Today I have been reminded that not everyone in this world has it "easy". Without making judgements of how people get in their particular binds of life, my challenge is that if you see someone in need-try to help them out.

What a great weekend. Had family over and took Benny to Church to meet everyone. Here is a pic of the kiddos hanging out.

Spring, Fall, Concrete Wall

What a day!

It's going to be in the 70's, and we have relatives coming over this weekend. A glorious Spring-like Fall day. I can't wait to see the gang from OKC--especially Carly and Abby. We had a great time during their fall break last year, but I suspect this is going to be even better. After all, it's not every day you get to meet a new cousin.

This weekend I'll be practicing my "script". I start setting appointments on Monday to begin building my business. I have been praying for success, but now is where the rubber meets the road. Benny's Uncle has a pretty big presentation on Monday as well. It was a sacrifice taking off from work to see us. He sure could use a heavenly boost, too!

Here's a pic from last year.

Kelli (Benny's Uncle's Cousin if readers are curious), thank you for the kind note and gift certificate. We will be sending an official thank you. As usual-you are awesome! I would love to see you guys sometime.

Oh yeah...one of the funny Halloween traditions in STL is telling a joke before actually receiving candy. We had a trio come to the door. 2 boys and a girl. The boys told their jokes, and the 6 yr old girl had a doozey.

Cute Girl: "What does a fish say when he hits his head on a concrete wall?"
Cute Wife: "I don't know, what?"
Cute Girl: "Dam!"

This is one joke Benny will not know, but it was pretty funny.

One of my favorite things about being a dad is laying next to Benny trying to coax him to sleep. I am famished and tired, but this is way better than eating and sleeping. It is pure joy to look at his little face and sing him a sweet melody. Tonight with the kids class at church we were talking about Abraham and Isaac. I can't imagine coming close to Abrahams obedience. Genesis 22:14 is stuck on my mind. In our quest to have a child over the years, we have tried to hold to the faith that "The Lord Will Provide". He has done this beyond my wildest expectations. Only God can knit a family of three people, each born on 3 different corners of the earth. How cool is that. For this He is to be praised.
Oh yeah, I am still learning my lessons as a rookie. Most recently is never...Never sit your naked kiddo down on your knee while filling up the bathtub. Probabilities are good that he will observe the running water and react in a similar biological fashion. In this case all over my jeans. I have never done so much laundry in my life!

Last night before bed I caught one of my all-time favorites from the 80's. Family Ties. At the time I thought Alex P. Keaton was so cool. In this episode he had insomnia for 8 straight nights. I can relate on a minor scale. The reason I catch this sitcom sometimes is to listen to the theme song. Just hearing the tune sends me down memory lane. It goes something like this "What would we do baby without us..what would we do baby without us.....". So true whether talking about our immediate family, extended family, or Church family. With so many personalities, you take the good with the challenging times and thank God for those relationships.

Oh yeah...here's a pic of our pumpkin from last night.

Benny in his Guatemalan hat.

It's fun rediscovering movies that I liked in the 80's. Last night The Karate Kid was on the tube. At some level every guy can relate to Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), whether being bullied and picked on, trying to impress girls, or just trying to fit in.

My favorite part is when Mr Miyagi uses work around the house as a way to teach The Kid about developing, learning and maturing. To him it's stupid. Paint the Fence. Paint the House. Sand the Deck. Wax On/Wax Off (insert 8th grade joke here). Daniel was frustrated because at the end of the day he only saw how he felt. Sore. Sore muscles and being peeved for doing nothing but labor (how is this going to help my karate?). That was until Mr Miyagi connected the dots between his goals of karate and maturity to the physical labor. The internal evidence. The lightbulb suddenly went on. There was purpose to his unglorious and repetitious labor.

I don't want to be a karate champion, but realize that attaining goals in life requires repitition and commitment. This stands true whether I want to be the best dad, a better teacher, more Christlike, businessman, husband, friend...Today, as a dad I feel like Daniel did when he realized his work was paying off. Tomorrow might be a different story at the office. But today It's a great feeling. Oh yeah...I also liked the part when he kicked the mean guy in the face to win the tournament.

I have been trying to find time time to balance the checkbook, go over work, and do the usual chores that seem hard to accomblish these days. First things first we had to watch a bit of Sooner football. Here's a pic.

I remember teaching the book of Job in a class at Golden, and marveling at God's direct words to Job. We are not always able to objectively look at our lives and answer the why's and what's of the storm that goes on within and around us. Oh to have God open his voice to us and tell us events that formed and worked together to shape where we are. Sometimes I feel like a child trying to fly a jumbo jet, than trying to figure out life. This feeling hit me the other afternoon when we were eating at an nice restaurant in Guatemala City. I looked at G and Benny and just cried. I felt like Job-knowing that God is in control, but needing a good talkin' to. During this entire process over the years I sometimes doubted that getting our Benny would happen. God set the stars in the sky, and the universe spinning because He is in control. I didn't quite understand the "big picture" at the time, but looking back I now see God working in our lives leading up to this point. Geri's fear of flying (ruling out China), moving to MO (our mover had used Dillon Int'l twice). These and countless other strands have woven our lives into a beautiful tapestry-compliments of our Creator.

Here are some things learned from Guatemala:

1. If you bargain for prices, don't bargain too hard. The vendors work hard for very little.
2. Don't just stand there admiring a baby boy between diaper changes. The waterworks are spectacular. That's OK, it was on Geri's side of the bed.
3. Benny is "Gordo". This is how the Guatemalans described him. We agree.

And now for a shocking development. Geri is upstairs taking a nap with Benny.

We have been blessed to travel the world over, but this trip eclipses the others in an infinite way. It is a great feeling having a son and getting to know the funny little habits and mannerisms that he has. Interestingly, he seems the same as the boy we imagined in the 6 months of pictures. Benny has a funny way he points his fingers, he has a funny little laugh complete with cooo's and ahhhh's and grrrrr's. He even sucks his bottom lip almost sideways, just like some of his pictures. I am now seeing another dimension that God blesses parents with.

We have talked with, and met many adoptive families on this trip. For each family this has been a long and emotional process, but all agree that the heartbreak along the way just dissipated with the first look at their child. We are among those. Of course my emotional high was somewhat tempered with my first "real" diaper change yesterday in Antigua. Shocking. I give myself a D on efficiency, and an A for not gagging. My hats off to Geri on this category.

While in Antigua, which is a verrry beautiful city, we did some shopping and sight seeing with our guide, Edgar, and another couple from McKinney, TX. They just picked up Joseph. Word to the wise, never go to the bathroom by yourself in a strange place. I walked into a bathroom at the chicken place we went for lunch. My suspicions were aroused when there were 3 guys and 1 kid not using the restroom, but just hanging around. They were looking for someone to buy their gold, silver and chicklets. No matter the country, I have this invisible bullseye on my forehead I guess.