Preparing to Head Home

Tonight we will make our journey back to the United States.  As we do, we head out with anticipation as well as uncertainty.  Anticipation that we are now one significant step closer to bringing our boy home.  Anticipation in that we know we will soon be returning to this country for the final details to bring him home.  Uncertainty in that we do not know the date for sure.  Uncertainty that yesterday's events (riots) in this country have the potential for escalation that may hinder the process.

Ultimately, we head out trusting the One who has guided and provided in every step of the process thus far. 

As we fly out tonight, please be in prayer for Janelle.  She got pretty sick last night and will be making the trek at well below 100%.  Pray for a calm stomach, no headaches/dizziness, and gentle rest as we fly!

Thank you to all who have been following along and praying.  If you are interested in more details (names, pictures, etc) we may be able to post some soon.  If not, I will be working on a way to make this blog private so we can allow those interested to see more detail without too many being able to view.

Ode To Kristy Mikel

Very few things could distract my blogging attention away from our time here in Uganda (please note not a single post on the royal wedding).  There is one.  Today is Kristy Mikel's last day in the Student Ministries Office.  In mid-May, Kristy will be responding to God's call to serve one year (at least) in Kenyas with WGM's Volunteers In Action program.

Kristy graduated from NMC.  She was in one of Janelle's first Small Groups.  She has served in an administrative role w/ NMC for nearly 8 years now.  She is, in many way, the glue that has held us together over those years (especially the last three as Janelle headed home to be with Katylynn).  Although she will be missed, I am so stinkin' proud of her for taking this step of faith.  I also love that she has chosen to live out NMC Student Ministries purpose to create Spiritual Reproducers both at home and around the world.

I would encourage you to follow Kristy's journey over the next year at kristymikel.blogspot.com!

Kristy thanks for serving our students faithfully.

Thanks for being an amazing teammate.

Thanks for making me look way better than I actually was in ministry on more than one occasion.

Thanks for being a fantastic friend to my wife.

Thanks for loving and caring for my daughter as if she were your own.

Thanks for surrendering your heart and life to Jesus.

Thanks for walking the radical path.

Thanks for serving selflessly.

Thanks for your example!

May God use you in ways beyond what you could ever ask or imagine!

You are dearly loved.

Scary Beginning, Fantastic Middle, Tough End: Court Day

SCARY BEGINNING:
This morning we woke up and put on our nicest outfits we brought.  This was the main reason we had to be in the country at this time.  Our court hearing.  As we had breakfast, Jr. arrived at the hotel with his care giver. We ate together and then received the call about some demonstrations that had potentially turned violent.  Out of concern for our safety and the slight chance that the court could shut down, we were looking at the possibility of missing our appointment... a.k.a. rescheduled flights, unknown timetables, and whatever other complications.

In all this, the staff working here with us were fantastic, and clearly had our best interests in mind.
We got the word out to many simply asking them to pray.


FANTASTIC MIDDLE:
We received a call a little after 11 letting us know that they had checked the path we would be traveling and felt very comfortable that we could make it to the courthouse.  We left the hotel just before noon, made it to court, had the hearing, and returned approx. 1 p.m.  The hearing went well.  Everyone was very kind and it was well run.

We then were able to spend the rest of the afternoon with Jr.  We took him out to eat, played together, and skyped big sister & Grandma.  After all that, Janelle and him fell asleep on the bed side by side.  It was a great time together.  He is an amazingly content little boy who is going to be a ton of fun.


TOUGH END:
We had to say goodbye... for now.  It wasn't fun.

From here, we have some downtime through tomorrow that will include some shopping and connecting with two NMC Grads who are studying abroad before flying out at 2:00 Sunday "morning".
We wait for the court papers and other information to get into place before heading back (2-4weeks).

In the meantime, our prayer is that he will be well loved, remain healthy, see our faces when he closes his eyes, and know that we will be together soon!

