June Plattner Family Update
Growing up, I loved to water ski. Due to the realities of life, I have not been out on the water to ski for maybe 5 years. The other week, I determined that it is probably time to see if I am too old or if I still have it in me. We loaded the family up in the boat and I found out that I do still have it in me, and then the next day I found out that I might be too old. Anyways, later on in the day we were debriefing with Drew about his first exposure to water skiing. He kept referencing something in regards to chasing. It took us a few moments to put his thought process together, but he was asking why I could never catch him in the boat. As is commonly done behind the boat, you go back and forth across the wake. In his little mind, he had envisioned the goal of skiing as being a chase in which my goal was to catch the boat and in the end I was not successful and he was trying to figure out why I failed. We had a good chuckle and thought “out of the mouths of babes.” It was just the next day that I walked out to the mailbox to get the mail and opened a letter explaining that our passport application for Daisha was stalled and that our mid-August plan for returning to Jamaica was derailed. Keri and I were both frustrated and began to ask the “whys.” As we were standing in the living room discussing the ramifications, it hit me that I am confident we were making “out of the mouths of babes” comments as we wrestled with an incomplete understanding of God’s plan. It was humbling to think that in all of our “planning and wisdom,” I am sure we were making laughable guesses as to why our plan was being thwarted while our Father was chuckling at how we could not grasp His construction of our plans that were being pieced together for His glory. We know in our heads and are trying to convince our hearts that through life experiences the question is not “why,” but “how.” We know that God takes care of the “whys” and we are supposed to ask “how” can this be used for His glory. So, while we still find ourselves daily complaining, our complaints are commonly followed quickly by a reminder that this situation is not “to us” but “for Him.”
We remain in the midst of trying to get Daisha’s passport. We have made application for a Jamaican passport, but the process was stalled because her pictures were not good enough. We have since been encouraged to call the US passport offices and explain the situation to them. After making the call, they explained to us that we do have enough documentation to prove that she is our daughter and that we are both US citizens. This means that we should be able to get a US passport. We are hoping that this means that our timetable for a return will soon be more defined and we would like to be back to Jamaica around the beginning of September. But, we are trying to remind ourselves of Paul’s encouragement to say, “If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.”
Our family continues to experience blessing upon blessing. Daisha is growing, gaining weight, and hopefully will soon be learning how to sleep through the night. Drew continues to be incredibly flexible as he is almost daily asking, “So where are we going today?” We pray that our little nomad will not have permanent damage from these homeless years of his life. Truitt continues to put his parents into to laughter daily with some new invention of a phrase or passion. We spent July with our parents. While moving so much has not been ideal, we would not trade the time we have had with our parents for a little bit more comfort. We have been blessed by these times and thank the Lord for our relationships and their assistance. We can try to count our blessings but we must realize that our final numbers will always end up woefully underestimated.
We pray that our hearts are ready to receive the lessons of the past few months. By grace, it is our prayer that hindsight will bring clarity and fruit unto His glory in His time. Thanks again for your love, support, and prayers. We hope to be writing our August update from Jamaica, but pray that our hearts will contain the same joy regardless of our circumstance. To God be the Glory!
Love,
Kirk, Keri, Drew, Truitt, and Daisha
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Kirk and Keri Plattner
511 East Woertz Rd.
Princeville, IL 61559
www.plattnerfamily.com
US - 260-627-7778
Mobile - 309-361-8705
JA - 876-588-8092
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