Our Hearts In Chiang Mai

He Makes All Things New

2007-04-04T23:31:00.000-05:00

There is NO WAY I can possibly retrace the last five months. I have been getting a crash course in "Teenager 101" and learning so much about my new son.
What has been so challenging is feeling like I have to make up for lost time. Almost a pressure of a timed test. You know the kind. The ones with the bubbles you fill out & you know at any moment the test giver is going to yell STOP! I feel like we need more time with him. I want more. I know he will leave our nest all to soon. And I am more than certain it will not have been enough time. I'm having to hope for what God has for our future in a way that I haven't experienced before as a mother. With Emily & Tanner I have a history to draw from. With Ake we are just beginning.
One of the things that I have truly been blessed with is Ake's desire to let his guard down to learn how to really trust us. I have seen how he is accustomed to protecting himself & his feelings & earthly possessions. He's beginning to get glimpses of the freedom that comes from learning to trust. What a lesson that is to me in trusting my Lord.
Another change is seeing the kid in him come out. We are letting him just be a kid. Sometimes he just wants to be eight again like Tanner. He never says so, he shows us so. He loves to be silly and have fun and be a child. That's so hard when you're 14. So hard when you had to be your own keeper to survive. He's starting to see it's safe to be himself. Sometimes that is the not so fun side of life either, at least for the rest of us. But it's how he's learning to trust us. He is seeing that we will love him, completely, come what may. He can show himself, good or naughty, happy or sad, angry or contented and we love him. Truly love him. There is a freedom and security in that. It proves that God can make all things new.
Which brings me back to where I always go...God. He loves me whether I have it all together or not. When I blow it and when I do alright. He loves me when I don't feel loved or think I deserve love (not that any of us deserve anything from a Holy God). He loves me in spite of myself.
God is making thing new every day. His mercies are new every morning. And He is using my new son to show me that love is eternal and without strings attached.

In His Grasp- Kristen

When God Writes Your Story...

2006-10-16T09:29:00.000-05:00

It's so hard to remember what our hearts felt like without Ake as a part of our family. Here I am over a month without posting last and the time has flown by. Quite a few people have let me know about it too. :0)

The last few weeks have been really rich weeks. It has been pretty difficult as well with Joe being gone. Last night as I was tucking everyone into bed, I was realizing that there have been some hidden blessings in Joe's having to be in Mississippi. All of us have missed him terribly since he has been gone to be sure. But there have been some opportunites to share with Ake that probably wouldn't have come had Joe not been away. I'm "it" so to speak.

One of things that is so special about adoption is that an adopted child comes with a story. Where they come from, why they were orphaned. A history, "experiences" as Ake calls them. It's a history of how they came to be who they are and many chapters of the book have been written before you have been written into the story. In Ake's case...nearly 14 years where already on paper. It's a story that you hear in bits and pieces, that surface at intimate moments that cannot be staged or planned. If you're not careful to stop and take the time to listen, the snapshot of the past will vanish as quickly as it came. If you don't stop, you will have missed the chance to hear something precious. Something eternal.

When a life has been redeemed and God allows you to be a part of it...it's nothing short of miraculous. When God writes your love story, as He has written Ake's, you want to pour over the lines that are shared so that they permeate who you are becoming. And you are becoming someone better because of your new child. Simply put...we will never be the same.

With all that said, Joe having been gone at the time he had to go, I have been the one who has gotten to hear some really sacred (if you'll pardon the term) parts of the story. Ake has given me a window into his heart that at times has overwhelmed me. Stories of difficulites that none of us could imagine. Stories of trials that would make grown men shudder. He has sweet memories that he holds in special places in his heart. When he shares them with me I feel like I'm being given a part of his heart to be guarded. (Sorry you'll have to hear them from the source :0) But had Joe been here, I may have missed it.

Though at times it's been tough having Joe gone, I can see more clearly that God has allowed me to become a part of Ake's story in a unique way. I have seen him struggle and grieve. I'm seeing him learn that sometimes feelings surface that we don't know how to deal with when they come so quickly. What has been the most precious is that he has believed me to worthy of his trust. That is what has been at times the most sobering and overwhelming. He has decided that I am worthy of his trust. And I can't think of anything that I count as a more sacred honor. The trust of my new son and the thought that I too am now a part of his story. And how sweet it si when God writes your love story.

