The First Day Together

Wow... what a wonderful day! God is so good.

Joshua is delightful and a joy to be around. He totally fits into our family from the very second we met him at the train station. He has the most beautiful smile and is sooooo sweet. Last night (while I was out getting last minutes supplies such as formula and a mattress for his bed that we had ordered) he spent a long time "telling Kendra a story" and then fell asleep on her chest while she was on the couch. I came home to find them both lying there as happy as can be. Here are some photos from our first day together...more to follow in the coming days.

grateful for God's abundant favor and grace.

Jonathan

Coming on the 12:18pm Train!!

We are off to meet Joshua and Sarah (from ANK) at the train station. They arrive on the 12:18pm bullet train. Thanks for praying and for encouraging us. God is so good, isn't He?

Gotta run....we've got a train to meet !!

Jonathan for all three of us =)

Joshua's Coming Home Saturday, July 25th!

Just wanted to let you know....pictures to follow :-)

Welcome, Joshua Kento Kohl !!

Yes!! We are thrilled to announce the birth of our son, JOSHUA KENTO KOHL!!

Born in Tokyo, Japan on Friday, March 27, 2009
Weight: 5 pounds, 12 oz. (2604 grams)
Length: 18 inches (45.7 cm)

God really protected Joshua and his birth mom by taking them to a wonderful hospital in Tokyo for an emergency C-section. The placenta had started to slowly separate, so they went by ambulance where a Neonatalogist was waiting. During Joshua's two weeks in the hospital (just to note that one week is the "standard" stay for all babies in Japan, two weeks isn't as long as it sounds in N. America) the doctor noticed some of Joshua's liver tests were a little off. While this is not unusual for a baby who had an emergency birth, the doctor refused to make any assumptions that the liver numbers were simply "due to trauma." Joshua was released to the adoption agency (ANK)'s care in Shizuoka, where he continued to have out-patient medical follow-up with the children's hospital there. This hospital in Shizuoka is one of the top children's hospitals in Japan, that trains doctors and sends them out to all parts of the country. Over the six weeks that followed, Joshua had many tests and scans that confirmed his liver was healthy and the blood tests stabilized to normal levels. Praise God for His caring Hand through the excellent medical staff at the two hospitals and the love at ANK!

Joshua will be coming home to us, hopefully within the next few days, very close to his 4 month birthday :-) He is currently weighing about 12 pounds (about 2 more pounds than his Daddy Jonathan weighed at his home-coming a few decades ago.)

He already seems to be taking after his big cousin Isaac, as we have been told that he very seriously studies everything going on around him and he smiles alot when talked to :-) We look forward to sharing much, much more with you as we start having pictures and stories to tell :-)

THE STORY BEHIND HIS NAME:

Joshua - meaning "God saves" - is named after the Joshua found in the Old Testament books of Exodus through Joshua. Joshua was chosen as a leader from the tribe of Ephraim to go explore the land that God promised His people. He and Caleb were the only two of the ten spies who believed God's promises in spite of the human challenges Canaan presented. Joshua went on to become the leader of the nation of Israel after Moses.

In Joshua 1 (verses 1-9), God charged Joshua,

After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west. No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
"Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

Kento, his middle name, means "Wise Man" in Japanese.

Kohl, for those of you who might be curious, means "Cabbage" in German ;-)


With Hearts Full,
Jonathan & Kendra

I couldn't resist!

This was my "big chuckle" of the day and I couldn't resist sharing it! You'll have to ask my mom if I started out like this particular baby. Maybe I still sound like this sometimes even now?! :-)

"http://www.snotr.com/video/2630"

What's Cookin'?!

Today marks the end of my cooking classes. I have had 24 months to complete 24 cooking classes and I am very thankful for the experience! I just wanted to highlight some interesting aspects here now. Also, it is very special to sense God's gracious hand on even something as simple as these cooking classes...for one, the timing is intersting. My 24 month window to complete these classes, "happens" to end this month, when we are gearing up to welcome a new member to our family!

