Our Current Situation

Dear Friends,

We are in need of prayer again as we set out on our next journey in life. For those of you that have not yet heard, the county is taking our house through eminent domain. When we first heard about their project to widen Bear Valley Parkway they assured us not to worry and said that everyone on the street would be taken care of all the way through the project. There was even talk talk that they may not have to demolish our house even though the blueprints clearly marked two traffic lanes going straight through my living room. About a year ago we had our first meeting with the relocation company in which she promised us that "by law" the county was under obligation to make sure that all of our needs were met and that we would be put into "comparable housing" when the time came to move. As more meetings went on, it was made very clear to us that first of all, all of what she said in that first meeting was a lie and secondly, with what they were giving us for our house it was not going to be enough to get us into another one. We have also learned that their so-called "negotiations" are not negotiations at all. It comes down to the fact that we could take this all the way to court and the law is still on their side. It amazes me that we can live in a country where you can "own" a house, pay on it faithfully for 10 years and have it taken away from you and be given nothing (or at least a place to live) in return. I still remember vividly at the second relocation meeting asking the guy on the other side of the table, all five boys standing around me with tears streaming down my face asking him " what am I supposed to tell them?" His response... he looked at me and shrugged his shoulders. Since there were no housing options left, I asked him about apartments in which he replied "I would never live in an apartment with five boys, not after they have had a house with a big yard like yours". Anyway, I could go on and on about the injustice of it all or the ridiculus comments that he kept making like "We will need to sign off on your next housing possibility to make sure that it has suitable living conditions for your family." To which I replied sarcastically "Is my van suitable housing?" but it still comes down to this; our family is once again in very unfamiliar and scary territory. It is hard to comprehend packing up our family of seven and not even know where we are going. Our family is again desperately in need of prayer not for housing because we have amazing family and friends that have been willing to help us out, but prayer for strength and courage as we go through this tough time. It is not easy to leave the only home we as a family have ever known. There are so many happy and wonderful memories that we have made in this house. It is heartbreaking knowing that all the blood, sweat, and tears that we have put into making this our home is all for nothing. It would be one thing if we were selling and another family could come in to enjoy the house we have made but to have everything demolished to dust is sometimes too painful to think about. I keep telling myself "It's sticks and bricks" and that's all it is, but it's still hard. We are supposed to be packing up the first load in the U-Haul trailer today to bring to storage and I just can't get up the strength to do it. I see Jeremy struggle to get up in the morning trying to put on a face of courage to hold the incredible load that is on his shoulders to lead this family. I see Isaac who in his 12 year old innocence doesn't see why we can't "just buy another house". He is torn up about having to leave all of his friends and activities and his biggest passion of all his drums because there is now no place for him to play them. What can I say to him besides "I'm so sorry". It's heartbreaking, and I know he is in a time of his life when he is starting to formulate opinions (especially of his dad) and I would hate to think that he thought we weren't doing everything in our power to provide for him. And then there's Elijah. I can't even begin to write about all that is happening inside that poor boy's head. I have been packing for weeks now and still everyday he will ask me what I am doing and why. He is so confused and obviously no matter how many times I try to explain it he still doesn't get it. He asked me the other day how I was going to get the paint off to the wall to pack it. He walks around the house in a daze not knowing what he is supposed to do. The other day he took a baseball bat to his wagon because in his words "he needed to ruin something". And the other boys... Well, Benjamin puts on a very brave face and tries to encourage everyone and yet I know inside he is hurting, Ethan cries at the drop of a hat, and Micah is just 2 and into EVERYTHING. Every box that I thought I had just packed is suddenly unpacked or missing items. I am so sorry to be writing all of this, I am usually not so vulnerable with my thoughts and emotions but it seems the enormity of the situation has got the best of me this morning and I have suffered a bit of emotional diarrhea.