A Beautiful Noise

He laughed today. 
He laughed a lot. 
It was a beautiful noise.

Between Bubbles, playing ball, tossing him in the air, and him rolling on the ground, we got the laughs we were praying for!  Today was our last day visiting him at his current "home" for this trip.

Tomorrow, Lord willing we head to our court date.  If you're up between 4:00-7:00 a.m., say a prayer for us as it will likely take place some time during that time frame.

Twists, Turns, Skype, Ball, and a Smile

Today at a glance:

• Some twists and turns came our way today that proved to be God-ordained by the end of the day.
• Jr shows a high level of comfort around Janelle.
• He's still a little timid and nervous around me, but definitely warming up.
• We were able to have some amazing 2 on 1 time with Jr. today.
• Thanks to Skype, he was able to meet his Nanny and Bubby (Janelle's parents), Big sister Katylynn, Grandma Prenert, and Kristy Mikel today.
• At the end of our time together, he and I were able to play "ball" (roll, throw, & kick the ball) back and forth.  We got a definite smile out of this time!
• It was an encouraging day!

Continue to pray for the bonding and court date Friday!

A Little Update

We are approaching a full 24 hours in Uganda.  We are pretty exhausted and plenty exhilarated.  We arrived last "night" (7 hours ahead here) around 2:00 a.m. and were able to fall asleep pretty quick.  After some orientation in with our host organization here we were able to head out and meet our little boy (officially referring to him as "Jr" from here on out).  We had been given a heads up that Jr would likely be a little nervous and maybe even upset around us to begin with but not to worry.

They were right on.  He was very scared at first (and still somewhat scared of me by the end of the visit), but all that unfolded in the 2 1/2 hours we were able to spend with him was pretty amazing.

Some quick hits/ thoughts from today:

• There is something amazing about a mom, whether physically biological or "spiritually biological" (made that term up about 2 hours ago).  What I witnessed between Janelle and Jr was nothing short of a miracle.  The kid was snuggled into her like you wouldn't believe by the end of the time.
• Hearing the series of events that created the convergence of Jr on the verge of becoming a Prenkert only confirmed all the more that God is in the middle of this all.
• There are plenty of orphans in the world.  If you're a married couple of parenting age and have never thought about adopting, can I ask you to at least take a moment to prayerfully consider?
• No two kids are the same.  No two adoptions are the same either.
• I'm praying I can get a huge smile and a belly laugh out of Jr before we say goodbye (for now) to Jr.

Keep praying for the bonding over the next 3 days.  Pray for a smooth court date.  We saw prayers answered today.

A Note On Privacy

At the recommendation of our adoption organization, we are not going to be posting many specifics on our blog concerning the adoption.  This would include his name, any pictures of him, or specifics on those working with us.  This is to best protect and respect those working through this process on the Uganda end.  If you know the process up to this point, you'll be able to track perfectly well.
If you know his name or other details, we ask that you refrain from using it when commenting here or on other social media sites. We'll be able to give a little more detail on our Facebook profiles (Janelle and Mine) because our privacy settings are in a way that only friends can see.

We'll keep updating on ways to be praying and our activities!

HERE WE GO!

Praying for our Adoption: Event Free

This process has taught us the importance of flexibility and the reality that very little can be certain until completed.  All signs point toward this trip being fairly free of any major curve balls, but international flights, crossing cultures, lots of driving, and a court hearing all have potential for issues, frustrations, delays, and/or complications.  We are hoping for a smooth trip, planning to be flexible with whatever may came, and praying that this will be an "event free" trip. 

Would you join us in praying for the same?

Praying for our Adoption: Bonding Time

We should get 3 days with our little guy before the court date. When I say "days," I'm really not sure how long we'll be able to be with him each of those days.  We will be staying at a hotel that is quite a drive to the Care Center where he's at (we've been told numbers anywhere from 90 minutes to 2 1/2 hours).   He will not be able to come stay the night with us on this trip.  So, the reality is that our time is limitted, and we are hoping to capture every minute.  These are going to be the first moments of bonding.  Please pray that God will be able to begin to multiply the time spent together and fill in the 20 month gap that has been present to this point.  Pray for a supernatural Father/son; Mother/son; Father/Mother/son bond to take place over the 4 days total (3 days at care center; 1 day at court) we hope to share in this first trip!