Other interesting tidbits...

1) I had to learn to peel kiwi skin off with a giant knife! In the cooking class, we did ALL the cutting with one knife, that looks like a chef's knife. At the beginning, I was tempted to bring a pairing knife with me (thinking, "There IS an easier way to cut small things,) but instead I decided to just "do as the Romans do" and pray earnestly that I wouldn't cut myself. Occasionally, my teacher would surprise me with an offer to use a peeler - I guess they kept it as a back-up for people like me who look a little dangerous wielding a chef's knife :-) God was faithful and no one was hurt!

2) With my teachers' guidance, I handled whole fish twice as well as a whole squid and a whole octopus! (Fortunately, they were already dead by the time I arrived at class.)

3) With the help of many pictures and diagrams, I have some fun recipes with Japanese and Asian flair that I can make at home. I've learned some new ingredients too :-)

4) I learned an easy and fast way to dice an onion - it's soooo helpful!

5) Surprise Social Learnings:

a) It seems that it takes many interactions and time to start friendships with some people.

One hope I had in signing up for these classes was to befriend "real Japanese ladies" who are just doing their normal life and not seeking a foreign friend or an English language partner. I wanted to branch out from my international and church circles. Well, I had some friendly interactions with other students during many of the classes. Each class had the chance to have a different mix of students and teachers, in addition to the variable menus, so I rarely recall meeting up with the same students.

Anyway, once I was able to exchange cell phone numbers with a newlywed bride whose husband was a businessman. She had moved to Kobe from out-of-town and explained that she really wasn't meeting people in her neighborhood and had no one to really hang-out with during her husband's long working hours. I was so excited to schedule tea with her! We met for a good hour-and-a half or more and I thought things went pretty well. We talked back-and-forth, I felt like I followed what she was saying and it was friendly. Then, it came time to part ways and she said something like, "Maybe we can meet again sometime...like in a couple months." (I understood it to be the Japanese equivalent of "Don't call me. I'll call you." or "Even though I have no other lady friends, I'd rather not have you either.") Yes, it hurt my pride and was disappointing, but I can't blame her. Not everyone "hit's it off" with everyone. That's not her fault, it's just human nature.

b) Some classes I really felt the loneliness of being "the outsider."

Whether it was nervousness on others' part or something else...sometimes I just couldn't break the ice with ladies. Once, after the meal was prepared and we sat down to eat together, one of the ladies asked me a couple questions. "Where are you from? How long have you been here?" I answered and tried to make conversation asking, "Are you ladies from Kobe?" The one who had asked me questions was the only one to reply and she simply said, "Yes." They asked me my age and seemed cold when I replied that I was 36. Anyway, the whole time eating lunch was only about 10 minutes, but it was a long, cold 10 minutes.

It helped me understand a little bit the longing to fit in that we all have, and which is especially acute here in a society that really, really stresses conformity as the foundation for "societal peace." Sometimes I want to chide Japanese Christians to "Have courage! Don't be afraid to be different! 'Stand up! Stand up for Jesus!'" as the song goes. For the first time I got a tiny glimpse into how hard it is to do that! I have grown up in a wonderful family that totally encouraged me and loved on me...I have a fabulous husband who delights in me, just as I am...I have amazing friends who cheer me on and pray for me....I know my Creator, Who has declared me righteous in Christ....how much more "secure" can I be?! And yet, I felt the "heat" (or the cold, as it was) of being on the fringe for 10 minutes!!

