Some Surprising News!

We were quite surprised to hear today that not only can we send a package to Penny for Christmas, but we can even send a card, signed by us. We don't need to stay anonymous, anymore, according to the director of the orphanage in Udon Thani. Our adoption coordinator said that that means that the orphanage director must be quite confident that there will be no problem with us being matched with Penny according to the Thai government. Now, if only that orphanage director in Udon Thani could somehow speed the government workers up down in Bangkok. Thanks to those of you who have been e-mailing some great ideas of things that we could send as gifts. Now I'm getting so many ideas that it will be hard to narrow it down. And it will seem weird writing to our future daughter to introduce ourselves. What do you write? "Hi! We're your parents-to-be, although you've never ever met us. We hope you like us, because we love you." Ha! Seriously, it's hard to know how to start and how much to share. As our adoption coordinator said, "Try not to overwhelm her with emotions. After all, she's never even known what it is to have a family." I can't imagine what it must be like to receive a package from a foreign country, from virtual strangers, who plan to come take you away from everything you've ever known. What an amazing thing international adoption is. But, of course, God has done the same for us. He's welcomed us into His family. And some of us were very distant strangers before we became His kids. I'm sure for many, they've had to learn a whole new set of vocabulary since they became adopted by the King.

By the way, this Sunday our adoption small group will be able to have a time during the service to share about the needs of orphans. And we'll have a table set up in the mall (the big hallway in the foyer of our church). I'll be manning the table during the 10 o'clock service. Also, the Thai student group at CSU will be involved in sharing about Thailand at the CSU international festival on Saturday. So, all kinds of exciting things for us to be involved in right here in Fort Collins. We're so thankful for such a supportive community here.