*Special note: You may notice that I have removed the name or our boy from this blog.  That is out of an effort to be cautious as many eyes can see this blog.  We want to be sure to protect him as well as be sure to hold off on major details until things are finalized.  We will not be posting any photos or specific details (names, locations, etc) on this blog until things are more finalized.

Praying For our Adoption: Hello & Goodbye

It's been like a 18 month pregnancy without having a due date till the 17th month.  We have known we would have a 2nd child in our family since September, 2009.  We've known it's a boy and his name since August 2010.

We pray for him daily, wonder about him regularly, and anticipate having him sleep in the room across from us nightly.

This first trip contains a significant beginning and ending that will be a gigantic ball of emotions.

The first time we meet our 21 month old son.  We have no idea to what level he's been prepped for our coming or who we are.  We know he has a little scrap book that contains several pictures of us and other loved ones.  Yet there's a whirlwind (I use that word a lot in correlation with this process) of thoughts, questions, and emotions as we walk into that moment.
Will he be scared of us?
Will he recognize us from the pictures?
Will we recognize him from the other babies at the Care Center?
Will he, as we've been praying may supernaturally happen, know right away that we are his mommy and daddy?

More than any other emotion, anticipation is at the top of this moment for us.  Please pray that God will present in that room when he hug, hold, talk... simply spend time with our son for the first time on Tuesday, April 27 (really, really early a.m. for you here in the States).

The ending is the different story.  He won't come home with us this trip.  We will be returning to the States for 2-4 weeks (hopefully no longer) before heading back to do the final steps in Uganda to get him home.   Our last moment with him this trip will be Friday, April 29... almost immediately after receiving custodial permission from the Ugandan court.

I remember the moment Katylynn's birth mom brought her to us and left the hospital.  Our greatest moment of joy was contrasted with Emily's greatest moment of pain.  I'm learning joy and pain colliding together can be a common theme in adoption.

Pray for this moment, that we will have holy angels surrounding and ministering to us as well as our son as we have to say goodbye to each other for just a little bit longer.  Ugh, even typing it messes with me.

Praying For the Adoption: Kairos in Kronos

Trip one is a whirlwind.  It's very short with much we want to accomplish.  One specific way to pray for us is that we would make the most of our time in the limited time we have.

In Greek, the word for "time" that is measured by a clock is Kronos.  The word for "time" that is measured as opportunity is called "Kairos".  Please join us in praying for easy airline connections, smooth travels, smooth transition to time change, short waits at the courtroom... those "Kronos" issues, but most importantly that God will bless every "Kairos" moment along the way!

4/24 - Easter Sunday
10:20 p.m. Fly out of Chicago

4/25 - Monday
5:05 p.m. Land in Istanbul, Turkey
6:35 p.m. Fly out of Istanbul


4/26 - Tuesday (7 hours ahead in Uganda)
1:10 a.m. Land in Uganda
Check in to Hotel and rest
Orientation with coordinators
Visit our son for the first time.

4/27-28 Wednesday-Thursday
Time with our son during the day.
At Hotel in evening

4/29 - Friday
Head to court in the morning.
With our son waiting for Court hearing.
Court Hearing for custody.
After Hearing, say goodbye to our son till the next trip.
Potentially spend some time with some NMC college students.