6) Japanese language - success...and misses!

a) In June I had a big miss, due to not reading the recipe. I squeezed all the slices of a lemon, rather than reserving half of them for the garnish, per the Japanese instructions. The teacher was gracious though, and found another half of a lemon for me to cut as the garnish.

b) A couple times the menu I thought I signed-up for, was different from what we were actually making! (Again, a reading MISS!) Those of you who have eaten here with me/us in Kobe, have also experienced a couple of those with us..."Adventures in eating with the Kohl's!"

c) At first, I could barely read the screen for checking-in and signing up for my next classes. However, I learned how to do this. It sure helped that numbers look the same for times, dates, and the recipes were labeled with our alphabet letters A, B, C, etc.!

d) Eventually (more than a year into things), I realized that the Teacher's names were also on the computer when I signed-up. I had suspected as much, but didn't always get a look at my favorite teacher's names (or I couldn't really read them well enough to remember the look once I got to the sign-up computer.) Anyway, this leads me to my last "story," and I'm so glad I learned to read the teacher's names!

7) Somehow, I found myself with a certain teacher, Ms. N, a few times. The first time I thought she might have been a little cold towards me, but by the second time, I realized, she was just nervous, wondering if I could understand and keep up with the class well enough. I was still doing the "teacher lottery," signing-up by time and A, B or C menus) and through trial and error, realized that other teachers didn't have the smooth style that Ms. N had, so finally, I tried to schedule with her when I could.

For my last class today, I wanted to end with Ms. N. I thought it would be nice to give her a "thank you" note, just to let her know that I enjoyed her style and her classes. (Towards the end, I felt like the cooking school staff stopped being so proactively friendly, once they knew that I repeatedly was refusing to sign-up for another round of classes. They were always polite, but also always seemed to be recruiting - doing surveys and trying to encourage us to sign-up for more, invite friends, etc.)

So, last night, Jonathan suggested that I give Ms. N. my cell phone info in the thank you card, just in case she'd be interested in meeting personally outside the class. I had never had any personal discussion with her, but thought, "What would it hurt?" Today, my 24th class, I had my teacher, Ms. N. all to myself! It was the first time to have a one-on-one class! We were busy with the menu preparation, but we squeezed in a few personal things....such as where I'm from, that I lived in Nagoya and now Kobe, the fact that she lives near some friends of ours, and that she has a son in first grade.

Then, towards the end, she helped me wash some of the dishes (really gracious for the teacher to do this!) She asked me how old I was. I said, "I'm becoming 37," (as I'm closer to 37 than 36.) She said excitedly, "Me too! Although, I will be 38 this year."

Well, I know that in typical American culture, it's rude to ask a woman her age. However, it is not at all the case here in Japan. Age is a VERY common question upon first meeting someone, so thankfully, I don't mind at all. I think one big reason for this age question is that Japanese culture is hierarchical, which means that AGE matters! Age is a huge factor that helps a person know how to speak to others, with the older person "out-ranking" the younger. I get the sense that for us to be the same age is a HUGE RELIEF and freedom for a Japanese person, as they feel we can pretty much "ignore rankings" and relate as equals. Maybe it's similar to finding out a new acquaintance is from your home town...what joy I would have running into another kindred spirit who knows Barry Bagels!

So, I don't know where this will go, but I know our Lord doesn't work in "coincidences" and while my Japanese was lacking, it wasn't the "luck of the draw" that put me with Ms. N. She received my thank you note and already emailed me today. She specifically mentioned that she'd like to talk with me more due to the fact that we are the same age (another fact that I have no control over). So, we will see if we can make a time to get together for tea :-)

Prayer Requests - Take 2

Well, between writing and posting "Take 1," I have done some soul searching. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I felt like "Take 1" had an "edge" or a "bite" behind it. For some reason, I felt uncomfortable thinking of my Japanese friends reading it. I asked Jonathan his thoughts, specifically if it sounded like I was preaching from a soap box. He graciously avoided answering my question with something to the effect of, "Well, I did wonder why you titled it 'Prayer Requests.'" :-)

So, here we are two days later with "Take 2" to be posted at the same time as "Take 1." In the meantime, I have been asking the Lord what's going on inside me. At our Tuesday prayer meeting at church, I was burdened by the "darkness in the world" these days, and asked the Lord to help us with that darkness, but also not to forget that the darkness starts in our/MY heart, it's not just "out there." I prayed that He would help us not to just "oppose" things, but to be humble and essentially do things His way. (Honestly, I am struggling to remember more than the gist of my prayer as it was in Japanese.) Anyway, I trust you can understand the heart of the prayer.