All My Love- Kristen

I'm Not Sure Why...

2006-08-24T09:19:00.000-05:00

This is the photo in the room that Ake slept in at the Chiang Mai City Church...a photo of Jesus holding a child in his hands. How ironic to think that a boy orphaned in the early days of his life would have a such a clear grasp of Christ's love for him. I see so clearly how God has put a place in our hearts that only He can fill. So many try to fill it in vain with everything but Christ...

Last night at our small group, I made some mental notes. You know the kind. The ones that you think when you're supposed to be thinking something else. :0) As we were gathered in my friends living room for Life Group (some call it Cell Group, some Bible study) last night, we were sharing what God really wants from us as Christians. We began first by sharing our favorite songs. When it came to Ake's turn he said "Thai songs, any Thai God songs." Then he & a friend on our church worship team lifted up their guitars & played for the groups worship time. This is where the thoughts come in...the ones that I wasn't supposed to be having...the ones that were supposed to be about God and His majesty and His deserving all our praise...

I was thinking about how when we first began this journey to adopt Ake that we had so many things that were unknowns. I thought about how we waited for so long on something that we couldn't have began to know would stretch us so much. I was thinking about how we could have chosen something different or someone different or a country that didn't take two years to adopt from or chose a child that would have been more pint sized for convenience sake. Or a child that didn't come with a mind of their own or a whole 14 years of living under his belt. :0) I was thinking how aweful things could have turned out and how much he could hate us for bringing him here. I was thinking about how much he loves the Lord & how he wasn't a Christian for the first half of his life. I was thinking about how steeped in Budhism all of his life and culture is and how he is such a strong Christianand has such a strong Christian upbringing. I was thinking how ill equipped Joe & I felt as we boarded that flight to Thailand. How there was an underlying sense of excitement that boarderlined fear of what may come. And how we knew that it was God & God alone that had brought us that far. I was thinking about how it felt the first time I heard, "I love you Mom. I reallly love you very much." I was thinking how it felt the first time Ake reached for my hand for comfort and the first time he layed his head on my lap. I was thinking about how sweet it sounded to hear him strum his guitar in worship. And I will never forget that first time I saw him light up when he realized that we know the same worship songs that he plays. I was thinking about all the boys that I saw in Bangkok that will never know the love of their own mothers touch or a mother that chose to be their new Mom. All the lives that could be so different if someone would just take a risk. I was looking at all the people in the room with us worshipping who had prayed endless prayers to get Ake home. I was thinking about the support from family members who were secretly worried about how it would all turn out but how they chose to support us anyway. I was thinking about the ones who still don't and what an incredible person they are missing out on. As I was watching Ake play Potter's Hand & singing softly in Thai, and I was completely overcome...

Beautiful Lord, Wonderful Savior
I know for sure all of my days are held in Your hands
Crafted into Your perfect plan

You gently called me into Your presence
Guiding me by Your Holy Spirit
Teach me dear Lord to live all of my life
Through Your eyes

I'm captured by Your holy calling
Set me apart.
I know You're drawing me to Yourself
lead me, Lord. I pray

Oh Take me, mold me, use me, fill me
I give my life to the Potter's hand
Oh Call me, guide me, lead me, walk beside me
I give my life to the Potter's hand

To see that Ake is so safely in the Lords grasp, that God has had His hand on Him all the days of his life & has a plan and a purpose for him & that I get to be his Mom...that I get to be Emily & Tanner's Mom...I was overcome. I was looking at my new son knowing that he misses Thailand so much but yet is so happy with us here. He loves the Lord and knows that he is here because it's God's plan for him. He has laughed with us and allowed us to see him struggle and never once been ugly or mean or said "I hate it here". He has told us that Arkansas is beautiful and that he loves it here. Just yesterday night we were setting at the table and he said "Dad a Kolp, Mom a Kolp, Emily a Kolp, Tanner a Kolp and Ake a Kolp?..." like he wanted to know if he could be one too. And we said "YES! Ake a Kolp too!" And he just overflowed with laughter, "I like! I like!" I saw in him the desire for a permanent family.

