable to visit.

So for now, I guess it's time to start praying about the possibility of a third mission to Kenya next summer. This is another instance in my life where I will jot the plans down in pencil and hand it over to God to erase or confirm.

On the topic of Kenya, I came across a news article the other day that made me really happy.

http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143959454

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State to form child adoption authority
By Standard Reporter

The Government will establish a central body to handle child adoption. Vice-President, Mr Moody Awori, said many committees that deal with adoption were inefficient, adding that the process was open to abuse.

Awori said budgetary allocations and legal requirements for adoption of children, especially from other nations, should be addressed.

"In particular, I hope we will be able to ratify The Hague Convention by the end of the year," he said.

Speaking at his Jogoo House boardroom yesterday where he chaired the National Adoption Committee, Awori said the Government would ratify international conventions on adoption and harmonise them with local laws in a bid to control the process.
The Vice-President said the interests and safety of the children should be the priority.

Awori called for sensitisation of the public on the issues so that the rising number of orphans could be adopted.

"Due to HIV/Aids the number of orphans has grown to about 2 million … They need parental care," he said.

The chairman of the committee, Mr Justus Munyithia, urged the public to change its attitude on child adoption.

And the director of Children’s Services, Mr Ahmed Hussein, called for a review of laws relating to adoption to streamline procedures.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm really excited to see news coming FROM Kenya that acknowledges the issues the country is currently having with adoptions. The need is so great, and I pray that God will continue to work in the hearts of those in positions of authority to make some changes!

Zip! Zip! Zoom!

I'm feeling worn out. I keep wondering lately if my life will ever slow down. Work has been hectic, my classes and serving at Watershed take up a lot of time, I have unfinished projects at home, and I just found out every weekend except for one is booked on my calendar through Thanksgiving (as are the three weekends following Thanksgiving, as these will be the final dates of my next MBA course). I'm sure everybody has felt spread pretty thin before, and that's a period of my life that I'm experiencing right now.

So, about that free weekend. I was just asked to help lead worship at Breakaway in Iowa City on those exact dates with a good friend from my college days. It would be fun to serve with him again, but should I do it? I have a hard time saying no to things, even when I know my life is already really busy. On one hand, it would be nice to know that there's one weekend before Christmas that I wouldn't have to go anywhere or do anything (the weekend happens to be before finals week, so that might make it stressful enough). On the other hand, I know that God has given me my abilities in music for a reason. This is something I'll need to pray about before making a decision.

Despite being busy, I can't complain about life. God has been teaching me some important things lately, for which I'm thankful. So, maybe life will get less busy when I finally graduate (again) in December 2007, but I'm guessing the busy-ness will fill up with something else. I just need to stop living in the future and try to "be all there" where I am today.

On a completely different note (no pun intended), I've just started taking private sax lessons again. I can't believe it's been nine years since I graduated high school and decided to fully concentrate on guitar instead of saxophone. Pastor Tye (the middle adult pastor from my church) is teaching me. We've only met twice so far, but he's a great teacher and very encouraging. Hopefully I'll get my "chops" back and even improve beyond where I was when I left off.

Leaving behind another piece of my heart...

A LOT has happened since the last time I blogged. Isn't it crazy how fast life flies by? Hopefully I won't neglect this for so long the next time.

We completed our second trip to Kenya to work with HCI (and have actually been back in the states for almost two months now). It was amazing to see how much of an impact our team from 2005 left with these children. We were asked about each and every member of that team by name. "How's Kirk? How's Aaron? How's Bekah?" It was great.

A huge highlight for me was being able to spend time with specific children that I had bonded with the previous year. In the attached photo, you'll see Heather and me (we're the pale folks!) along with Maria, Margaret, and Caroline. Maria and Margaret are two children we sponsor and Caroline was one of my guitar students from 2005. There is a place in my heart for all of the children of HCI, but Margaret (the shortest one) really holds a special place. She is almost 12 years old and has been with HCI since she was about 3 1/2. The information we have is sketchy, but we were told that her father had left her family and that her mother used to abuse her. Her mother passed away a couple of years ago.

From talking with team members from both trips, I think it is a common feeling to want to just adopt a child from this organization and bring them up in a loving home. But, I struggle with wondering, "is this really something that we should do?" I would give anything to have Margaret live with Heather and me. I just want her to grow up feeling the love of a family. There are really two things holding us back:

1) I struggle with wondering what effect adopting a child from HCI would have on the rest of the children (there are around 70 children in the LTK facility). Would the rest feel jealousy? Anger? Sadness? Would the others look at all volunteers as a "way out" from then on? Is it even possible for the other children to be thankful or accepting of such a thing? There are so many questions to which I don't have answers.

