tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55207598214913219292024-02-06T18:48:51.389-08:00Thailand Adoption"And the Lord answered me: "Write the vision..For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end-it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay."
Habakkuk 2:2-3Chris Rindy Eaklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911372723742356903noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5520759821491321929.post-16437980552931104632010-06-16T21:55:00.000-07:002010-06-16T22:03:30.630-07:00The LetterWe have finally received our "To Whom it May Concern" letter. Wow this has been a long 7 month wait. I can't believe that such a simple piece of paper can take so long. From what I understand after the United States Citizen Immigration Services approves our paperwork they then cable it to the US Embassy in Bangkok. The US Embassy then lets the Thai Red Cross know who then sends us a date to meet with the Thai Consulate. As soon as we get that we then book our flight. This is so amazing that it is here. I know that we could wait another 2 months but I just cant believe that we our this close. Throughout this whole process I have questioned God. My family has gone through so much recently and continues to go through some heart breaking issues. Chris and I's adoption of Emery has been the one bright light. Now that it is finally here it feels surreal. So many things go through my head; will I be a good mother, will Chris and I be able to give Emery everything she needs, will she bond with us. So many unknowns but I am ready for the challenge and as we draw closer to meeting our baby I know that this is exactly what was meant to be.Chris Rindy Eaklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911372723742356903noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5520759821491321929.post-17314890393924397992010-06-07T10:30:00.001-07:002010-06-07T10:40:23.917-07:00UpdatesWe finally have a small update. We have recieved Emery's birth certificate and more detailed information regarding her birth mother. No information on the birth father but apparently Emery's birth mother does not know who he is. Kind of interesting I wonder how we will talk about this with Emery. I am sure we will recieve help along the way. The Thai Coordinator of our adoption agency believes that the "To Whom it May Concern" letter should be here sometime this week. The paperwork that we recieved is usually an indicator that the to whom letter is on its way. I don't know if I find it really weird that we still haven't recieved our letter. Our coordinator assures me that everything is okay and that with this program things can go really slow. She did say that at the earliest we might be able to head over to Thailand late July early August. Please pray that this happens we are so ready.<br /><br />A little update on my family, my papa ended up passing away. It has been the hardest thing my family has had to go through. My nana is not doing well. She has a lot of responsiblities things that were left undone because nobody thought he was going to die. The day before he went into the hospital he was riding around in his orchard on his four wheeler planting apple trees. My nana is a strong Christian women but this has been a real test of her faith. I don't know what to say our do for her. She is broken. Please pray for my nana, pray that things start to settle down and that she is able to get through the grieving process as best as she can.Chris Rindy Eaklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911372723742356903noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5520759821491321929.post-77518262800659591752010-04-26T08:24:00.000-07:002010-04-26T08:28:37.524-07:00PrayerThis message is going to be short but I need to get it out there. My papa (grandpa) had bypass surgery last Thursday. He was a lot sicker than they had thought. He has slowly made improvements but is still in the ICU. He has been taken off of the ventilator and they are trying to wake him up. He is slowly coming to but things are not 100%. <br /><br />My papa, family, and I are in need of prayer. I know that if you don't ask you will not receive. Please pray that he will heal and come out of this okay. We need all the prayer we can get.<br /><br />Thank you!Chris Rindy Eaklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911372723742356903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5520759821491321929.post-89044456167893618162010-04-19T18:43:00.000-07:002010-04-19T19:54:08.267-07:00LifeIt has been two years since I was diagnosed with endometriosis, and two years since we started the adoption process. It has been an eventful road that God has led Chris and I down but also an amazing one.