The Year in Review

Well, another year over...

There have been some good and some bad for us this year. Anyone that has been reading this the last few months would know this. It does seem that it is mostly bad. But no matter what, the Lord has been with us through it all and as we all know "what does not kill me will only make me stronger". I think a recap of the year for my own good is needed, especially since I didn't start blogging until midway through the year. So here goes...

Back in April, I put in a bid for two different supervisor positions, didn't get either one. I also did my reserve two weeks during this time.

June, Dominique (our 11-year old Dalmatian) spent a week in a veterinary emergency hospital to recover from HGE (sorry not going to go into what it is, you can look it up on WebMD.com or just Google it). That same week Karen and I lost Molly (our 16-year old Lab/Chow mix) we believe her heart just gave out and she just didn't have the strength to hold herself up any longer either.

Hmm, July, a happy month...First of all, this month was our 20th Wedding Anniversary. Hurray for us!!!! I for one do not know how she puts up with me. I give her a lot of credit for that and Love her dearly for it, too!!! Second, Molly left an empty spot in our hearts and home with her passing. Whether you believe it or not, Dominique was also acting mopey lately, too. We decided to go to the SPCA to pick out another dog. We welcomed Nellie, supposedly a Lab/Beagle mix, into our home. She is the sweetest dog I have ever had. As a quick side note, Dominique occasionally would be grouchy and nip and snarl at her and Nellie just takes it all in and continues acting "happy go lucky" as if nothing happened. We definitely got a sweet one with her.
August, I changed shifts to try to work with Pierce (the guy that got one of the supervisor jobs) to improve my versatility in the plant. I have sort of been pigeon-holed on one machine and didn't have much experience with other areas. I hope to changing that soon.

October brought us to Raleigh, N.C to visit spend time with friends in our travel group with this adoption. As you have seen from my post on October 27th that we all had a good time. My dad's wife, Sheila, had heart surgery and pulled through and we are very thankful of her recovery.

November, we had Thanksgiving dinner at my mother and father-in-laws' house, here in Sumter, S.C. Karen's aunt and uncle from Tennessee came down and were here also. It was good to see them again.

December was not a good month for us. We were dealing with Karen's dad's passing and trying to get through Christmas together. It was good to be with family and I think I can speak for everyone in saying we missed Mr. Billy. He didn't say too much very often, but we definitely missed his quiet presence. It wasn't the same without him.

Mr. Billy, you are missed by us all!!!

Well, that was a very brief synopsis of my 2008. I am hoping and praying for a blessed 2009. I want to wish you (if there is anyone reading this) a blessed New Year too!!!

Have a Happy New Year in 2009!!!

God Bless us all,

Bob

Sad, sad news

As I sit in my living room with Karen (the love of my life), I think back on the past day and a half. First, to let you know, my father-in-law (Mr Billy) passed away yesterday about midday,. It broke my heart to think that Karen was home alone dealing with this, while I was performing reserve duty with the Air Force. I rushed to leave Charleston AFB, to make the 1-1/2 hour drive home. I was delayed (my truck broke down) and had to rely on my sister-in-law's husband Frank to get me home. He was in Charleston at the Medical University of South Carolina with Mr. Billy, and was there with him when he passed. After gathering his and some of Mr. Billy's things he made his way to me, which was only about 20 miles up the road from where I-26 West started in Charleston. We had some good conversation while on the way home and neither of us know if Mr. Billy knew that Jesus Christ was his Lord and Savior for sure or not. We can only hope he did. Anyway, to finish my brief synopsis, I did make it home and Karen and I are up and down emotionally. So, moving on to the purpose of today's blog -I want to make this a memorial to "Mr. Billy" or "Cecil" however anyone knew him.

When I first met him, I wasn't so sure of what he thought of me. He quietly sat in his chair and pretty much kept things to himself. He did everything he could to be sure that his family was provided for and did an awesome job of that. He believed that the government was taking too much of his money and giving it away in handouts, which at the time I agreed, and still do. He had been an aircraft engine mechanic in the Air Force, and retired as a Master Sergeant in 1974. At the time I met him he was about to start working for a company in Columbia, SC at Columbia Metropolitan Airport. He had his A&P license and knew his stuff like the back of his hand. He was very principalled in his work ethic and worked aggressively to ensure his family had what they needed. He eventually quit working at Eagle Aviation to work for Lockheed Aeromod in Greenville, SC where I ended up following about 4 or so years later. Unfortunately, I was laid off, while he still kept his position there. He eventually retired, roughly about 4 years ago. He spent much of his time after retirement watching Fox News, working in his yard, giving attention to his Beagle (Sissy), and having a 20' X 30' workshop built in his backyard. In the last few months his heart and lungs had a few problems, but they were doing good this week, except for a cough that none of us liked very much.