2) The Kenyan government makes it pretty much impossible for someone outside of Kenya to adopt a child. The first requirement is that you live with the child under your care in Kenya for three months. A social worker will then visit your "home" and assess the situation. If you bribe that person enough, he/she will write up a positive report to the judge. This is presented at the first hearing. Then, anywhere from three weeks to many, many months later, the final court date is held. I joined a newsgroup on Kenyan adoptions, and it seems like the minimum time spent in Kenya by a foreigner trying to adopt before the adoption was awarded was seven months. How frustrating! You would think if your country had such a high rate of AIDS-related deaths and hundreds of thousands of orphans, you would want to encourage families to adopt them! It just doesn't make sense to me.

Heather and I are praying about a third trip to Kenya. We found out that most children leave HCI's care during the Christmas holiday to either stay with a relative (grandparent, etc) or with a volunteer family in Nairobi. However, between 12 and 20 kids aren't able to leave. Margaret is one of those. The last time she left HCI was close to four years ago. She went to visit her grandmother and an uncle took her away (thank God, social workers found her and brought her back). These few children do not have any family during Christmas. Heather and I would love to be family to them during that important part of the year. We would appreciate your prayers as we make this decision (Heather would have to take two weeks off work unpaid in order for this to happen, so the first major issue is whether or not her employer would allow this).

We are also praying about the possibility of going back with another team next summer. We don't know what God's plans are at this point, but we are listening with open ears and hearts!

Anticipa-ya-tion...

Anticipation: "the act of looking forward; especially: pleasurable expectation."

On May 31, Heather and I celebrated our third anniversary. At first thought, three years doesn't seem very long (especially compared to some couples we know that have been married 10-20 years or more). That means Heather and I have known each other for over five years! The month of May also marked five years I've been working at Rockwell Collins. Again, it doesn't seem like very long at first.

It's amazing that once I started working, my perception of time really changed. When I was younger, five years meant a great deal of changes. Take any five-year interval between my birth and my 21st birthday and you will see a huge difference physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually!

Only five years is the difference between:

- Being born and trying to ride a bicycle without traning wheels for the first time
- Spending your day lying around in diapers and spending your day running around the neighborhood playing with friends
- Starting your 8th grade year of school and graduating from high school
- Taking the test to get your first driver's license and celebrating your 21st birthday
- Starting your senior year of high school and starting your first day of work in the "real world."

I'm realizing that it's much easier to be complacent with your life at 27 years old. It's much different living with most of life's big milestones in the past. Kids anticipate starting high school. Freshmen in HS anticipate their driver's license. Then they anticipate graduation & starting college. Next is the anticipation of getting your degree. Many people also anticipate getting married.

Yes, I still have many things to look forward too in this world. I'm excited to finish grad school, have children, get that next promotion, etc. But, am I too focused on such things? The biggest thing I'm asking myself is this: Am I living in true anticipation with "pleasurable expectation" of seeing Christ face-to-face one day?

Return to Kenya

It's really hard to believe, but in less than four weeks I will once again be in the wonderful country of Kenya! For those of you that may not know, I was part of a 22-person team that worked with Homeless Children International for two weeks in 2005. After coming home, Heather and I really felt called to return and work with these children again. We have an awesome team of six people that will be serving together this time around.

Making the plans for this trip has been taking a lot of time, but it is very much worth the effort! The majority of our time in Kenya will be in the village of Oloitokitok (LTK), where the children of HCI live and attend school. LTK is on the very southern border of Kenya, near the foot of Tanzania's Mt. Kilimanjaro. We will be teaching some classes, doing construction projects, and leading seminars on growing to be a Godly man/woman. We plan to partner with local pastors in LTK to reach people of the village while the children are in school. We also hope to volunteer at the local hospital in any capacity they can use us.

At this point, I think I am most excited to see friends that we made during our last trip. One of the driving factors for wanting to return was to build on the relationships we formed last year. Heather and I are especially excited to see Margaret and Maria, two HCI children that we now sponser. Of course, we are also looking forward to seeing the rest of the children as well! I also miss Vincent, an awesome man that is arranging all of our transportation around the country. I hope to again talk to a young man named Peter face-to-face, who is one of HCI's success stories (Peter grew up in HCI's program and is now in college! He emails me frequently telling me about the latest book he's reading and how much he is enjoying school). I also miss Sherine (the volunteer coordinator for HCI) and Earnest (the school headmaster). There are so many amazing people in Kenya that I cannot wait to see.

It is my prayer that God will use our time in Kenya (and even our time in transit) to serve him in mighty ways. I don't know exactly what God is going to teach me through this trip, but I am ready to find out!

I caved!

"I'll never create a blog," I said. "I don't have any use for a blog," I said. Well, I might still not have any real use for a blog, but I figured this would be a good way for me to vent my feelings from time to time. So, if you're reading this, I welcome you to the random ramblings of my brain.