A Day in the Yard

Shawn and I have eight very large bushes in the front of our house. And while I appreciate the fact that they cover up the underneath part of our front porch, I really don't like these bushes. They grow like weeds and would take over our whole house if we let them! They also have minimized the landscaping we were able to do in our front yard. Well, this year after seeing all the daffodils and tulips in other people's yards, I decided it was time for a place for me to plant such spring delights. I devised a plan for digging up a substantial plot of grass and then planting some smaller, flowering bushes. Around the edge of the new bed we planted some ornamental grass and then filled the whole area in with mulch, leaving plenty of room to plant flowers and bulbs. After quite a bit of nagging and pleading, Shawn was sold on the plan and we headed to the nearby greenhouse to gather our supplies. Let me tell you...landscaping is hard work! I can't remember the last time I was so dirty! We worked all day (Shawn doing much more heavy work than me!) and were very proud of our work when we finished. This is the first major outdoor project we have worked on together (except for our disastrous deck project) and I think it went very well. Now, we just have to start thinking about fixing up our back yard. And we thought this was a lot of work...:)

Happy Easter!

We hope that you have had a wonderful Easter celebrating with family and friends. We have had wonderful weather in Virginia the last few days and we have seen the results in the blooming of trees and flowers...which I am really glad of. I don't think it would have felt like Easter without something in bloom! We had a nice day at my parent's house enjoying the traditional Easter lunch. We were also able to visit with a Colombian family that are friends with my parents. It was fun to talk to people that grew up in the same country our child will be from. We just can't wait to travel to Colombia to experience the culture for ourselves!

South Africa

Stephanie has relinquished her blogging duties this week so I can share about my recent adventures in South Africa. My work sent me there to write about what God is doing in this part of the world. In many areas of South Africa, it is very westernized with stores and restaurants that look similar to what we have in the U.S. In other areas, the poverty is overwhelming. I met one African man who is unable to walk and lives in a one-room shack in the hills outside Grahamstown and rarely leaves his bed. One morning he sat eating what looked like a very bland mix of corn meal and powered milk. His roof was covered in cardboard that was held together with bottle caps and nails and newspaper and magazine pages posted to the walls. No matter how many times I travel, it is always difficult to see people living in these types of conditions. The good news is that I was able to write about an effort designed to help those like this man -- and it had to do with ostriches. Yes, ostriches. I met Martin, originally from Zimbabwe, who started his own ostrich farm in order to help provide jobs for the poor, as well as share the Gospel. Martin is big hulk of a guy who is working with a missionary to train locals how to start their own ostrich farms and start Bible studies and churches throughout the area. During the trip, I was able to get up close with the ugliest birds on the planet ... and probably the dumbest. They have to be watched closely -- especially when they are babies -- because they are fragile birds that need near-perfect conditions to survive to adulthood. When they're wet, they look like soggy mops. Anyway, I met some farmers who are turning their lives around -- both economically and spiritually. I look forward to seeing how this story inspires other to find creative ways to share about Jesus -- even if it does involve ostriches.

One Step Closer...

We got some exciting news today from our social worker. First, our home study has been formally approved! We just have to read through it to check for errors/inaccuracies and then she will make the formal and final approval. We are very excited to be done with this part of the adoption, even though neither of us thought it was as bad as we had anticipated.

The really exciting news, though, is that we have moved up one spot on the list for the list! (See the post from December 5th for an explanation.) A family just received a referral for a child from our orphanage list, which means we get to move up one spot! Hopefully referrals will keep coming and we will move to the Colombia list very soon!