Well, He answered this prayer by shining His light into some of my darkness. One thing I realized is that I am/was being very fearful...gearing up for a big battle - Us -vs.- "the powers that be" in Japan. We, of course, are the heroes rescuing this little child from the horrible system he will be born into and whisking him off to "live happily ever after." So, since this is a battle, I wanted to "rally the troops," that is you all who are praying for us. The first thing I needed to help you with was to "know your enemy." Hence, the "edge," I was sensing in the "Take 1" post.

Jonathan helped me arrange the content of "Take 1" so that it was more readable and less "all over the place." I self-edited it to include the fact that we are "guests" in Japan. (I thought stating that alone would "soften" the rough edge a bit.) Well, I have been thinking about this concept and the fact that I really don't feel deep down that I am a "guest" here, but rather I have succumbed to thinking that I am more of a heroine of sorts, in my own right, often in ways that are far from our Savior's heart.

For one, I think I have grown accustomed to being the "Golden Child Foreigner" in some ways. Many native English speaking foreigners are treated quite well here. Those who come as teachers, as I was in the 90's when I first came, have the added respect that Japan gives to the honorable profession. Then, on top of all this, I have prided myself and been applauded by Japanese for my skills in the Japanese language, knowledge of the culture, ability to put people at ease so that they have the courage to speak out in English, etc. etc. The little and big things Japanese do to "honor" us as customers in a store or special guests, etc. can range from excessive all the way to embarrassing at times. (However, it's not too hard to get over the embarrassment of being treated like a "Princess." I have a good imagination, you know!)

Well, today, I have decided to further explore the "guest" in Japan concept and have come up with an analogy that has me laughing and itching to share! Imagine with me the following scenario at your home....

[Doorbell rings.]
You: Why, hello! Welcome, welcome! So glad you're here!
[You bite your tongue to keep from sharing about the two major "surprises" in your day that totally derailed your dinner preparation plans.]
Lovely Guest: Thanks for having me.....
[Other pleasantries are exchanged as your Lovely Guest follows you to the kitchen. You have forgotten to ask her to be seated in the living room.]
You; Honey, can you get us some drinks please?
[You shoot him THE LOOK and smile between your teeth. Then, as you're digging in the fridge for the head of lettuce that you KNOW you bought for the dinner salad...]

Lovely Guest: What can I do to help?
You: Oh, please, just sit down and talk to me. I'll be ready here in just a few more minutes.
[As your Lovely Guest reluctantly moves towards a nearby chair, she gets a glimpse of your laundry coming OUT of the laundry room.]
Lovely Guest: (Quickly silencing her horrified gasp.) I know! I'll do a load of laundry for you, real quick here while you finish up with the salad!
[Before you know what's happened, she's IN your laundry room and the washer is running! You're in total shock. Mortified. And yet, still desperate to get dinner on the table!]
Lovely Guest: By the way, where DO you keep your fabric softener?
[You have never bought fabric softener in your life and wouldn't know how to use it if you did!]
You: Umm....I guess we must be out. I'll have to add that to my grocery list! Thanks!

[Dinner finally is ready, you visit for awhile and your Lovely Guest returns to her home.

After cleaning up, before retiring to bed, you dare to peak into the laundry room to check the extent of the damage to your sense of self-worth.

Then you see it...
There they are!
Your favorite pair of undies - once lost, now found!
They have been gallantly rescued from the pile of dust bunnies behind the dryer by your lovely guest.]