<br /><br />As a child, you imagine what your life will look like; who will you marry, what will your children look like, what kind of career will you have. In all honesty, I did not imagine that this would be my life and this would be the journey that God would take Chris and I on. I married the most amazing man, who loves the Lord and loves me. I could not ask for anything more. I became a Special Education teacher, a job that is extremely challenging but I love it.<br /><br />Because of my great love for all children I have always imagined myself as a mother, and yes I imagined it in the more traditional way (pregnancy). I don't want to pretend that it was easy to find out I would not be able to have children, to give up on a dream of having a child grow inside me, to be with them from the moment of conception but God has taken me on a different route one that I can only assume is and will be just as amazing. I feel privelaged and honored.<br /><br />I have been thinking so much about life and how important and fragile it is. I know that everything happens for a reason. I am sure this post is a bit random but I have been thinking about life a lot. I recently had a close friend that has been diagnosed with Colon Cancer and then yesterday my grandpa had a massive heart attack, and I continue to wait for my precious little girl to be put my arms. Please don't get me wrong I have wonderful life it just feel like a lot right now. I know that life is a journey I continue to fall back on Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths."Chris Rindy Eaklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911372723742356903noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5520759821491321929.post-52745858621826286322010-04-04T20:38:00.001-07:002010-04-04T20:49:43.474-07:00To Whom It May ConcernWe continue to wait for our To whom it may concern letter. It is getting harder and harder! The Thai coordinator from our adoption agency (WACAP) has told us 6-7 month until we will here more. At the end of April it will have been 5 months since we recieved our refferal. Is this normal to wait this long? My heart aches to hold Emery and each day it gets harder. Our adoption agency will be visitng Thailand again in May. Hopefully at that time we will get our letter. At this point we are just waiting for the Thai board to meet and issue the letter. I believe they meet every other week, and am assuming they have a stack of files to go through. <br /><br />Her room is starting to come together. We have really enjoyed decorating it, now we just need our sweet little girl to be in it. We have a few more big items to get; dresser, rocking chair, more decorations to hang, and of course more clothes & toys. It is really weird, I am starting to feel like wow I am going to be a mommy soon. It kind of feel like the night before Christmas when I was a kid. Except I have no idea when Christmas is going to come. In my heart, I feel that God is telling me to hold on it is coming. I pray every day that she will bond with us right away and that motherhood will come easy to me. Its nerve racking becoming a mom for the first time.<br /><br />I will continue to try and keep the blog updated, although there is not a whole lot to talk about right now! Soon though very soon!Chris Rindy Eaklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911372723742356903noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5520759821491321929.post-44854278983423950252009-12-25T22:37:00.000-08:002009-12-25T22:44:37.592-08:00The Awaited ReferralWow, I have not blogged in a long time. I really have not had much to blog about regarding our adoption. I now have the best news ever, we have recieved the referral of a healthy baby girl. She is beautiful!!!!! She is 10 months old and her birthday is in January. The same month as mine. We also got a video of her playing. I really cannot explain the feelings that came over me the night we got our refferal. It was honestly the best day of Chris and I's lives. I just bawled when the Thai coordinator from our agency called. Her words were, "Its a match made in Heavan." I would love to put pictures up but we cant do that until we actually get her. We are going to name her Emery and keep her Thai name as her middle name. Our family and friends have been so amazing. They are just as excited as we are. You should see all the amazing things she got for Christmas. I play to put up pictures of her room as soon as we get it finished. We are anxiously awaiting carpet for all the bedrooms in our house. So....... as soon as that is here I will be keeping everyone up to date more frequently! What an amazing God, we serve!Chris Rindy Eaklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911372723742356903noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5520759821491321929.post-28217745297345697612009-05-07T19:14:00.001-07:002009-05-07T19:21:25.857-07:00The Enchantments<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxtEzvu9LMZAkgEpiqqZIoYzzK4vaK5FyKGTEKctIbXcjXkX_K9LrGc9sQaY1sFtRjLZBmFcvThPh_GHggZjCoAnC1VmtVHYfKOWqQE_jRlrU1XnXzwRWxTqr0uJ7SxWI85TJV3MaNZow/s1600-h/Don't+know+063.