I am sorry that we missed
our monthly update in April. We have had more than normal happenings with our
family this past month and just never got around to it. Thank you for staying
with us though and continuing to be with us on our journey.
The biggest news has to
be the double joy of the birth of William Micah Soard and the official
fostering of rd, 2014 in Dar es Salaam. He was born weighing 6.6 pounds. Within
24 hours of Micah’s birth we received news from social welfare here in Tanzania
that we had finally, after four years, been officially approved as guardians
for Derrick. He has been part of our lives for a long time now, but was not in
our custody, keeping us from being able to take him for medical treatment,
travel with him to the US, etc. He is now legally ours and while the adoption
process is not fully complete, we will now be able to be together as a family wherever
we go.
As one of our friends
pointed out, Dar es Salaam means “House of Peace” which is a great prayer as
our family is quickly growing with a total of 3 boys (4 if you count Eric). House
of Peace. It is hard sometimes to think of our house as a house of peace. Baby
Micah only has one way to communicate, and it is normally loud and fussy. Kaleb
is entering the terrible twos just a few months shy of his second birthday.
Derrick, restless, daring, and not someone to readily settle down always
manages to keep things interesting, usually dragging his much younger brother
with him. Despite all of that it is a peaceful feeling, after nine months of
waiting, doctor appointments, and planning Micah came and 24 hours later, the
four year process with Derrick took a huge step forward. There is a peace that
comes when long awaited plans come to fruition, when the things we have been
waiting for are finally here. It is an easy time for us as a family to have a
sense of peace. The trick I have found is having peace during the journey. We
still have many, many steps left to take. Steps in the adoption process, steps
in finishing grad school, and steps in our ministry as we continue to work
towards bearing fruit in the projects and churches we have started. Despite all
that awaits us in the coming years the last week has been a reminder of the
faithfulness of God and a reminder to carry this sense of peace with us
wherever we go. We have to be a house of peace not just when the journey is
complete, but in the midst of it.
Philippians 1:6 – “I am
sure about this: the one who started a good work in you will stay with you to
complete the job by the day of Christ Jesus.”