OK, so the message behind this story is: Yes, Friends, WE are that Lovely Guest here in Japan!!

I am so thankful for our Lord's incredible sense of humor! In this humorous way, I am learning a way to "get over myself" and my own fairy tales of personal heroics. I am getting a glimpse of "the other side of the coin." It's a tension to be sure - we are indeed "guests" in this country. AND, we are simultaneously children of God, with incredible worth because of Whose we are. His Word goes so far as to call us Christ's Ambassasdors, which means that we have been given a mission here on this earth to bless those around us, to help actualize His kingdom "on earth as it is in heaven."

The application I'm seeing for this in our life right now is that I must not view this as a battle of "us vs. them," no matter what happens in this adoption process. I must remember God's sovereignty over everything that He allows to happen on this earth. Joseph (in the Old Testament) was not delivered from prison - even though he had done nothing deserving of prison and the system in Egypt at that time failed to give him a "fair trial." The system was dysfunctional (in my opinion), Joseph suffered, and God allowed it.

Whatever hurdles (real or imagined) that we will go through in this legal process, there's no room for whining or bitterness or arrogance , demanding that we be treated preferentially or get the "fast lane" ticket through just because we're doing such a wonderful thing. It doesn't mean that there's any problem asking God to bless this process and allow it to go amazingly smoothly...however, demanding or acting like we are "entitled to" it is wrong. Also, in all of this, we need to let God's love (my human love is not going to cut it, I'm sure) flow through us to truly love and have hearts to humbly bless those around us in this process.

Lastly, I need an extra dose of courage and grace to live out the Good News of Jesus as an adoptive parent. Up until now, as I mentioned, my time in Japan has been pretty comfortable, almost "enchanted" one might say. I can talk at length about my Best Friend Jesus to pretty much anyone without offending them. With some ladies who also love Him and want to know Him more, we can have rich, wonderful talks. With others, who may not personally be interested in Christ, they are gracious and often very willing to talk about Him as part of understanding my culture. However, as I wrote in "Take 1," there is an offense inherent in the concept of being a living witness of adoption, just as there is in our spiritual adoption through Christ. Some to be sure, will be touched by our family picture. For others though, we will be an offensive picture of the scandal of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. I need the grace to continue to live and love - with or without the applause that I crave.

But, oh, won't it be worth it on that day when I see my Jesus face to face!

Prayer Requests - Take 1

Many more learned than I have written about the implications of Japan’s existence as an island nation. We generally feel very welcomed here and thankfully have many friends that accept us "just as we are." However, we are aware that we are "outsiders" in many respects. For starters, our faces look different from those around us and we are guests here, not citizens. Apart from issues of ethnicity, adoption in the sense that we are approaching it, is a VERY FOREIGN concept. For those children who make it until birth, yet whose parents for various reasons choose not to raise them, orphanages are the default. Adoption is so radical, that I get the feeling some can't fathom why anyone would even bother navigating through it, when other culturally acceptable options exist. On top of that, you add ethnicity to the mix and some people just shake their heads.

While we see adoption as a natural expression of what God has done in our hearts and who we are in Christ - having been adopted into God's family - the general public here can't relate. I guess I have taken for granted that in N. America, adoption is becoming much better accepted for all the wonderful, positive aspects. All that to say, we want to be humble, yet persistent in this journey to love a child that the Lord will bring to us.

By the way, for anyone who's interested, there's a great article expounding upon the Biblical & physical concepts of adoption. Interestingly, it was in our mailbox at the beginning of 2008 when we started seriously looking into adoption. :-)
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/december/21.22.html


The Process Details (more than you wanted to know…but important stuff)

Within Japan, adoptive parents are allowed to have their child(ren) placed in their homes as soon as possible. Once the child is in our family, we will begin the legal adoption process. After our child has been with us for at least 6 months AND all of the paperwork/official procedures have been done, the adoption becomes finalized by law. We've been told with all the legal work involved, this whole process usually takes about 10 months.