4/30 - Saturday
Free Day

5/1 - Sunday
2:10 a.m. - Fly out of Uganda
8:30 a.m. - Land in Instanbul
11:20 a.m. - Fly out of Istanbul
3:15 p.m. - Land in Chicago

Praying For our Adoption

The support through this whole international adoption process has been overwhelming.  It has come in multiple forms, but one that has especially struck me has been the prayer support.  The amount of people letting us know they are praying, and even more specifically how they are praying has been AWESOME!  Even more awesome has been the way we've seen God miraculously work in the prayer.  Two ways:

1. Miraculously guiding prayers:  We have talked with those who have told us ways they've been led to pray that are simply spot on with where we are at or what we've heard is going on with our little guy.
2. Miraculously answering prayers:  We have prayed and asked others to pray in specific ways only to see God answer those prayers specifically.

 We now approach pivotal moments in the international adoption process.  Next week is the first of two trips.  Starting tomorrow, I'll be posting some specific ways we would value prayer as we head into this trip.  Would you be willing to join with us in seeking God?

*conVERGE Technical Difficulties

We ran into some technical difficulties on last night's episode of *conVERGE and it wasn't able to air live on Remedy.fm.  Fortunately, we were going to do a repeat Easter Sunday, so this week's episode will air then.

I'm actually really excited about the focus of that show and our guest.  I met Jeff Eckart just a little more than a month ago at our Fanning the Flame Services.  Jeff is the director behind a movement that I believe has the potential to change the face of the American Middle and High School.  Claim Your Campus is a simple concept, but a huge vision.

Students united every day in prayer at every middle school and high school in America.


The thing is, the movement is gaining ground!  At NMC, we're looking to challenge our students to join the movement for the 2011-2012 school year.  If you're a youth leader, check this out.  God is all over it!

Those who don't want to wait till Sunday to see the *conVERGE episode with Jeff from Claim Your Campus can view it right now on the Remedy Video blog.  GO HERE.

Believe

We are checking out the Believe Conference for Jr High students. It's put on by Christ In Youth (CIY). John Mccallon is bringing it. If you work w/ Jr High students and are looking for a weekend retreat, this is a FANTASTIC option... www.ciy.com/believe

Friday 5: 5 Thoughts

Thought #1 - I think I am officially coming out of the most emotionally trying season of my life.  To be honest, I think I'm a better person because of it (mainly because it's knocked a lot of pride and selfishness out of me).

Thought #2 - I have an incredibly sweet daughter.  We've walked through some "terrible 3s" (the 2s were a breeze), but she is showing us a caring and generous spirit on multiple fronts.

Thought #3 - We often overestimate Satan's power, but significantly underestimate his tactics.  We're doing a 3 week Wednesday series called "The Spirit Realm" in Senior High.  We're doing a Sunday Morning Senior High elective on Spiritual Warfare.  As I refresh and study both, I'm reminded there is an unseen war taking place.  The battle is really already won if we let it, but we often don't.

Thought #4 - I work with an amazing team at NMC.  I'm especially appreciative of the work ethic and team mentality of those I share an office section with (The Student Minsitries and Young Adult Staff).

Thought #5 - I can't wait to play catch with my son.
 

A Great Thursday

Decorating Easter eggs. Good times.

"I Turned out Okay"

Are you a parent, youth worker, teacher, big brother/sister who looks at the actions/choices/attitude of a teen you care about and worry where their life is heading?

I am a youth worker who does this. Very often.

Mike Yaconelli once said the best thing any youth pastor could do is put a picture of themselves as a Junior Higher up in their office as a reminder.  I haven't literally done this, but I will often stop and put myself back in my 7-12th grade years just to remember how I viewed life, what I was involved in, and where my focus on God was.

More times than not, I cringe.  I was I also take great comfort in thinking about where I was at that time, and where God has taken me since.  It's a little moment of assurance to remember those years, and the fact that I turned out okay.

"I turned out okay."  You ever said that when thinking about a troubled teen.  It can be a very comforting statement.  God's meticulous providence and grace are much bigger than we often let them be. Students can and will make huge mistakes in their life and still recover/rebound.  They are kids and there has to be room left for them to be kids.  "I turned out okay" can be a statement of assurance that God is God and we are not.