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333272360733285522" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxtEzvu9LMZAkgEpiqqZIoYzzK4vaK5FyKGTEKctIbXcjXkX_K9LrGc9sQaY1sFtRjLZBmFcvThPh_GHggZjCoAnC1VmtVHYfKOWqQE_jRlrU1XnXzwRWxTqr0uJ7SxWI85TJV3MaNZow/s200/Don't+know+063.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>So I thought I would show and tell everyone about one of my goals for this Summer. This is a picture of lake Colchuck and the moutain above it is called Asgard Pass. Just over the mountain is a spectacular set of lakes called the Enchantments. They are all glacier filled lakes so they have the same blue and turquoise hue that colchuck does. They are all in a bed of granite rock you can see all the way to the bottom. I haven't been there yet but I have heard and read about it. We plan on going mid-July. Apparently it takes approximately 3 hours to hike up Asgard and its quite a grunt! We plan to camp up there for three nights! Since last Summer I have really gotten into hiking and I really enjoy it. I say this with the risk of being corny but Wow God has created some of the most beautiful things!!!</div>Chris Rindy Eaklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911372723742356903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5520759821491321929.post-4240945924277472702009-04-30T18:40:00.000-07:002009-04-30T18:44:54.533-07:00QuestionsAfter finding out that our file was officially approved by the Thai Red Cross we were told we have anywhere from a year to two years before we get a referral. I am starting to feel discouraged. If anyone out there has any advice or what the wait was for them I would love to hear it. I know that each and every case is different but hearing some encouraging words would be nice right about now! We have already started on our litttle persons room. We our assuming it will be a little boy because that is the majority of healthy babies that come from the Thai Red Cross, but I am waiting to paint because knowing my luck I would paint all boy colors and end up getting a little girl (:Chris Rindy Eaklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911372723742356903noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5520759821491321929.post-18501230081154739952009-04-19T10:57:00.000-07:002009-04-19T11:04:39.734-07:00The Wait is onWell finally we have a little to update everyone on. Everything has gone so smoothly up until our file to Thailand. Our dossier was recieved by the Thai Red Cross on December 31st we had to be formally approved by the Thai board in order to be put on the waiting list. WACAP could not give us a definitive timeline so we waited and prayed. Finally the director of Asian programs for WACAP went over to Bangkok last month and visited with all orphanages. We were then informed that we had been approved in February Woohoo!!! We were also told that our file had gone on to the DSDW. Of course me being me panicked and sent several emails asking what this meant. I thought that maybe some questions had arised about us and that we could possibly be denied. I was told by the Thai coordinator that no Rindy you have already been approved and that the DSDW is like the departmen of social and welfare services here in the states. So everything has to go through them. After reading through the paperwork on the process I am still a bit confused about the whole thing usually your paperwork does not go to the DSDW until they have found a match for you so either they have a child in mind for us right now or I dont know. YIKES I hate not knowing.Chris Rindy Eaklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911372723742356903noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5520759821491321929.post-2494996602607264792008-08-11T21:33:00.000-07:002008-08-11T21:43:22.359-07:00So, I dont have much to report in the adoption world other than that are paperwork has been finished and now the program director and coordinator or looking over then to make sure we qualify. We had a very successful adoption fundraiser yard sale this weekend thanks to some family members and friends who donated items. I want you all to know how very much I have appreciated it. We made 800.00 dollars in two days. I was astonished and am in awe and that way God works. I feel with all my heart that he blessed our yard sale ( he knew it was going to a good cause). We actually had a few random people donate money. Its amazing at how special adoption is and that so many people realize that. My brother had his baby today he is 5lbs. He came a month early. His name is Grady John Tontz. He is the