At first we thought the ~10 months might feel kind of "probationary," which legally is the case. However, the more we thought about it, we recognized that all of life is "tentative." From God's viewpoint, the child will be as fully "ours" as he can be from the start, because He will have given the child to us. All of us - our every heartbeat - really belong to the Lord, the Giver of Life, and claiming possession of anything or ANYONE as ours, is really only a temporary stewardship that has been entrusted to us by our Loving Creator. This may sound like a 'slap in the face" to us as humans, but I actually find this truth liberating! Thank You, Lord, that I'm not "in charge," but You are and You can work through me, your servant, as I surrender to You.

So, we want to love our child with reckless abandon from DAY ONE, whether we have him or her for 10 weeks, 10 months or a lifetime. Should the adoption not go through for some reason, it would of course be heart-breaking in a way we cannot fathom right now, we both know it is totally worth the risk!

One interesting tidbit on bonding that we learned this past weekend was that once babies have bonded, they can much more readily learn to bond again. (Pardon my layman's terms that may not be technically precise.) So, fully loving our child - no matter what - will help him with whatever future God has in store for him! To say nothing of the fact that we would never forget this family member and our prayers for a lifetime would be able to bless his whole life in a way that never would have been had he never come to us.

We will pray that we have a lifetime together with our child, but know that we can entrust him fully to the will of our heavenly Father above all from the first day he is with us!

Having said all that as a backdrop, we would greatly appreciate your prayers in the following areas. Please pray…

1) That we would be gracious, winsome and shrewd in this whole process, especially in light of the culture:
… That God would grant us favor in the paperwork process, that it would be done correctly and smoothly.
… That we would communicate well and be a blessing to the government workers, social workers, judge and everyone that we come into contact with.
… That He would bring many across our path that have hearts tender and longing to know the Good News that we know in Jesus that is proclaimed uniquely in adoption!

2) That we would love this child with "reckless abandon" from start to finish!

3) For the child's Birth Mom, her physical well-being and overall emotional "heart" condition in this whole process of making these courageous, loving decisions.

Thoughts Post-Interview

Saturday, July 4th was the big Interview Day for ANK to get to know us and help them determine our suitability as adoptive parents. We went from 8:30 AM ~ 11:30 PM, essentially non-stop talking and listening! For those of you reading this, you may be surprised that we did our fair share of listening too (in spite of our talkative natures), especially over lunch and dinner. :-)

Yesterday I wrote the following in an email to a friend who is a huge encourager to us:

What a privilege to get a glimpse of how Sarah especially is living out the Gospel every day as God uses her to save these little ones that would otherwise be cast aside! What a crazy witness to our Lord's love for us! I am just so humbled, and even typing slowly, as all of this is sinking in. I'm so moved at the privilege of even being remotely connected with such a group of saints, seeing everyone's humble passion, and most of all, in AWE at the GLORY of the Lord that is going forth with each miraculous story. I want to hear more, see more of the stories of how God is bringing life and allowing so many to live the good plans He has for them. Japan won't be the same - it can't be - when these children of eternal, God-ordained destinies bless their worlds!

All this to say nothing of the personal implications anticipating how I am going to learn in a new way - my utter dependence on the Lord to care for a helpless little life...and so much more that He wants to show me about Himself.

As far as "news" or tangible outcome of the interview, we have nothing too specific. We are not 100% sure, but it seems that the child that might be placed with us is most likely a boy, as the agency usually has many more boys than girls that go through them. We all felt that things went well and we could get to know each other well. Understandably, we need to wait to be presented to the ANK Board as adoptive parent candidates, and once approved, they will notify us.

Prelude to a New Chapter

Well, at the brink of this new season of our lives, we thought it might work well to return to blogging.