Karen and De De (her sister) had just been there on Friday, brought their mom home to get more clothes for him and run a few errands here in Sumter. De De was planning to take her mom back to be with him again the today. Unfortunately, those plans were interrupted by his passing yesterday. His condition was stable when they left to come home and he passed rather unexpectantly.

As I came to know Mr. Billy, I started to enjoy some of the advice he gave about cars, and I enjoyed helping him with computer problems, and our occasional debates back when President Clinton was in office were quite lively. If fact there was one time it got so heated that Karen and Ma (Karen's mom) were coming in from outside and Karen asked Ma if we were arguing. Of course we weren't, just enjoying a good debate. He was for Clinton and well....you gotta know I wasn't...LOL!! He had some strong opinions and they became even stronger in the last few years. He also had a softer side when it came to animals, especially pets of ours. Then when we told him about our adoption, he showed so much interest in it. I don't think he ever let a moment go by whenever he saw Karen to comment or ask about the wait. I still hear him saying, "Heard anything about Robin yet?" He helped us with so much to prepare her room including cleaning out the closet and moving all the stuff to the garage for us. Oh, and I can't forget that he painted the closet walls to match the rest of the room. In fact there is a spatter spot in our kitchen. Karen and I complained about (not to him, though) it, and I think we will both see and rather appreciate it now as a reminder of the memory. It is amazing how petty the things that we thought mattered before, but really do not matter after all.

So, for two final thoughts: The first is about MUSC, I cannot speak more highly of the doctors and nurses at MUSC. From what Frank tells me, they were very professional, and compassionate and we all appreciate what they have done for Mr. Billy.

The final thought is for Frank. He helped Ma provide Mr. Billy the best care while in Charleston this past week. Then after his passing, Frank seemed to be as solid as a rock for everyone. He got the ball rolling for the final arrangements. So, if there is anyone that shows the way to be a true Christian with respect to service to his fellow mankind, Frank has done more to provide an example of that. I cannot speak more highly of all that he has done to help us all. His devotion to this family has been great. We all thank him for making things easier and we are all glad he is a part of this family.

I say farewell to Mr. Billy, and salute him as enlisted members in the military do toward their officers as a sign of respect. Not, for any position he held as the enlisted members do so often, but for the person he was to me and the rest of the family. We all loved him so much!!


God Bless You All,

Bob

Wonderful Weekend was had by All!!!!

The Lord is so great!!! Karen and I had a wonderful weekend in Raleigh, NC. We went to spend time with two great couples, both from our travel group. One couple, Stu and Ellyn, drove up from Sanford. And the other Dave and Aimee, live there in Raleigh and we spent the night at their place. We went up there to enjoy the fellowship that they all provide, and get a little closer since we hope all our daughters from China will be playing together. Karen and I feel so blessed to have become such good friends with both couples. Aimee and Dave really made us feel like a king and queen by the genuine hospitality they showed us. We really felt like we were in a Bed and Breadfast with how much they did for us. We look forward to spending more time with them between now and the time we travel to China. It makes me appreciate the friendship even more knowing that the Lord brought us all together in this adoption journey.

The weekend started with Karen and I making the 3-1/2 hour drive to Raleigh to meet them at Dave and Aimee's house. We all went to the North Carolina State Fair and ended the day Saturday with dinner at Dave and Aimee's. Aimee cooked an awesome chili. After Stu and Ellyn left for home we just enjoyed the company of our hosts. We slept (very comfortably I might add), got up Sunday morning and went to Dave and Aimee's church. Talked some more after church and made the 3-1/2 hour drive home. We stopped at Karen's favorite place to shop and eat (Cracker Barrel) whenever we are on the road and got home around 6:30 pm.

Overall, an excellent weekend.

If you were expecting something more on today's blog, sorry to disappoint you. If you happen to be Dave, Aimee, Stu, and/or Ellyn, thank you so much for your time with you. You all are great people and Karen and I are blessed to have you all as friends.

God Bless Us All,
Bob :-)

Not so good news, but still thankful to God for all that we have...

As the title of today's post says it all...we were not meant to be parents...yet. :-)

Seriously, I did find out that there were actually three children in that sibling group with "M". One was in the process of being adopted already by a family friend, and the older two..."M" and her brother had a family member come forward that wanted to adopt them. So, all is well in the world for them. I am happy that they have family and will more than likely be able to see their birth mom more this way. Karen and I are a little disappointed, but realize that all in all it wasn't God's plan for us.