At the same time, I have heard situations where "I turned out okay" makes me cringe more than my memories of Junior High.  It can be a very dangerous statement when used in an apathetic or flippant manner.  Some thoughts on what make this statement dangerous:

• Are you avoiding responsibility?  When we see a teen in crisis, there may be the temptation to avoid conflict or the pain of challenging a teen's mindset. If you are a youth worker, it's your responsibility to shepherd your flock. If you are a parent, it's your responsibility to parent your kids.  There is a time and place where you can and should step up and say, "I can't let you go down this road without speaking up" or "I'm not letting you get away with this stuff."
• What about the mess they're choosing right now?  Why do we so quickly forget that God's path is the best path to take in the here and now and not just so we can get to heaven.  Keep in mind that a teen living in rebellion/ poor choices/ unhealthy actions is living in SIN.  SIN is painful and messy whether the SIN-ner wants to recognize it or not.  Sure, they may turn out okay, but there's still pain in the moment and scars in the long run.  Which brings me to my next question...
• Did you really turn out okay?  I mean, yes I'm blessed, seeking after God, and He's very alive in my life.  At the same time, I'd be lying to say I'm not still dealing with the consequences of some of the bad choices and patterns from my teen years. So my life is turning out "okay", but there are situations I walked through that turned our far from "okay."  Why would I not want to offer assistance to those potentially heading into "not okay" situations?
• What if they don't turn out okay?  Maybe you turned out okay, but there are those who haven't.  12 years at the same church gives me a decent amount of case studies to show that not everyone turns it around.  There's been some amazing turnarounds.  I can think of a former student who will get baptized on Easter that is an AMAZING story of someone who is "turning out okay."  Yet, there's some other, nearly nightmarish stories that are, at this point, far from "turning out okay."
  
  • The former student who is in prison for dealing meth.
  • The former student who was murdered two months after graduation in a drug deal gone bad.
  • The former student with three children from three different men.
  • The former student who hates the church and his parents, because, he tells me, nobody reached out to him when he's hurting.
   

 Back to my initial thought, there is great value and assurance in the reminder that God's grace is huge, and while on this earth there is always hope for a turnaround.  In fact, in the above list, I take comfort in the hope that three of these 4 former students may still turn out okay.  Yet, take pause when finding assurance, and make sure your thoughts are rooted with a deep burden out of love and compassion to those whose direction you are concerned about.

Whirlwind

2 weeks from yesterday... we board the plane.
2 weeks from today... we arrive in Uganda.
2 weeks from this moment I type... we are asleep in our hotel.
2 weeks from 8 hours from now... we have met and will be playing with our son for the first time.
2 weeks from Friday... we are in the court room.
3 weeks from yesterday... we are back home, waiting to head back.

Ten 90s Christian Albums Everyone Should Own

Was looking through my I-pod and became heart-broken over the fact that you may not own the following albums.

1. Plankeye - The Spark. Grungy, whiny 90s alternative.  Still break it out and sing as loud as I can in my car on a regular basis.
2. Poor old lu - Sin or Picture of the 8th Wonder (or both). To even narrow it down to 2 poor old lu albums is a shame. Seattle grunge. Good stuff.
3. Five Iron Frenzy - Proof that the Youth are Revolting.  Live album that allows you to enjoy the best of the best of their earlier stuff.
4. Prayer Chain - Shawl.
5. Ghoti Hook - Sumo Surprise. Absolutely fun, rockin' 90s punk.
6. Steve Taylor - Liver.  It's actually live 90s grunged up versions of several 80s tunes along with some great 90s tunes. God literally spoke to me through this album.
7. The 77s - Echoes o' Faith Live. Hard one to find, but 90s unplugged versions of the several of the band's 70s & 80s tunes.
8. Sarah Masen - Carry Us Through.  Eclectic Coffee House solo tunes back at the beginning of coffee house music.
9. Model Engine - The Lean Years Tradition.  Potentially the most obscure album, but some great rockin' duets on this album.
10. Dime Store Prophets - Love is Against the Grain.  Rockabilly.  Probably the second most obscure band, but I loved 'em.

