WAITING!

Psalm 27:14
Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

What is it about waiting? The Lord has used waiting in our lives so powerfully. Before Daisha's deal, I would have said without much hesitation that the Lord has used "waiting" to teach me more than any other circumstance. Waiting has been the thing that has pushed me to the point that I must trust. We are waiting again, not that the passport is that critical, but the uncertainty can begin weighing us down. After having "lost control" of parts of our lives for short moments, we have been considering how much security we have in our ability to manage various outcomes in life. It has been shocking and unnerving to put some honest thinking into my willingness to be put into situation in which I don't feel "in control." We are never in control, but we are foolish enough to give ourselves false security.

We posted some more pictures of the past few weeks.

passport pic

Other pictures HERE!

This is the winning passport picture. Daisha's birth certificate arrived on Wednesday morning and we got the passport application mailed out Wednesday afternoon. We are hoping and praying that they will accept it as they are very picky about picture quality. We thought the picture is good in the face of the obstacles. Here is what we were looking for.
1. On a light background
2. Facing the camera
3. Looking at the camera
4. Both ears showing
5. No hands by the face
6. No shadows.
This sounded hard enough for an adult, let alone a newborn baby who cant hold their own head straight, are rarely awake, and not patient. So, with two shoots and a little grace, we got the picture. We also posted a couple of other pictures we have gotten from other "shoots" of Daisha. We cant wait until she starts staying awake longer and smiling as then we can start really snapping the pictures. She continues doing well and growing. On her due date, July 13th, she weighed 7 1/2 pounds. The doctor said that her birth weight at full term would have been a little more than that which would have made for a decent sized little girl. The doctor remains pleased with her progress. I feel like I continue aging at twice the normal rate as I worry about every little sound she makes as she is a noisy baby. But, we remain so thankful for the Lord's provision in going before us and being a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.

Amen!

What's Next?

One of the most common questions we are answering is, "What's Next?" Well, Daisha left Jamaica without a passport. To get a US passport you need an American birth certificate. To get a birth certificate, Daisha needs to appear at the US embassy in Jamaica. So, that is not an option right now. Because of that, we need to find a different way to get her in Jamaica. The other option is to get her a Jamaican passport. As a result of her being born in Jamaica, she is a Jamaican citizen. So, we have been waiting on her Jamaican birth certificate to arrive so we can apply for a passport. On Monday, the birth certificate was picked up in Jamaica and sent to us via FedEx. We are hoping to receive it by the end of the week and start the process for the passport. Today, we got her passport photos printed. I think I will save that story for another post as it was an adventure trying to get her to hold her head straight and look at the camera. Anyways, we do not know exactly how long the passport process will take but we are thinking at least a month. So, in the meantime we are going to be doing what we do, spending time with family and friends and moving around alot.

Peoria Air Show

On Saturday, the boys and I drove down to the airport to go to the air show. For all who know Drew, you know that he loves flying and airplanes. He is always ready to get on a plane and he loves everything about airplanes. So, with the prospect of going to the airport, walking down a runway, getting up close to airplanes, and getting to watch different planes fly, we thought it would be a great thing to with the boys. We had a great time even though the planes were a little louder than the boys wanted. We posted some pictures HERE.

June Jamaica Update

JUNE UPDATE

Everything has changed, but we just don’t know how. After our recent ordeal with Daisha, we have had a difficult time processing through all of the thoughts, emotions, and realities of our experience. We are coming to grips newly discovered blessings in our lives. One of these blessings is the fact that we don't have experience in dealing with "life and death" situations, which is evidence of a hedge of blessing around our lives. Many of you reading this have a much better understanding of these issues as the Lord has carried you through “life and death” situations in your lives. Because of this, I wanted to make this update a plea for your help rather than an explanation of “all we have learned” through our experience. For reasons far beyond our understanding, our “life and death” situation resulted in life while we have friends who recently had a situation that resulted in death. While I am sure there are not answers for this life, we do know that growth comes through struggle and we do not want to waste the struggle. Maybe more than anything else, we are trying to reconcile the reality that life is “life and death.” How do we walk through our daily life with the understanding that we are not promised anything nor owed anything? We know that Christ is the powerful reconciliation between the seriousness of “life is life and death,” and the joy we have in the journey, but how do we keep the understanding effectual through everyday moments. Thanks in advance for your help.

Monday was Daisha’s 3-week birthday! While we had other things going on in June, the rest has become a blur. We did enjoy two teams at Knockpatrick before Daisha was born. We were with a 3rd team on the Sunday that Keri went into the hospital. But, as we neared our date to fly, our focus was switching from life in Jamaica to our transition to the states. We obviously never flew on our intended date, but all of the preparation for the transition never went to waste as we ended up in Illinois anyway. Wow, what an inconceivable path that was forged in spite of the hours of thought and planning we did to come up with a schedule that would be “best.”

Our family continues to be in “blessed shock.” We are often speechless as we recount our blessings. Drew and Truitt are doing great. They continue to remain flexible. Their lives continue to be marked by transition, which means that they are always eating at a different table, sleeping on a different piece of carpet, and playing with new toys. Keri remains strong in spite of limited sleep and we continue to marvel at her recovery from delivery and a stressful week at the hospital. Daisha has exceeded her birth weight and continues to grow/develop. Kirk is along for the ride and trying make sense out of it all. We rejoice.

The plan for our remaining time in the states is to take full advantage of the opportunities. We hope this means lots of family time, friends time, and preparation time for our return. Our return date will be dependent on Daisha’s continued positive growth as well as her paperwork. She left Jamaica without a passport and we will need to get a passport before we return. We are currently waiting on her birth certificate so that we can start the passport application. So, our best guess is a return trip sometime in August. In the meantime, we would love to see and fellowship with many of you who we have not seen for a long time. Please send us an email or give us a call as we would love to catch up with you if Daisha and our schedule allows. We rejoice in God’s faithfulness and pray that we can understand and use this experience as He intended. We ultimately know the experience was for His glory and pray that we can maximize the glory due His name.

Love,
Kirk, Keri, Drew, Truitt, and Daisha

Just something about G-ma's

We have posted some pictures of week 1 at G-Pa and G-Ma Kaebs. As you will see in the pictures, the kids are just soaking it up. They have loved playing with their cousins and enjoy all of G-Mas toys. What a joy! Click HERE for pics.