So Thankful!

Well, it's almost November, a time to think a little more deeply about what we have to be thankful for. I can think of so many things that I hope I won't ramble too much in this entry. But, this is entitle "Regan Ramblings", right? And I'm just exercising my 1st amendment right to speak up. So, I'll start by saying I'm SO thankful for my family. Jay and I just celebrated 10 years since we first "met" on e-harmony, October 23rd. We decided to take a much-needed weekend getaway and went hiking at a couple of state parks. I'm so thankful that we have both sets of parents and that Jay's parents live close by. They are always so helpful and supportive and Penny loves staying with them when we need to get away. It's gradually getting easier for her to handle us leaving. But, it's still a little scary for someone who is used to people leaving her permanently. So proud of how she's developing trust and becoming such a brave young woman!

As far as her school situation is going...that is also gradually getting better. According to the letter grades, she is still failing Algebra, which was devastating to her and worrying us as her parents when she was losing sleep and becoming so emotional over it. But, we finally demanded a meeting at her school and was given one. The teachers and staff involved all seemed to understand more of why Math was so hard for Penny and said they'll do more to support her. Now they've even found her a math tutor who helps just her once a week. The funding came available through a special new department in the school district, titled something like "Immigrant Services". They provide help for immigrant children who've been in this country for less than 3 years. Penny's 3 year mark will be in January. It just so happens that the woman in charge of this department happens to be in my neighbor lady's bible study and was talking about her new job and how she was having a hard time locating students who needed help. So, my neighbor lady piped up and said, "Well, I know of one kid!" and proceeded to tell her about Penny. So, thanks to that conversation, the woman contacted the school and offered her services. Before this, Penny's counselor was unaware of this service of the district. Now she's not only helped out by providing a free tutor, but she's also supplied funds to order Penny a special calculator (costing over $100) and paying for a fee that is required in order to cover insurance on a laptop computer that all students are to receive. This comes in VERY handy, as we've been struggling financially ever since Jay lost his teaching job.

Speaking of money...I felt so bad that a mistake I made cost our family more money. I've never done it before, but I completely spaced a doctor's appointment that I had set up. When I called them after I realized my mistake I discovered, much to my shock, that they had doubled their late fee. It made me break down, much to my embarrassment, over the phone. But, my wonderful husband, with his great, calm, skills of negotiating called them about a week later and asked if we could have mercy and at least cut the fee down. They not only agreed to do that, they actually waived the fee, altogether. I am so relieved. And, once again, I am so thankful that the Lord opened up the opportunity of my new preschool job. I'm so thankful for the great hours and being just a couple blocks away from Penny's school. Just continuing to pray for God's provision during these hard times.

One thing I'm very thankful for, is a roof over our heads. The other night Penny woke up around 2:30 am and thought her bed was shaking. She said it felt like a small earthquake. I slept through the whole thing. But, in the morning we discovered big branches on our roof due to the heavy, wet snow overnight. It has caused so much tree damage throughout the city that they've decided to pick up all of the limbs across the city from the curbside for free. It's going to cost the city 1.5 million dollars.




Another reason I'm feeling thankful for our home, is in hearing about the many people in Thailand fleeing from their homes, due to the flooding there. It's not affecting the area of Thailand where Penny comes from. But, it is slowing down the whole adoption process for many waiting families. It may have disrupted life for some the children whom they are waiting for, as several of those kids live with foster families whose homes are in the area affected by the flooding. So, please pray for everyone involved.

As we look forward to Thanksgiving, let's all pause and remember the many reasons that we have to be thankful for. God is good, all the time!