If you don't own these albums, it's your loss.  Just sayin'...

Adoption Update: An Official Date

Posted yesterday:

So, here's the steps and timeline from here.

1. Lawyers in Ugandan get court date set for the adoption hearing (could be today, should be within the next 3 weeks)...

 Well, it was closer to "today" than it was 3 weeks!  We got the call at 1:00 p.m.  "We have a court date for you on Friday, April 29.  You will need to head to Uganda Easter weekend."

BOO YA!

This will be the first of two trips.  This trip is all about the court date.  We will get to spend about 3 days with the little guy at the care center prior to his court date.  Then we go to Ugandan court to receive permission for his adoption.  After that, we head home while the Ugandan lawyers work up the long court documents. After documents are ready we'll head back to Uganda to work through the visa and citizenship process for our son.

We're in the process of working flights and specific departure dates.  Bottom line, we'll be holding our boy for the 1st time by Tuesday, April 26.

As we've walked through this process it has been full of dashes and the word "to" (1 to 2 years, 3-6 months).  It's almost inconceivable to move from a dash to concrete, official, specific date.

But we do have a date, and it's coming soon, very soon!

Again, I say... 

BOO. YA!

Dealing With Criticism

In many ways, Doug Fields is the current Godfather of Student Ministries.  Former Youth Pastor of Saddleback Church, author of The Purpose Driven Youth Ministry, and pretty fresh to the blog world, Doug offered up a gem yesterday.

If you are in any role of leadership, you will face criticism.

As Doug states:

>Criticism is synonymous with leadership
>>Criticism has terrible timing
>>>Many critical comments originate in a critical heart rather than a constructive, caring heart.

In his post, Doug shares 10 Ways he deals with criticism.  It doesn't matter if you work with Students or not.  If you are in a spot where you have to navigate the criticism.

Check out Doug's Blog.  Check out Doug's specific post on criticism here.

Adoption Update: The Home Stretch

I sent word out on Twitter and Facebook, but haven't elaborated much on where we currently sit in the process to bring our little boy home.  We received word last week that the Ugandan Probation Officer's report is in.  What does that mean?  It means that all necessary reports and paperwork are in place.  So, here's the steps and timeline from here.

1. Lawyers in Ugandan get court date set for the adoption hearing (could be today, should be within the next 3 weeks).
2. We get a call informing us of the court date. (as soon as above happens)
3. Janelle and I make a trip to Uganda.  We meet our son for the 1st time, spend time with him at the Care Center where he has been living, and have the court hearing. (2-4 weeks from receiving the call, 7-10 days in country)
4. We head back home, w/out him. (home 2-4 weeks).
5. Janelle, Katylynn, my mom, and I head back to Uganda for a 2nd trip.  We spend time with  the little guy at the care center, he then moves in where we are staying, and we have our U.S. Embassy meeting for visa interview. (in country 2-4 weeks).
6. We all travel home. Time to be a family.

Bottom line, we are truly in the homestretch.  The next call puts a date in place that sets much of the rest of the timeline in clear place.  We are excited, anxious, nervous, overwhelmed, a little exhausted, and above all, incredibly grateful to God for His provision and sovereignty throughout all this process.

More to come!

*conVERGE Episode 5 with Caleb Bislow Follow Up

You can view episodes of the webshow for Christian teens I'm doing with Remedy.fm called *conVERGE.  You can view all the episodes on the Remedy website right HERE. 

For some episodes I'm doing follow up posts on this blog.  This week's episode with Caleb Bislow was one where I just wanted to have a ton more time to hear Caleb's stories.  So, I decided to post some more of Caleb's video reports on his experiences:











Check out even more videos from the Unusual Soldiers Youtube Page or visit the Unusual Soldiers website for more information.