So I sat in that room last night thinking to myself...Kristen, it doesn't get any better than this. And to think a girl & boy from rural Indiana could have a been somehow used by God to love a child from the far side of the world...over 8000 miles away...I couldn't be more humbled by the love of God and His plan. He certainly must love me. Though I'm not sure why? :0) Funny thing about God.

In His Mercy- Kristen

HAPPY 14TH BIRTHDAY AKE!!!!

2006-08-10T00:12:00.000-05:00

This is our first family photo. This is from the day we met Ake, on Joe's 37th birthday!!! This is at the Boys Home in Chiang Mai. (Not the foster home he lived in but the place where kids who aren't blessed enough to be fostered with Kiat and Ampahn have to stay). They removed him from his foster home and made him stay here until we arrived. Joe & I were heart sick about it. No wonder he was so willing to go with us right away. It's a heartbreaking place really. So lonely. One Mom to all those kids. When you look at the beds in this dorm alone & realize that there were easily over well 400 kids there on those same grounds , it will make your stomach sick. There were about 18 beds in this building. Imagine if every family could make room for just one orphan...imagine all these beds empty!! I pray for that day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO AKE....

I can't believe we have a teenager!!!! If ever there was a cool teenage...
Ake is the coolest!!! I was thinking about where I was in my life 14 years ago when he was being born & I remembered I was dating the love of my life, planning a wedding. And somewhere in Bangkok a woman was chosing to give life to my new son. I remember standing on the balcony of our hotel room on our last night in Bangkok, thinking that she was "out there" somewhere. I prayed that
somehow, someday we would see her in heaven. I know if on no other day, she has to think of him on the 8th of August. I would thank her if I could...because of her, my life is so much richer. I'm sure she would be so sad to know what she has missed. She has a really special place in my heart, as do all the people who made Ake who he is today.

Ake had a wonderful birthday. We tried to keep it low key so as not to overwhelm him. He got a lot of really nice things. He told us that he had a "very happy good good day." It was pretty sweet, everytime we gave him a new gift, he thought/asked if he got to borrow it. When he realized the new guitar & the bike were his to keep, all he could say was WOW!! It was funny. I made him a photo frame filled with pictures from our time in Thailand. I put photos of his foster parents & friends & those who he loves. He was thrilled. I asked him as I was tucking him in what his favorite gift was (mind you he got a guitar, a tether ball, a CD player/radio, a soccer net & ball, a watch that has Chiang Mai & American time on it & an iPod-from a missionary friend in Thailand- and a bike) He said it was his frame with all his family & friends that he loved the most. I hung it for him by where he sleeps & he just giggled that infectious laugh.

He's been pretty homesick but has maintained that sweet attitude. We got a calling card that is for Thailand & have let him call to talk to his foster Dad & a friend. He told me tonight that he loved me "so so" much because I love him & God, then he kissed me on the forehead. He asked me for special permission to touch my head yesterday...something that just isn't done by a child to an elder. He wanted to feel my hair. As soon as he touched me he apologized. :0) I took his hand in mine & touched it to my head again. I told him that American Mommy's love it when their teenage sons touch their head with affection...he thought that was pretty cool. :0) (And don't tell anyone...but so did I!!!)

I really have been missing Thailand too. I keep thinking of all the precious people there, most who don't know Christ. My heart just aches. I remember meeting one of Ake's teachers at his school & Khun Kiat reminded me about how lost she is. It's hard to see so many faces of people persuing a faith with such effort & it all being futile. I have never met people like the Thai people in my life. They are so hard working & resourceful. Most work six or seven days a week. They are gracious & ALWAYS have a smile for you. Even for us farang (foreigners if you didn't figure it out) who can seem so silly sometimes. They are never too busy to be helpful. I mean remember the sweet lady with the cocoa covered clothes?? It's so different than the "it's all about me" way of thinking in America. They make their living serving others. It's pretty incredible. I love America...but we could learn so much from the Thai people. So much!!!