His Light is Shining

No big huge exciting news to tell. We're just busy living our daily lives. But even in the mundane stuff of life, I can always see God's light shining bright! The good news is that I (Chandra) am LOVING my new job. Even though one year olds are not necessarily my first age group that I most like working with, I must say that this job is awesome! I love my new school, my boss, my co-worker and the curriculum. God totally answered prayers and I even got the perfect hours, too! Jay asked if I could ask my boss for more hours. I said, "Well, I'm not sure if I can ask for that, because I just started working there and I want the earlier hours, but the other teacher in my classroom has been there longer and is working the earlier hours." Then I went on to say, "I really don't see any way possible that it would happen unless that other teacher were to quit." That was on a Tuesday night that we had that conversation. On Wednesday night I asked a ladies' prayer group that I had joined to please pray about my job situation. On Thursday at work this other teacher said to me, "Did you know that I turned in my two-week's notice to quit on Tuesday?" I was quite flabbergasted at how God had answered my prayer before I had even prayed it. It's not that I'm happy about someone quitting, but it just all seemed so right. In fact, this other teacher was extremely unhappy in her job. So, she felt it was for the best. And it turns out that the other new, young teacher who they hired to take her place, is awesome! I've been praying, too, that I could work with someone who would feel like a real team member. It's amazing how well I work with Kati. We both have similar ideas and styles. And, yet, we have just have enough differences, too, that we complement each other. I had to laugh the other day because just when I almost opened my mouth to tell Kati something I thought we should do, she walked over and started doing that very thing. It's like we read each other's minds. And the kids are already responding to our good comradery.

On the home front, we are trying to decide how to best help Penny adjust to so many huge changes involved with become a high school student. There are definitely harder classes and new social dynamics to face in such a big school (larger than the population of the town where I went to H.S.). It's a big culture shock for her mom, as well. I'm not used to facing security guards questioning me as to why I want to park in the visitor's parking lot and feeling like I have to prove that I really do need to meet with Penny's counselor and not wanting to get a ticket for not having a permit to park in the other huge lots. One of the things we did to try and help us understand her better and to know how to best parent her during this important stage in life, was to attend a class. It was hosted by the Adoption Exchange. It's an organization helping post-adoptive families here in Colorado. We learned a lot about trauma and brain development. We know that this time in Penny's life is a tough one to try and figure out her identity. She's going through a stage of both bonding closer with me and yet feeling completely embarrassed for having her friends see me, especially since we don't look alike. So, I just keep trying to love on my "Jekyll and Hyde" personality of my daughter.

The big thing I took away from in the class was that spending time with your child is the best way to heal their trauma and make them feel safe and well-adjusted. We've definitely been plenty of that. So, thankful that my hours are now ideal for spending that time with her. We're also even considering attending another church, if it would help Penny to find some new friends, especially those who lead her closer to the Lord. So, will you please pray with us during this time of transition?

I've been spending tons of time doing LOTS of personal tutoring for trying to help Penny with her homework. It's a lot of bonding time over trying to explain things like consecutive integers, double conversions in algebra and the functions of organelles in cells. But, I convinced her yesterday after school that we both needed to take a break. So, we went out to Dairy Queen for peanut buster bars and then went to see the CSU flower gardens before it possibly freezes over this weekend. They are right across from the original old Fort Collins H.S. building, so we went in a took a look at the building now that it's been bought and renovated into an arts building for CSU. We went to a free museum exhibit inside that was rather "unique" and then we did a little window shopping at a beautiful consignment shop in an old house. After a dinner of terriyaki chicken we rounded off the night by playing Uno on Mom and Dad's bed. It was really a nice, relaxing afternoon free of stress.





Last weekend we got to meet another family who I had only known through their blogs and FB before. It was so fun meeting them in person. They are another family from Colorado who has an adopted daughter, from Vietnam. And now they feel God has called them to take a world tour with their daughters for one year. The husband can work from abroad. So, they'll be spending time in Europe and Asia and I can't wait to follow their journey, especially when they stay in Thailand for a few months. We were so blessed to meet them just before they left on their new adventure. We met at a Fall Festival held at our church, which was a fund raiser for Lutheran Family Services, who helps place foster children in adoptive homes.




Well, I need to wrap this up so that I can ready to go off to my little group of believers and a few seekers of truth at a small Japanese congregation here in Fort Collins. I help out with the worship team there. We just meet once per month. But, I pray that God will use us to glorify Him and shine His light and love on others so that they might know Him better. Jesus, please shine through me, today!