Anyway, I just wanting to update everyone on our situation as it stands right now. Our move out date is Dec. 3. After selling a good deal of our possessions to try to pay for our moving expenses (the county doesn't pay for this until AFTER the move) we will be storing the rest of our stuff in storage until we get back on our own again. Our future is unknown to us right now but, I know that we serve a strong and mighty God, and I KNOW that He still has a plan for our family. I can't quite see that plan clearly yet, but what I do know is that He is still in control. The plans that we have made or have tried to make may have all fallen apart, but He holds it all together. Our family could really use your prayers right now especially around this time of year making things even more difficult. Thank you again for supporting us through the years praying us through another journey in our life where ever that may lead us.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

Sara

Many Kinds of Hooves

Day 1

Now

Two days ago, it was exactly 1 year ago that we met Micah for the first time. I can't believe that it has already been that long! So much has happened. Yet it has all happened so fast. So many things have changed. New, major changes are on the brink. This journey most definitely continues. Our family is preparing to embark on another adventure. More about that later. For now, know that we are still trying to follow that "light unto our path" to the best of our abilities.

Micah is doing extremely well (praise God!). He is the funniest, naughtiest, cutest, smiliest, cuddliest, goofiest, naughtiest, exasperatingest (yeah, I'm making up words), busiest, chubbiest, playfulest, naughtiest little moose ever to clop his hooves on American soil. We love him like crazy, and he returns the favor (the crazy part and the love part). Our family wouldn't have been complete without him. What a joyful, bumpy road we ride.

While the adoption chapter has been closed, we have quill and ink to the parchment and are beginning to scratch out the first few pages of a new chapter. I thought that when we finished the adoptions we were going to have a little time to relax. A "siesta" you could call it. But apparently God's kingdom isn't anything like Mexico (though I hope to find "California Burritos" on heaven's menu). I keep reading the Bible to find the part where it says that we can stop working, but every indication is that I'm going to have to stop breathing to reach that place. While sometimes it seems like I'm on the fast track to arriving there sooner than I had expected (I'm already bidding farewell to the hair and the circles under my eyes aren't getting any smaller), I'm guessing I'm still a long way off. There's work yet to be done. There's a world of blank pages out there to be filled. May the words it contains be words of Truth. Words of Life. Words of Hope...

JP

Encouragement for Those Still Fighting

In response to hearing of the end of two adoption stories in the same day (one through the chat group and one with a close friend), I felt that I needed to offer a word of encouragement to all adoptive families. My heart is broken. For the adoptive families. For the children struggling to thrive. For those trying to repair just a few small pieces of this broken world we live in. So this goes out to those still fighting the battle with their children. Those that feel like they are banging their heads against a wall. Those struggling each morning to get up and start another day. May the wisdom in the words of the Lord be an encouragement to you.

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” 1 Peter 4:12-13.

Peter is referring to spiritual persecution in this verse. However, anyone that has been involved in adoption, especially adoption from a Russian orphanage knows full well that there is heavy spiritual warfare going on, the kind that we are not used to seeing here in the U.S.. And it does not end once we get home with our children. In the face of the daily “persecution” that we have endured in the 3 ½ years we have been home with Elijah, a common reaction has been to wonder why God would have us go through this hardship. Maybe we were wrong when we believed that it was “God’s will” to pursue Elijah’s adoption. But then I open the Bible. And I see a book replete with suffering. Abraham is asked by God to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Joseph is sold by his brothers into slavery. David is being pursued by King Saul. The Israelites are exiled from their homeland. Paul is imprisoned. Stephen is stoned. Jesus is tortured and executed. And the story has not ended there. Jews were slaughtered by Hitler. Jim Eliot and friends murdered. Christians in numerous countries have been persecuted, tortured, and killed. And to those who have chosen the road of adoption, the spiritual battle continues daily in the home. Sara has endured physical and emotional abuse, as well as permanent hearing loss in her right ear from the screaming. The brothers have been hit, yelled at, and had their possessions destroyed. Food has flown. The home stress level has grown exponentially. Our marriage has been pushed to the brink. Our faith has often times seemed dim at best. But then we remember the following verse:

“Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9.

I don’t believe that “the proper time” necessarily refers to any time in our life here on Earth. Don’t get me wrong. We have seen some small rewards here in Escondido. Elijah giving Sara a hug and saying “I love you” without prompting. Or Elijah being led by the Spirit to pray with his grandma at the exact moment we were sitting in court halfway across the world pleading for the life of his biological brother, Micah. But if we were to make a list, Hardships is giving Rewards a pretty hefty beating up to this point. Like watching the Los Angeles Dodgers play my 11-year-old son’s Little League team. I have read through the entire Bible, and I have yet to find the section that promises me an easy life free of suffering, for either me or my wife or my children. In fact, in all I’ve read it promises me the opposite.