Basking in His love- The Kolp's

Back In America

2006-08-07T23:46:00.000-05:00

It seems like just yesterday that we were saying goodbye to Thailand and here we are a week later and still not over the jet lag. Like my friend Kerri said, "You'll feel like you were drug behind the plane." Yup, pretty much! hahaha

A week into our time in America and my heart still feels like I left it in Chiang Mai. Most every conversation ends up with our longing for all that we experienced there, the people and the way God is moving in the hearts of those who love Him & serve Him there. I miss the way that I saw my brothers & sisters in Christ pouring themselves into ministry & showing people the love of Christ. I miss how nothing matters more than putting everyone else first & themselves last. I want a faith like what I saw on the faces of the people at Chiang Mai City Church. Who would have thought? Ake certainly is longing for Thailand at ever turn. Frankly, I can see why. I have never been in a place like it & I've been all over the world.

Ake is such a gracious kid, he seldom complains. He laughs at his farang parents as we make feeble attempts at speaking Thai & learning to communicate. The other day we served him a sandwich, which by American standards would be considered quite yummy. The works...lettuce, tomato, mayo, croissant, muenster cheese & deli meat. He shuddered at every bite. He laughed through the whole meal. Joe & I nearly fell out of our seats with laughter when he got down to the last bite & had to call out for Divine help to get through it..."God help me please," as he bit off the next bite. Joe & I laughed so hard we cried. Poor kid is getting a crash course in American food.

Thai food is so much better than American food. Totally fresh, nothing processed & beautiful to taste & look at. I myself am going through withdrawl. My body nearly shut down when I attempted to eat a Whopper Junior at LAX airport. I should have know when it didn't even look or smell good to me ( I was actually starving) that I would be sorry I ever put it in my mouth. That first night home was spent in a fetal position groaning with my head in a trash can. Can you say rejection??? Never again will I eat fast food...and I mean never. And yes I have asked my husband to hold me to that promise! If there is a golden M or a kings crown on the sign, count me out!!!

One of the things that we have seen in our new son is his immense dependence on Christ. He loves the Lord in ways & depends on Him in ways that exhibit the faith of a giant killer. He reminds me of King David as a boy. And yes, he can use a sling shot!!! He used to bonk mangos out of the tree at the church in Chiang Mai for food. :0) Now talk about resourceful!! He has a worshipful heart like David too. He loves to praise & sing & play worship music. He had Joe & I on our faces in the living room the other night in reverence to Christ, simply over his heartfelt, unashamed worship session on our couch. He makes me want to be a better person just knowing him. Honestly, I can't imagine how this whole thing would be going were it not for Ake's faith in Christ & dependence upon Him.

Communication has been a bump in the road for sure. Praise God for our dictionaries. We had a moment yesterday when we simply couldn't understand one another. he was frustrated. I was determinded to make sure we pushed through it. He suggested we pray and I agreed completely. He saw my deep desire to help him understand & I saw his desire to hear & comprehend. He told me he was sorry for our misunderstanding & when I cried for him he just pulled me into his arms. He said, "Mom, it's okay. Please don't cry. You try so hard for me. I love you. I will try harder." All I could say was, "No, you are trying hard!! Mom is so proud of you!!" He started flipping furiously through his dictionary & showed me the word hero. I said, "I don't understand son?" He pointed to me & then the word. I cried even more. He wiped my tears and said, "I'm sorry I make you cry Mom." I told him it wasn't him, it was that I felt so sad that he was struggling, yet so unworthy to have a son like him. He put up his hand in protest & I told him that he was a treasure. All of the sudden I could see in his eyes that he understood. "Mom, you hear me with you heart even when we don't understand." And off he went to play table tennis with a smile the size of Thailand on his face. And there I was left sitting on the floor of the boys room wondering why the God of all creation loves me enough to entrust me with three of the most incredible kids a Mom could ever ask to have. Then He reminded me that they are just mine on loan...that He has huge plans for them. I just get to be a small part of the story.

Because He Lives- Kristen

Coming Full Circle...