most precious thing. I felt nothing but complete love for that little person. It was very hard for me at first wishing that it was me who had just delivered a newborn baby. I felt myself becoming a little envious but my husband said something to me that really meant a lot. He said, "Rindy almost anyone can have a natural baby thats not hard, but not everyone can adopt." In a weird way I felt as if God chose Chris and I for this and that we should feel honored that he believes we can be the couple for the job. It truly sets us apart and I feel makes us unique!Chris Rindy Eaklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911372723742356903noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5520759821491321929.post-56897164723084239482008-07-14T20:48:00.000-07:002008-07-14T20:55:05.570-07:00WACAP weekendThis last weekend Chris and I traveled to Seattle and attended a WACAP weekend. WACAP is the adoption agency that we plan to go through. We learned so much about adoption and what to expect when we bring our baby home. After talking with the Thailand program coordinator we decided that we would be open to adopting either a boy or girl. We felt that if we were to have our own biological child we would not get to make a decision on the sex so we have decided to put it into Gods hands. Chris really felt inspired by this weekend and I felt a bit discouraged. There is so much to know about children who have been living in orphanages. So many things from developmental delays to malnutrition. It would bring tears to anyones eyes. Although it was hard I know more than ever that this is the path that God has choosen for Chris and I and I cant imagine doing anything else. Please pray for Chris and I that are homestudy is approved quickly and that we can get the adoption ball rolling.Chris Rindy Eaklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911372723742356903noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5520759821491321929.post-23581143959739748642008-06-27T15:56:00.001-07:002008-06-27T15:58:22.022-07:00Thailand Adoption VideoThis is a video I found from youtube of a girl who volunteered her time in a an orphanage in Thailand. It is really neat!<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/IYGdy4VngKU&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/IYGdy4VngKU&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Chris Rindy Eaklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911372723742356903noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5520759821491321929.post-53464731447657222022008-06-23T19:12:00.000-07:002008-06-27T16:47:22.108-07:00Great Friends<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAQv3cyHlyXkv_kvIx62YgwrxctvzsVG1rwcn0rVFWWxRd2ZXWTS0NwZe_98aAcU6G7L0eE2KqQm4IUnz393LTriSroQ28Sw3pJrFdKh2-VLfA-9Yobfp1ZQMNZUsv3U6GK3v8Ln6b3B4/s1600-h/tellmeabout.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAQv3cyHlyXkv_kvIx62YgwrxctvzsVG1rwcn0rVFWWxRd2ZXWTS0NwZe_98aAcU6G7L0eE2KqQm4IUnz393LTriSroQ28Sw3pJrFdKh2-VLfA-9Yobfp1ZQMNZUsv3U6GK3v8Ln6b3B4/s200/tellmeabout.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216712051246700450" border="0" /></a><br />Today Chris started his first day on the force. What a man!!! He is working from 4:00 pm to 4:00 am. Good thing I am not scared of the dark ): I do have my dogs to protect me though. So, I do have to give a shout out to my wonderful supportive friend Tami May. You guys are not going to believe what she did for me. She sent me a little package with a card, and a childrens book about adoption the title is "Tell Me About the Night I was Born". As soon as I read it I bawled. What an amazing and thoughtful gift. It will be perfect to read to our child when we get her. For all of you out there who are adopting this book is perfect.Chris Rindy Eaklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911372723742356903noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5520759821491321929.post-80653411108459947372008-06-20T20:10:00.001-07:002008-06-20T20:14:38.871-07:00Summer BeginsChris just graduated from the Police Academy in Spokane, Washington. He starts work on Monday at 6:00 pm and works until 6:00 am. Finally the school year is over and I can kick back and relax. Not really because I have loads of paper work to do. Chris and I got excepted to adopt through WACAP and adoption agency here in Washington. We are trying to finish up all the paper work. On July 2nd we meet our social worker. She is going to come look at the house and talk with us for about 3 hours. WOW that really seems like a long time. We our hoping to adopt a little girl from Thailand. I have heard that the wait is up to two years. I dont know if I can wait that long for the special little person.Chris Rindy Eaklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911372723742356903noreply@blogger.com3