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!

Nature Walk

Shawn and I have a really cool book called 60 Hikes within 60 Miles of Richmond. We decided to put it to good use last weekend. The weather was great...sunny and around 45 degrees and we had a little bit of cabin fever. After narrowing down our choices to a true hike in Charlottesville, a quick walk around Pony Pastures on the James River or a walk around Dutch Gap Conservation Area, we chose Dutch Gap. We didn't really know anything about it except that it was an 8 mile walk (4 miles out and 4 miles back) around a body of water. Being as though I don't really know how long a mile is when you are walking, I thought "8 miles...no big deal!!" Our walk started off really nice. We didn't see hardly any people and about 2.5 miles into the hike we found a great place to have our picnic lunch overlooking the pond. A little while later we got to a section that had tall fences with barbed wire on one side and nothing but trees on the other. We weren't sure if we were actually in the right place but then the real path started again and we could tell we were getting near the end of the first 4 miles. It was also around this time that I noticed I was getting a blister on one of my feet. We turned back to finish the last 4 miles. Since it was all repeated scenery we walked much faster and took fewer side-trails, but I decided around mile 6 that I was done!! My foot was killing me, my body was tired, and I wanted Shawn to carry me to the car. Obviously, that wasn't an option so I started whining and walking very, very slowly. Shawn was often several paces in front of me encouraging me to keep walking. I never claimed to be in shape or to love exercise and I just wanted to sit down and quit! I have never been so glad to see the end of the trail. We finally got to the car, I took off my shoes and I was missing a chunk out of the back of my foot. When Shawn saw how bad my blister was, I think he felt a little bad for the lack of sympathy he gave me on the trail. Overall, though, we had a great day together. It is rare to have 3-4 hours of time uninterrupted by tv, cell phones, or activities that need to be done. We are looking forward to doing another hike from the book. I don't think I will sign up for 8 miles anytime soon...or at least not until I get a new pair of hiking shoes!!