Many of you are familiar with this picture, as it was on our 2008 Christmas card. This is also the picture that we sent in to the adoption agency in March of this year when we applied to become adoptive parents. The adoption agency is here in Japan, but the "head" of the organization is an American named Sarah. It's Japanese acronym is ANK, which translates to "Loving Decisions" in English. We are so thrilled to have been introduced to this group and have begun this journey!

After submitting our application in March, I called Sarah to confirm that she had received all of our information and see if she could give any indication on how long our process would take. Upon passing the screening of our application, the next step would be a home study interview. During this call in March, Sarah sadly projected that it would be "months" before we would be considered for a home study interview, as they only wanted to interview when they have indications that they have a baby/child coming to them that needs adoptive parents. For various reasons, it had been over TWO YEARS since they had had any such babies that matched our hopes coming to them at all. So, we were discouraged to hear this, but simply asked family and friends to pray with us that God would bring our baby in His perfect timing, as well as bless this organization that loves on these dear little ones so that they could help facilitate adoptions for as many children as possible.

Last month, we went to N. America to visit family and attend a close friend's wedding. Jonathan led the decision to, in faith, buy a car seat for our child while we were in the States. At first I (Kendra) was reluctant to appear "foolish" or "over-eager," especially when the projections on timing were so "indefinite." However, I got over myself and agreed, "Why not?!" Jonathan's mom also asked me to pick out yarn and a pattern for a baby afghan that she will knit for the baby. We had a great trip and rich visits with everyone we could squeeze in this time. On the last day we were in the States, packing up to head home, we got an email from our friend in Japan, who has three wonderful children through ANK. She excitedly informed us that the adoption group had been trying to get a hold of us on our Japanese phone while we had been on vacation!! We were ecstatic!

Upon returning home, we scheduled a "home study interview" for as quickly as we could, this past Saturday, July 4th!
While we don't know specific details related to our child, it appears that there is at least one child coming to ANK that might be a good fit for our family! So, we have begun getting some essential baby supplies in order. We have the cradle that Jonathan's maternal grandfather hand made for him when he was a baby, the U.S. car seat that we bought on vacation, and we've now done a Costco Japan and Babies R Us Japan run too. Upon returning home, my enthusiasm morphed into some shock and doubts...."Am I really up for this?!" I thought I had some really good ideas about parenting from my perspective thus-far as a baby sitter for so many years and an aunt to soon-to-be EIGHT precious neices and nephews. However, when faced with the realities of actually caring for our own little one 24-7, 365 days a year, I find my self-confidence plummeting.

Just when I was able to tell people nonchalantly, "Oh yeah, I'm driving in Japan now pretty regularly - once a month or so. It's not really a big deal anymore, I just stick to my routes and the bigger streets, parking spots." I am realizing, "I will have to take our baby to the doctor for check-ups and other things. I will likely have to drive him, as I can't wait for Jonathan to get home from work to do this." So, now, as a mom, I'll be driving and navigating the Japanese health system, all while my precious little one's health is on the line. This is daunting, to say the least.

However, my dear friend just reminded me last week (while helping me to laugh again, even considering the serious responsibilities of motherhood), "God is in charge." After backing into a space at a crowded parking garage for Babies R Us last Thursday, God brought to mind the great children's song, "My God is so BIG, so strong and so mighty; there's NOTHING my God cannot do!"

How much of a GREAT sense of humor does our loving Lord Jesus have!?! How committed is He to us not growing complacent or getting comfortable in our own feelings of human strength!?! How precious that He gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit to live inside of us, coaching us through our feeble steps of faith that we try to walk. How rich the promises that are ours in Christ, to know that God Almighty is our very own Father, even when we have children of our own. How abundant is the life He has bought for us by dying at Calvary and raising to life again! So, while I told you my self-confidence is dying, my Christ-confidence is starting to soar to new heights! Thank you for your prayers that this will continue for both of us. We look forward to sharing with you the amazing ways God will carry us and show His glory along the journey!