“After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.” Luke 5:27-28.

Jesus asked people to “follow him”. To “take my yoke upon you and learn from me”. To do the things that he would do. As Paul said, “to speak as though God himself were speaking” through us. And his road led to suffering, and ultimately death and resurrection. I have always believed that the mission of adoption has been about following Jesus first, before any of the other purposes. Why would I expect our journey to be any different than his? And should I be surprised at the suffering? Or should I embrace it?

“Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” James 5:10-11.

Friends. Keep fighting the battle. It is a worthy one. And in all the stories I referred to above, the end result was always the same. The name of our Lord was glorified. Yours will end the same. I’m confident of that.

Jeremy Park

The Moose is on the Loose!

We are closing in on 4 months home with Micah! I have to be honest and say that it has been a zoo, with a "moose" as the main attraction. (Somewhere along that bizarre journey to nicknames, his became "moose". Sara has had the fun of nicknaming our other four boys, but I'm happy to say that this one was mine, and it has stuck. Not sure exactly where it came from, but it has something to do with body composition. 5th percentile in height, but a solid 25th in weight.) Bill Cosby said that kids cause brain damage. Well I must have my fair share because going into this adoption, I honestly thought that 5 boys wouldn't be that much different than 4. Just another chair at the table. Ha, ha! Micah likes to play with toys (and by toys I mean everything but his toys, especially those things that are sharp, breakable, expensive (not much of that around our house), important, irreplaceable, or some combination of all those things). Micah responds well to the word "no" (and by respond I mean laugh uncontrollably). Micah is very physically coordinated (and by coordinated I mean he likes to climb up on top of the table and swing the chandelier around in circles). Micah is quite the little conversationalist (and by conversation I mean a series of grunts and loud vocal outbursts reminiscent of a goose). Micah has a healthy appetite (and by healthy I mean he shovels heaping amounts of food into his mouth like he hasn't eaten in 2 weeks, cries when you eat because he thinks your taking his food, and white-knuckles his high-chair tray when you say that mealtime is finished).

Micah's first four months have been exhausting and amazing for everyone in the family. I have never seen a child who smiles as much as he does. And with his crossed eyes, it makes him about the most adorable thing you've ever seen. His laugh is contagious. His energy could power a small town. For Micah, there's no mountain (our countertop) too high. No challenge (or meal) too big. And now that he is free of the orphanage, the road before him is clear. And though it promises to be bumpy, with the Holy Spirit in his heart and his family at his side, Micah stands a fighting chance. Stand back. The Moose is on the loose!

JP

(Micah's first (2nd) Birthday Pictures)

Clue and Comedy Central

Tomorrow will mark the 2-month mark of being home with Micah. Up to this point, it has been a much different experience this time around versus 3 years ago with Elijah. While the time in Russia was very easy with Elijah and a struggle with Micah, the time at home has been the opposite. Micah has taken to his new home with much joy, reckless abandon, and a fair measure of purposeful naughtiness. He definitely spends more of his waking hours smiling than not. He loves his brothers, and they have taken to him as well. He is gentle with Brinkley, our now 9-year-old Golden Retriever, and wants to be with people all the time (even if they would prefer a little alone time).

But as any parent of a two-year-old knows, it is not all cupcakes and Chuck E. Cheese's around here. Let's just say that if we were playing a game of Clue, the culprit would be Micah, in every room, with his own two hands. The boy wants to touch EVERYTHING! And when you tell him no, you'd think he was watching Comedy Central. He's just now starting to get the lay of the land, so it has slowed down a bit. But turn your back on him for one second and he's out the back door and halfway across the yard on the Incredible Journey. And the eating.....and eating....and eating....and eating. If we didn't say "when", I honestly believe that his belly would explode. (How does one go about explaining a large, gaping abdominal hole to a social worker on homevisit?) We've never had a football player in the family. Hmmm.....

He is just starting to talk. Watch the video below to see a little "mama" and "dada". Hope you enjoy!

JP

A New Life Begins

We're Home!!!!!!

