House of Peace

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.

Derrick all at the same time. William Micah Soard was born on April 23

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.”