Saturday (yesterday) we had a home visit with our social worker for a homestudy update for us to renew our I-171H. The I-171H is a document that allows us to bring a child into the U.S. from another country as our own and instantly grants her citizenship just because we adopted her. How cool is that? So, just because Karen and I are naturally born citizens, we can get the approval to bring a child in from another country through adoption and she is automatically a citizen. I Love the USA.

On another aspect of life...Karen and I are asking for prayers for her dad. He has been coughing up blood the last three months and has an appointment this Tuesday, 10/14/2008 for outpatient surgery to have a test run. Then Wednesday, 10/15/2008 for a CAT Scan. We ask that you pray that the Lord watch over him and that if it is His will that things turn out OK. That it turns out to be something that is treatable. It pains us both of what this could be and want him so badly to see Robin when we bring her home. Keep us in your prayers also that this wait actually starts to come down. It is now up to approx. 32 months and we have actually waited 18 months so far. I could do the math as to how long it actually will be, but it could also change for the better. So not something to dwell on anyway.

Well, I need to end this for today, check back again soon. Maybe I will post again sooner, now that we now have a link from our website about our journey to Robin. More people to look at it and see what I have to say. Hmm, kind of scary that someone might actually be reading what I am thinking...

God Bless us all,
Bob :-)

A new decision for us...

Well, it is official, sort of. Karen and I have decided to pursue a domestic adoption in conjunction with our International adoption through China. You may ask, "how did this come about?" It was really simple...first since we have started the China adoption people seem to always ask us if we considered domestic adoption first. Well, the answer to that is always, "Yes we did". Because we did discuss it and prior to the pursuit of adopting from China. As an explanation to our reasons, here we go...

Karen and I are both older than what some birth mothers are at the stage in the game in reference to their child. Statistically we would not be considered by them, for whatever reason they would look to someone closer to their own age. Not realizing that we as more mature adults are already established in our career, financial stability, and mindset, among other things also. We also did not feel that we would want to go through the emotional roller coaster of possibly being selected and then the birth mothers changing their mind midway in the process of us adopting their child/children. With International Adoption, in particular China, we go through the paperwork, then wait with no birth mother to decide against us or changing their mind. They have already made up their mind by abandoning their child in some cases or being forced by their husbands to adandon in other cases. For whatever reason they have given up their child and now that child, mostly little girls, are in the government's care in Social Welfare Institutes (SWI's). The China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) assigns a SWI official to find a child for us and we either accept their choice or reject the choice for us. Either way, no emotional rollercoaster for whether or not we will get a child. Almost a guarantee, sort of.

Now for the way it came about...

Karen received an e-mail from the health room worker at her school telling her about a little girl (I will call her "M")and her brother that are living in a Children's Home here in town. Since M goes to the school where Karen works, she talked to M's teacher. Karen was given a picture of M and brought it home to show me. She is an adorable little girl, btw. After we discussed it, Karen was later talking to her mom and based on her mom's excitement, got excited and enthused by that as the Lord's sign that we need to pursue this.

So you may ask, What happens to Robin and our adoption of her? We are still going through with that. Nothing has changed except that now Robin will have an older sister and brother to come home to also. AWAA has a policy of allowing concurrent adoptions and that is what we will do. I will check into it as soon as I am home from work. To see how this pans out, keep checking back periodically to see the latest. I will post more often than I do now to keep anyone following this updated...later.

God's Blessings to all,
Bob

Life and all its fragility...

Hmm, ever wonder why bad things happen in this world of ours? Sometimes I go off on a tangent about "what the heck is going on here?" But then I stop and think about why God lets bad things happen to good people, or even children. I can only come to one conclusion...it tells us that we as humans have free will. He gave it to us. There are so many examples in the Bible that show us this. Eve giving Adam the forbidden fruit from the tree, the story of Jonas and the whale, and so many others. We are guided by what the Bible tells us how to live our lives, but we also have the ultimate decision to not live that way. Funny thing is, or not so funny is that we will pay the consequences...as much as we may or may not realize that. So many times we as humans do not always do the will of God, but we do what we want to do. Why? Again it goes back to free will. That is our choice, and yes we do bad, we will pay the consequences, we do good we also reap rewards. Oh, don't get me wrong I believe that there is only one way to go to heaven...through believing in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. I also believe that as a Christian we can do bad things, and still have to pay the consequences of not enjoying as many rewards as our fellow Christians that have lived their lives in faith and done as God wants us to live. So when we see bad things happening to good people and even children, we can only say that those that are doing the bad will pay the ultimate consequences in the end. You, the one reading this may be wondering, "what prompted this blog today?" My answer, all the stupid coverage on CNN's Nancy Grace of Caylee Anthony's disappearance. I sit in the break room at work every night and the TV has CNN's Headline News so I don't have a choice in the matter but to see that junk on TV. I have since started sitting with my back to the TV and reading from the Bible during my lunch break as a side note. So, yes I have had to endure that junk, but that is what prompted me to say this on my blog. There are bad people in this world. Why? Because they either don't believe and their free will has an effect on those of us that believe or some innocent lives that haven't had a chance to receive His word. Well, it's getting late and I need to go, so there you have it, in a nutshell and in my humble opinion. Take it for what it's worth.

