Fun, I Think.

It's about 1030 local time and the two little bundles of joy are sleeping on a mattress on the floor next to me. Tonight is the first time I've had internet this week, and saw I thought I'd tap out a few thoughts from the week. I suspect they won't be that coherent, but I don't want to forget this experience, so I'll try to memorialize it in cyberspace.

-God has been so kind to me. I love the fact that the church is praying for me and the kids and there have been numerous times that it's almost like I've sensed it. (My air conditioner just peed on the floor!-it does that all night and and sometimes splashes on me. Speaking of pee, I was changing Silas today, or yesterday maybe, and I bent down in front of the desk he was laying on to throw something away and all of a sudden it started raining! Changing boys is new territory for me and I learned never to stick your head in the line of fire.) Anyways, back to prayer . . . I KNOW that the Lord has been pleased to answer prayer this trip. My arms have been full of two babies for three days and he has made them so well behaved, has given me joy, and has helped us to bond really well.

-Speaking of bonding, Silas cries when other people hold him, but when I pick him up, he stops. THAT'S MY BOY!

-Mercy is the jolliest little booger I've ever met. I think she'll give Edie Stauter a run for her money on the "laid-back" factor. Sure enough, as soon as I typed that she woke up! Time for a bottle.

-I'm back with Mercy on my lap rockin' a bottle. I love it! I think it's time for a list of things to be thankful for: Paved roads. Striped roads. Stoplights. Stop signs. Seatbelts. People not driving by and hitting your car with their hand. Fresh air. Sewers. Protein bars. Electricity. An economy that allows people who want to work the chance to go find a job (There are hardly any jobs here and part of the reason that everything takes so long in the adoption is that many of the government jobs are simply given to family members who are unqualified,but who can earn a decent wage and milk foreigners for bribes).

-When I landed at the aiport and and hopped in a taxi (i.e. "car that is so beat up I can't think of any functioning car in the U.S. that would be worse") it was the scariest ride of my life. We drove for about 45 minutes and there were thousands of people walking along side of the road in the dark with little stands set up alongside the road trying to sell stuff by candlelight, thick smog/smoke in the air, vans loaded down beyond capacity with people which would swerve every which way and we would be jarred from time to time by potholes that would we 8 inches deep and 3 feet wide (seriously--today there was a guy in the road who charged people to put down a board over a pothole so that cars could drive across "his" pothole). We've used the same taxi driver the whole time, but every time I get in a taxi, I'm thinking I'm moments from seeing Jesus. I'm not kidding, multiple times today, we almost got in an accident. Thankfully, there's no need for airbags, because we generally ride with so many bodies crammed in the car that there's no room to move.


-I love it when Silas and Mercy wrestle over the same toy or the other night when I saw them touching hands while they slept. They are really comfortable with each other. Silas is really comfortable in the baby carrier. Today he was in for four hours straight! Let me explain. The main reason I made this trip was for an appointment at the U.S. Embassy so they could see me with the kids. Today, that journey took four hours. The journey began with another death-taxi ride. Then at 1130 our translator told us that we should go to our airline office before the appointment (which was scheduled for noon). Pretty much the sole purpose for making this trip was to be at this appointment at noon, so when he said that we were going to "swing in" by the airline office at 1130, I'm thinking this is not a good idea. Sure enough, he gets a call that they need Mercy's passport ASAP at the Embassy. So we speed over there, he drops me off with two kids in my hands, holding a bottle with my chin that's in Silas' mouth in the baby carrier and we head into the Embassy. In the Embassy, we repeated get called into a series of rooms behind doors numbered 1, 2, 3, and 4. Every so often, they would call your name and tell you which door to go in, and then I'd go in and try to get money or a passport or who knows what out of my pockets all while cramming milk down the throat of one of the two kids. There were about 15 Congolese people in the waiting room who were looking like me like I was an absolute moron. I've often felt socially awkward on this trip (the white dude with the chick-like baby carrier with a one little black baby in it and another in his arm). Like I said, I KNOW people were praying for this, because I'm sitting here reflecting on it and I'm absolutely baffled at how good the kids were and all the i's got dotted today.

-For the kids, I think this is like a long Thanksgiving weekend. I've been giving them a ton of milk and sometimes they pass out almost like they are drunk after the bottle.

-The place I'm staying at is like a guest house and a restaurant. It's kind of like the place in the movie Hotel Rwanda. In the afternoon or evenings, some people come to eat dinner in the courtyard and one thing that I love is that they take a long time to eat. They sit there and talk for hours. The African pace of life is slower, which is great thing. I was thinking to myself as I observed them, why do I think I need to be so busy. Why in the world should anyone have trouble scheduling a date with his wife?! One of the workers here wanted to practice his English with me so we were talking and I was trying to explain to him life in America. I told him it was fast paced and that everyone has calendars on the phone that they use all the time. I know that my calendar on my phone is a good thing, but it sounded like a silly way to live when it came out of my mouth to a man who has no conception of that kind of life.

-Speaking of that man, he really wants me to get him an official invite to America (and place to stay I think). He's a computer science major, a younger man, who has been working at the guest house for two years because he could find no work anywhere else. He said he was saving money to come to the U.S. and would work at any job. When I told him what minimum wage was he literally yelled and turned around to a guy a bit behind him and said something in French and the two of them about fell down on the ground. He turned back to me in English and said, "So you mean if I work ten hours in a day, I will make over seventy dollars in ONE DAY?!" I said, "Well, Obama will take some first (they love him here)!" I then explained the cost of living was different, but nevertheless, he can't wait to come to America and work.

-I think showering is overated. Maybe we'd have time to sit down and talk for a while at meals if we stopped taking showers every day.

-There's another man adopting through the same organization that I met yesterday at a dr. appointment for the kids. His daughter screamed like crazy whenever he'd hold her and she only wanted to be with her foster dad. I think when we get adopted into the family of God, sometimes we come kicking and screaming. It's hard to leave our old way of life because we can't see the life that lies ahead (citation: Abby Huette).

-It's going to be hard to give the kids back to their foster mom tomorrow. I love them and it's been the weirdest fun I've ever had. I don't know if fun is the right word. It hasn't really been fun--it's been . . . wonderful. That's the word. It's a great wonder to me that God placed these two little creatures into my life and that I get the privilege of being their dad. It's truly a wonder. The past couple days have been really hard, but God has often reminded me of the privilege it is to care for Silas and Mercy. When I consider the privilege, it is fun.