On March 20, 2004, We were finally on our way to Kazakhstan...landing in Almaty, then, after spending a night and a day, we finally flew to Shymkent on March 22...(our 24th Anniversary.) We flew "Scat" Airlines, a division of Aeroflot...whose motto was "Don't forget to tie your seatbelt"! Broken seats! and ...seatbelts? really? where? (we found and tied them). I had to keep remembering that I was just as much in God's Hand then as I was in United and Lufthansa flights. Whew! Landed at a DARK airport......we had to walk around the building, then, walk back to the airplane to get our luggage (which all made it, amazingly enough!) Off to our small, but serviceable apartment...sure do wish I had brought screen fabric, fly paper, and duct tape. The bugs got to be bad, and it was so hot, we had to have the windows open!
Was so wonderful to have two of our three kids w/us....
Hardest labor I ever had!
Happy Anniversary to my DH...now at #34...we brought home quite a "souvenir" of our trip, eh?
Love, Karla
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
10 years ago...or more....
I don't do a very good job at posting as often as I would like, so, I'm going to catch up by doing some posting of our trip to Shymkent, Kazakhstan when we adopted our youngest daughter, Sasha Alexandra.
In Dec of 2003, we were hoping that our LOI ("Letter of Invitation") was coming soon...our now defunct agency was saying that our dossier was going from the Ministry-of-this-affair-to-the-ministry-of-that-affair-to-this-translator-to-that-translator-to-this-embassy-to-that-embassy...etc, etc, etc. The having to patiently wait was so hard...in addition to all of the other stuff that was going on in our lives at the time. Only by God's grace did we make it.
In January of 2004, we were getting "cold feet"...how do we really do this? DO we really do this? How do you enter the life of an "older" child (Sasha was 8 1/2 when we met/adopted her) and turn her life upside down by bring her into our home....our life...our country...are we crazy? The warfare was so. very. hard. (continues to be in many ways).
We continued to wait for that illusive LOI....
On February 6 of 2004, we got notice that we had received our LOI!! When do we travel? Worked on Visa's, plane tickets, packing, etc....
In March, we are down to the wire...getting all of the "last minute" stuff done..
And, on March 20, 2004...we are on our way. My journal says that we were in complete confidence that God had opened the doors. (As we learned more being in country, we were more astounded at how God cared for us and Sasha...even though it was very, very, hard.)
More later!
Karla
In Dec of 2003, we were hoping that our LOI ("Letter of Invitation") was coming soon...our now defunct agency was saying that our dossier was going from the Ministry-of-this-affair-to-the-ministry-of-that-affair-to-this-translator-to-that-translator-to-this-embassy-to-that-embassy...etc, etc, etc. The having to patiently wait was so hard...in addition to all of the other stuff that was going on in our lives at the time. Only by God's grace did we make it.
In January of 2004, we were getting "cold feet"...how do we really do this? DO we really do this? How do you enter the life of an "older" child (Sasha was 8 1/2 when we met/adopted her) and turn her life upside down by bring her into our home....our life...our country...are we crazy? The warfare was so. very. hard. (continues to be in many ways).
We continued to wait for that illusive LOI....
On February 6 of 2004, we got notice that we had received our LOI!! When do we travel? Worked on Visa's, plane tickets, packing, etc....
In March, we are down to the wire...getting all of the "last minute" stuff done..
And, on March 20, 2004...we are on our way. My journal says that we were in complete confidence that God had opened the doors. (As we learned more being in country, we were more astounded at how God cared for us and Sasha...even though it was very, very, hard.)
More later!
Karla
Sunday, December 22, 2013
The Light of the World
Happy Advent. Merry Christmas. Blessed Epiphany.
It's amazing to think of our Perfect, Sinless Savior coming to us as a helpless baby into the filth of a stable and a feeding trough...such a perfect picture of our ugliness and dirtiness of sin, needing so much to be cleansed by Him. Alleluia, What a Savior!
My gentleman referred to in the Sept 26 posting is doing very well...amazing. He had a triple bi-pass, but, his brain is intact! He is doing well. I am grateful.
May the Lord Bless you at this precious time of year.
Love, Karla
It's amazing to think of our Perfect, Sinless Savior coming to us as a helpless baby into the filth of a stable and a feeding trough...such a perfect picture of our ugliness and dirtiness of sin, needing so much to be cleansed by Him. Alleluia, What a Savior!
My gentleman referred to in the Sept 26 posting is doing very well...amazing. He had a triple bi-pass, but, his brain is intact! He is doing well. I am grateful.
May the Lord Bless you at this precious time of year.
Love, Karla
Thursday, September 26, 2013
The Brevity of Life (here on earth).
You just never know what a day (or evening) will bring.
I have the great joy of being a part of Peninsula Singers, under the direction of Maestro Dewey Ehling. Tonight at the beginning of rehearsal, one of our older members had a heart attack...and, I did CPR, had someone call 911, had someone else find the AED in the church...EMT's/Paramedic's came...continued w/CPR, etc...after 18 minutes, 3 sessions of the shock from the AED, etc, he was stable enough to be taken to our local Level II hospital.
I am glad that I was there to help. I am glad that God gave me peace during all of the commotion. I am grateful for the prayers that are being lifted up for this man and his family.