God's Blessings to all!!
Bob

Olympics Opening Ceremony, wow, what else needs to be said...

China has definitely outdone themselves with the technological show that they put on. Again, wow is all I can say here. Yes, I ended up watching the opening ceremonies with my lovely wife of 20 years. It is amazing that the two of us will be there hopefully within the next two years. The ceremony seemed to me to pass through China's history to some extent and ended with their hopes and goals of wanting to be on the moon by 2024. It was a very impressive ceremony to say the least. I am still in awe of the pyrotechniques involved.
Okay, I am watching the parade of nations and there is no alphabetical order for this like it usually is when other nations host the olympics. As the commentators mentioned, the order of the nations that enter is based on the number of strokes it takes to write the Chinese symbol for the name of that country. Starting with the country whose name is the least to the most. A very interesting thing to watch, and I do not know who will be next as I watch it progress. So, it went from Bahamas to Panama to Pakistan as I am currently watching it now. I also noticed that the delegation of each nation is not wearing the athletic garb as has been seen in the past. Instead they are wearing something similar to a sportcoat and pants. They each have a more dignified look as they walk in during the parade of nations.
Well, that's my short and possibly boring commentary on what I see and my thoughts of this evening as I watch the opening ceremonies. Oh, and before I call it an end to my post tonight, GOD BLESS AMERICA!!! Oh and one more thing...GO USA!!!

God Bless us all,
Bob

Wow, I am blogging...

Well, I am finally on the web other than the website my wife and I share for our adoption journey with www.Babyjellybeans.com. I am new to this blogging thing and just thought that I would make an attempt at it. It is just a place for my thoughts. Oh, and do I dare say feelings? Men aren't supposed to have feelings, right? Not!! We do have feelings but as the conventional wisdom or thought processes of others state that we men are supposed to be strong, stoic, and unfeeling. Sorry if I am flying in the face of conventional wisdom, but we have feelings and the funny part is that we do occasionally express them. Er, at least some of them. So yeah, this will be my thoughts and feelings (which is only occasionally...lol). Well enough about my blog reasons.

So, what do I blog about, hmmm...oh yeah. My wife and I are in the process of an international adoption from China. We started this in January 2006, when we started the paperchase to compile our dossier. Which by the way, was sent in March 2007, so that is when our wait started. We will name our little princess Robin Therese. That's the jist of it, for more info visit our page at the website above. Just type Robin for the first name and Margroff for the last name and read more about our journey there. I won't go into anymore details here about that. Anyhow, we are waiting and Lord willing, the wait will either come down or we will not notice the rate at how fast or slow it moves. There are frustrating moments and there are also joyous moments. At any rate we keep faith in the Lord that the perfect little princess will be "matched" to us by a Social Welfare Institute or SWI (as they are called in China) official. We call them orphanages. I write "matched" that is what is done, although it seems inconceivable to me how a caucasian couple's attributes or features can be matched with an Asian child's. As we were informed is the practice of Chinese officials in SWI's, by our social worker Denice, that did our homestudy. The whole process of the paperwork, the wait, receiving the referral (which probably won't happen for a little over a year as of this posting), and then traveling to get our little princess Robin is so unreal. Of course Karen and I cannot wait, but we are always asking those in our small circle of friends and family to keep us in their prayers. If you happen to be reading this, to do the same for us. The prayers that I ask for are not that the wait go by faster because I wouldn't want life to race on by. I ask that your prayers are for patience and that the wait could possible come down some. I know that God has the perfect little girl picked out for us and the wait may be necessary for that little princess to be ready for us. I for one am not the most patient man (just ask Karen...lol) and I really need your prayers. Oh, and thanks for stopping by to read this. I hope to be able to keep this up on a regular basis. So, stop and check to see when I put up another post. Hopefully within the week.

God Bless us all,
Bob :-)