2006-08-01T14:06:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that this will be my last post from Thailand. It feels like last week when I was standing at the ticket counter in Little Rock thinking that Chiang Mai seems so far away...

Today we went to the Rose Garden to see a show on the many traditions of Thailand. We saw Thai dancing, a short version of a Thai wedding, Thai Kickboxing, Thai muscians on drums & zylophones, and the way Thai silk is made. It was all of the most fascinating things about Thailand wrapped up in a neat display in a theatre sort of way. I was so thanking Jeff Stephens for talking me into buying a second memory card for my camera. I dropped 100 pictures today alone.

After the show we went to dinner with our translator/helper Khun Oh & her boyfriend business partner Joe. We ate at a neat place on the river & ate some really fun food. I asked Ake to order my food for me because I wanted him to know that I wanted to try his favorite things before we left. Out comes a huge fish on a plate & a salad that was out of this world. Emily ordered crispy fried duck & out comes the whole duck. The child ate nearly the whole thing!!!!!!!! And then Tanner played with the head making quacking sounds. You can't take that boy anywhere!!! hahaha

We made one last call to Khun Kiat, Ake's foster Dad & again were blessed to just know he loves us & is praying for us. He tenderly reminded us again that this is God's will for us all & that he loves us as his own kids. Yup, I cried. Big shock huh?

We returned back to the hotel & God once again did one of those things He does best...the ones that remind us that there is nothing we can do to escape His love or His will. One of those moments when you wonder why it is that you get to the be one to be in the very moment you are in.

I am standing at the front desk of the hotel with my friend Kerri so we can settle up our bill with the staff. We are thanking them for their kindness to us & letting them know we will be back again someday as soon as we can. I hear Ake ask an American man "Do you love God? Are you a Christian?" Within moments, Joe & I realize that Ake asked him because he recognized him. Now let me say as a side note...there are 10 million people in Bangkok & we are hundreds of miles from Chiang Mai. There are more hotels than you can shake a stick at here too. We then here Justin speaking some Thia & see that the light comes on for Ake & he is realizing that he does in fact know this man. Just is then telling us that he knows Ake's foster Dad Kiat & that he has met Ake because he has been to Chiang Mai with the Navigators ministry to help with their church in Chiang Mai!!! Found out a little later that Justin has some photos that Ake are in & he is going to get in touch with us. As the conversation progressed when we met some others in the group, we are told that there is a man in their group with them that is the one who is responsible for discipling Kiat, Ake's foster Dad & that George is the one who was vital in helping start the church that Kiat is the shephard over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now I have to tell you that on the way home tonight from our afternoon show & dinner that Ake was feeling really sad. I knew in my heart that he was struggling with leaving his homeland but wants so much to go, all at the same time. He was very quiet and just help my hand most of the way back to the hotel. At one point he just layed his head on my shoulder & said "Mom, I love Thailand. I miss." I had to choke back the tears. My heart is so sad for him in one respect but yet so excited for what God has next for all of us. I said a simple prayer as we sat in silence. "Lord, somehow let my son know that you are with Him. Help me Lord love him that way he needs to be loved through this." That simple...

So we bump into Justin and the others & find out that we are all flying out on the same flight in about four hours. YES! I am awake. I'm out of mind in any time zone when I have to travel the next day. So God used Ake's desired to see people know Christ to be the thing that comforted him most. He now knows that there will be people on the plane that know him & that he still won't be far from Thailand even though we will be on the other side of the world. Is God the lover of our very souls or what??????? In all the world & all the places in time, only the God of the universe could have orchestrated this meeting. I haven't gotten to me George yet...but we will see him at the airport & on the plane.

My friend Kerri & I milked the day for all it was worth. Then she & Joe & I decided that 12:30 was late enough to talk & talk some more for our last night. She leaves to go back to Camodia with her kids when we leave too. We are going to the airport together. It has been so special to us to get to share this time with her. I am going to bawl at the airport. And she told me I better not make her cry. Then I looked out my window & decided to go out on the balcony & pray over the city. It ended up being later & later so I just showered & came down to the lobby to send one last musing. We are excited to see you all but really hating this leaving Thailan thing. Our hearts are so here.