In His Hands;
Karla
I have the great joy of being a part of Peninsula Singers, under the direction of Maestro Dewey Ehling. Tonight at the beginning of rehearsal, one of our older members had a heart attack...and, I did CPR, had someone call 911, had someone else find the AED in the church...EMT's/Paramedic's came...continued w/CPR, etc...after 18 minutes, 3 sessions of the shock from the AED, etc, he was stable enough to be taken to our local Level II hospital.
I am glad that I was there to help. I am glad that God gave me peace during all of the commotion. I am grateful for the prayers that are being lifted up for this man and his family.
In His Hands;
Karla
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Happy Anniversary of your Birth-day, Dear Anneka!!
So...will all good intentions aside, it seems that my day's are filled with trying to take care of two households and take care of Mommy :-). Can't even remember the last time I worked on my scrapbooks!
But, time flies on. 12 days ago, Gretchen turned 30 (how can this be?!), and today, Anneka is 28. Even tho she likes to "push my buttons", ever since we went to Kazakhstan, she is the one that I can turn to for help and encouragement...and, for that I am grateful.
Now, a word to new mom's....PLEASE TAKE YOUR BABIES OUT OF THEIR 'PLASTIC BUCKET'S (IE: CAR SEATS) ONCE IN AWHILE!!! Whew. Ok. I see busy young mom's (yes, I was young and busy once, too) put their babies in their car seat's first thing in the morning...and then, lug that car seat around all day. Babies need to be taken OUT of their car seats during the day! They need to be held and smooched and snuggled and loved on. Please!!!
Guess that's all I have for now. Trying to focus on God's goodness; grace; mercy; compassion; understanding; and peace. The world is going to Hell-In-A-Handbasket...and, it's hard to stand strong in compassion. Hang in there.
Love, Karla
But, time flies on. 12 days ago, Gretchen turned 30 (how can this be?!), and today, Anneka is 28. Even tho she likes to "push my buttons", ever since we went to Kazakhstan, she is the one that I can turn to for help and encouragement...and, for that I am grateful.
Now, a word to new mom's....PLEASE TAKE YOUR BABIES OUT OF THEIR 'PLASTIC BUCKET'S (IE: CAR SEATS) ONCE IN AWHILE!!! Whew. Ok. I see busy young mom's (yes, I was young and busy once, too) put their babies in their car seat's first thing in the morning...and then, lug that car seat around all day. Babies need to be taken OUT of their car seats during the day! They need to be held and smooched and snuggled and loved on. Please!!!
Guess that's all I have for now. Trying to focus on God's goodness; grace; mercy; compassion; understanding; and peace. The world is going to Hell-In-A-Handbasket...and, it's hard to stand strong in compassion. Hang in there.
Love, Karla
Monday, January 28, 2013
Why are Monday's so hard?
Again...been too long since I have written a post. Veteran's Day...really? That seems light-years-ago.
Thanksgiving-Advent-Christmas-Epiphany....no wonder I'm tired all of the time!
So, I am trying to be content. My world has "shrunk" to the boundaries of my home...Safeway...Costco...WalMart...my mom's...and back again. Altho, I am hoping to attend a Midwifery Conference in GA in late April; and, planning another trip to Silver Lake, KS in late May!
God is working in me to increase my compassion...our 27 yo daughter is home since early Oct...the "plan" was to find work, then, she desires to move to So California...so far, no work! I have noticed that just this week, there are a few job postings in the newspaper, but, it's been quite dry.
The other big event was that our son had a medical emergency on Oct 29, that necessitated him coming home for the rest of fall quarter...he went back to college on Jan 3. This opened up a whole new area of compassion, and increasing wisdom for us....God is good.
Mom is stable...not falling too much; I'll be glad when the weather improves and I can take her out for drives again.
Ok, will try to post something more profound next time!
Karla
Again...been too long since I have written a post. Veteran's Day...really? That seems light-years-ago.
Thanksgiving-Advent-Christmas-Epiphany....no wonder I'm tired all of the time!
So, I am trying to be content. My world has "shrunk" to the boundaries of my home...Safeway...Costco...WalMart...my mom's...and back again. Altho, I am hoping to attend a Midwifery Conference in GA in late April; and, planning another trip to Silver Lake, KS in late May!
God is working in me to increase my compassion...our 27 yo daughter is home since early Oct...the "plan" was to find work, then, she desires to move to So California...so far, no work! I have noticed that just this week, there are a few job postings in the newspaper, but, it's been quite dry.
The other big event was that our son had a medical emergency on Oct 29, that necessitated him coming home for the rest of fall quarter...he went back to college on Jan 3. This opened up a whole new area of compassion, and increasing wisdom for us....God is good.
Mom is stable...not falling too much; I'll be glad when the weather improves and I can take her out for drives again.
Ok, will try to post something more profound next time!
Karla
Monday, November 12, 2012
Veterans Day
So...of course, we are grateful to our veterans for their service to our country, and therefore, to us. But, I am wondering...how are our veterans feeling about what is happening to our country now? A political party in power, from President on downward, whose platform was "normalizing" immorality: abortion; homosexual behavior; etc. We certainly know that judgement is coming. God have mercy on us.
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