OK. Let me back up. The visit to the U.S. Embassy in Russia went without a hitch. There were about 6 families there with kids ready to head home (Micah was the cutest....ok, of course I would say that). The visit took about 1 1/2 hours, and then we were off to sightseeing again. We ventured to a place that was supposed to have been the summer home for czars and Peter the Great, but after walking around for a while and getting nothing but a "nyet" from people when we tried to ask how to get where we were going, we couldn't find it and headed back to downtown Moscow and walked a different route. I couldn't believe the expensive stores. Rodeo Drive in Moscow.

We got up early Saturday morning to pack and were down in the lobby for our pick-up at 9:30am for our flight leaving at 1pm. At 9:45 we started to worry. A quick call to our coordinator, and he informed us that our driver was going to be late. About 10:15. He eventually made it, apologized profusely (his alarm clock battery went dead and he overslept), and we were off. We made it through security with an hour to spare, and after a quick lunch we were on our way home.

Micah did very well on the plane. He slept about an hour out of the first two for his nap. Then he ate and played for a little while. At about 6 hours into the flight, we gave him a little sleepy help and made a makeshift bed out of the airplane blankets and pillows for him on the floor by our feet. It took him about an hour, and then he fell asleep. He didn't wake up until about 5 hours later when we were descending for landing at LAX. It was windy coming in, which made the ride a little more exciting, but we made it down safely. Then 1 3/4 hours in passport control and baggage getting his visa stamped and getting him entered into the country as an official U.S. Citizen. But coming out of the ramp and seeing the boys waiting for us was priceless. They ran from behind the barrier to greet us in the middle of the entryway, and there were many hugs all around. There's nothing that compares to that feeling. We had reunion time with family at Round Table Pizza ten minutes from the airport, and then drove home in the "new" van, a full family again plus one.

Transition has gone extremely well. We took him to Shelter Island in San Diego the day after we arrived (tradition since we did the same with Elijah when we got home 3 years ago) and played on the play equipment and looked at the boats (he decided that he doesn't like F18's when they take off though). Next day we went to the beach. He wouldn't go near the water and loved sucking on his sandy thumbs. Overall, it has been a pretty smooth transition. The boys love him, and he has taken to them very quickly. He even likes the dog (just doesn't know the difference between petting and clobbering on the head).

I was reminded today of the song Steven Curtis Chapman wrote after his child's adoption, "When Love Takes You In". The line "When love takes you home and says you belong here". "The loneliness ends and a new life begins". There is so much truth to that. While this feels like the end of Micah's adoption story, this is only the beginning of the story of his life. There are so many new things for him to experience. So many places to go where he never would have gone. So many things to do that he never would have had an opportunity to do. And, most importantly, starting his relationship with the Lord who brought him home...

Thanks for all your prayers. Now the real journey begins...

JP

Almost Finished!

Hey friends! Sorry about the delay in updates. We are in Moscow now with more limited internet access. One hour of internet goes by fast when you have to catch up with your boys back home. We left Krasnoyarsk early Wednesday morning and arrived in Moscow early Wednesday morning (long day). The flight went about as well as you could hope for a kid in a strange place with strange people on an airplane for the first time. We had time to kill that day, so we went out in search of a stroller to do some sightseeing. Our search yielded nothing as the famous children's mall in Moscow has apparently been closed for 3 years for renovation (we didn't find this out until after we got there). So instead, since we were almost there already, we continued on to Red Square. Little dude doesn't much like to be carried by daddy, and mommy's arms can only handle so much. Mix that with that fact that everyone was a little crabby from getting up at 3:45 in the morning, it wasn't the most fun time any of us have ever had. But we survived, and it was good to get out.

Micah had his visit from the doctor here at the room. We were informed that he was a favored son at the orphanage, and that he was obviously used to getting what he wants (we didn't need to pay $200 to find that one out). We finally found a stroller at another mall yesterday, so we were able to do more sightseeing, and it was a much more enjoyable time for everyone. We even got to see a few things that we didn't last time.

Later this morning we have our visit with the embassy to get his visa. That should go fine, and we should be ready to head home tomorrow. Our boys arrived back in Escondido just a few hours ago and are happy to be home. We can't wait to see them in a couple of days.

JP