Pray for our trip, for Ake & my ankles. God is truly in control.

All Our Love- Kolp Five

Some thoughts from Joe

2006-07-30T06:56:00.000-05:00

By popular demand! Okay guys, you get my thoughts but my secretary is typing them for me or we will be here all night. hahaha

I have so much to say I don't know where to start...It doesn't suprise me that Ake was raised here by such a good family. It goes back to the first time I saw his picture and read that he was a smart boy & knew a little English, read his bible & wanted to be a minister some day.

When Kristen first asked to meet his foster family I wasn't sure that was a good idea because we simply didn't know anything about them. So I asked the interpreter to ask Ake if HE wanted to see them again. He definately did want to. Oh what we would have missed if we hadn't met his foster family! Kiat (pronouced Geeaht...we were wrong on an earlier post about pronouncing it)his foster father, displayed a fond love for Ake that I needed to see. This man has joy & always has a smile on his face, you can tell that he is compassionate. He is someone anyone would be glad to have for a father. He is a pastor & a shephard of hearts.

I want to be a good father for Ake. I know that's the position God has put me in & what a blessing that is! He is a son I am already proud of. I really love how he cares for Emily, Tanner & Kristen. Tanner is such a sweet boy. I can tell his heart has been touched since we have been here. His heart is not the same. Emily has struggled but we have had some good talks. And God is definately working in her heart as well.

I have had my share of struggles since we have been here. But I believe that they are God given. The struggles aren't with Ake in ANY way. I am ready a book that Wayne loaned to me & listening to some CD's from Bill Buckingham. God is really showing me how huge He is and how small I am. And I have to allow that to humble me. And it is but sometimes it's a little scary. Especially when you realize you are in the middle of something so big.

To sum it up, like my Pastor said, "It's all about God's glory!" Let's delight in Him! He deserves it!

Can wait to see you all- Love- Joe

The Beach

2006-07-29T23:20:00.000-05:00

We spent a wonderful day trip at the beach yesterday...except for the sunburn! Joe, Kristen & Emily are all burned to a crisp despite sunscreen. The ocean breeze & the cool waters were deceiving. :0) But I have to say we had so much fun it's almost worth it!!!

Today we are wrapping up the shopping we wanted to do. (I have a sweet boy who asked for Thai music for his birthday next week) We also want to get a Thai computer keyboard...much cheaper here I'm sure. We have bought some things for others but still have a few that we want to buy for. There is a day market that we are going to. Then tonight Joe & I get a date night. My sweet friend Kerri told me that she wants us to go have dinner. We begged her to go with us & we just take the kids but she insists that we go. We will get the kids in bed about 7:30 & then go. We have a huge day ahead of us tomorrow.

I want to thank all of you that have posted & emailed us privately. I am going to set Joe down later & have him share some of his thoughts. We have been so busy until yesterday. Tomorrow is a day that we will really need a lot of prayer. Prayer for patients & God's favor.

I have to go for now. this was just a quick post for an update. Kari I have gotten WACAP's email but haven't gotten to answer them. We will fax them tomorrow.

Love you all & firm in Christ's Love- Kristen

Embassy & Mayhamed

2006-07-28T11:33:00.000-05:00

We went to the Embassy this afternoon & had an appointment to get an appointment. Our paperwork was reviewed & we were told that it wasn't what it needed to be. UGH!!!!! We had to go back to the doctor that did the visa medical exam & tell him that there was not proper documention on some of the things in the health assessment. We had to have a chest x-ray to verify that Ake's lungs are health & we were told that there was a new regulation that requires that all children over 10 years have to have immunizations no matter what their shot records show. So much for having his shot records dug up in Chiang Mai. So the poor kid had to have three shots today and now feels like crap & is starting with a fever. He asked our interpreter "Why do I have to have shots to go to America?" I told her to make sure he understood that it wasn't Mom & Dad, that we actually fought to not have to have him get them. We wanted to have a blood draw in the states to see if he actually needed anything more. So pray that he feels well in the morning & still wants to go to the beach.

There are some things I learned today that have really done something in my heart that I'm unsure I even have the ability to articulate. I feel a bit guarded to share because I know that some won't really hear my heart. As I mentioned before we were invited to Mayhamed Boys Home where Ake was when he was about Tanner's age. We arrived & were swarmed with the faces of tons of the most precious little boys you have ever seen. As we rounded the corner of the house Ake used to stay in a lady came out practically running to us & hugged Ake's neck & just spoke a mile a minute. Khun Oh our interpreter told us that she was the nanny that took care of Ake when he was an infant at Pakkred & that when he moved to Mayhamed she followed him there!!! I just bawled. She just hugged him & cried & made over how handsome he is & what a sweet boy. She said the last she heard of him was that he was living in Chiang Mai with a Thai family.

For about half an hour we all played with a bunch of the littlest ones, probably from four to ten. I saw a little boys setting in the corner crying & I went over to him & spoke what little Thai I know. He looked at me & reached out to me so I picked him up. He still cried but he let me wipe his tears & he clutched onto me like it was saving his life. It was pitiful. The lady told me that he was not feeling well & had been fussy most of the day.

One of the things that we learned about Mayhamed (probably spelling wrong) is that the boys are allowed to live there as long as they are in school. College even. There are lots of boys who attend university & chose to serve there while they go to school & the government sends them. After the age of 15 they can no longer be adopted. There were 140 faces like that today. From age 4-24. All of them parentless. All of them. I met a young man named Thom (pronounce dom). He's one of Ake's good friends. I noticed him first because he is strikingly handsome & second because he has a smile as bright as the sun. But after watching him for a long while interacting with the little ones I was struck most of all by how he would scold the boys who would pick on the weaker ones. He would put the small ones on his hip & carry them until they were comforted & then go about his chores.

Then after about half an hour the dinner bell was rang. What we didn't know when we arrived was that we were the guests of honor. We knew that we were being invited to dine with the boys to honor the Prince of Thailand who provided the meal for the anniversary of the founding of the home. The different house Mom's has slaved in a kitchen all day to provide a meal fit for a Prince for us. My heart was completely overwhelmed as I sat & ate the best meal we have eaten since we arrived, being waited on by young men who will never know the love of a mother he doesn't have to share with 30 other boys. They never let a glass get down to the bottom, they offered a smile & a wai (bow) at every turn. And they helped guide the little ones when they needed help. And never once acted as if it were less than an honor.

Imagine Joe & my suprise when we were asked to come forward so that we may be honored. Our interpreter Khun Oh spoke for him. Joe asked her if he could speak freely about his faith & she nodded. Joe said something like this..."I believe the bible. And the bible tell us that God sets the lonely in families. God has not forgotten you, there is hope past today." And then Ake spoke, "God gave me a family so that I can go to America & study hard & come back to Thailand and help my people. God loves you." And that was it. A sea of little faces bowed to us in a thank you. Then they kids were dismissed to go back to their dorms. A few stayed behind to sing a song for us...

We found out that the six boys that sang for us will be honored tomorrow for winning a contest in choral performance. They sang a song for us that was written and is sang on Mothers Day in Thailand by these boys. They even have a cd. Here are some of the words ...

I would write to you Mommy but I cannot find you
I call for you the night but you don't hear me
If you would come for me I promise I will be a good boy...

I had to set down I was sobbing so hard. I watched as these precious boys sang a song from the depths of a broken heart as my son, one who is now on the outside of their lives looking in...and I was completely overcome. Joe & I sat & watched them sing, Ake playing for them & never once did any of them shed a tear. As I had watched them all eat dinner as I sat at a table of honor I wanted to scream inside, "Lord this is so unfair!!!!" "Lord these boys need a family & they need a Saviour!!!" "Lord how can things be different." It was so surreal and heartbreaking. As we were leaving I asked the social worker to call Thom over so I could tell him all that I had noticed about him earlier. I told him that he was a handsome boy but it was his tenderness & his heart for the weaker ones that I noticed about him. I told him if he never had a mother that I wanted him to know that I would always have him in my heart & that I would have been honored for the chance to have him as a son. He bow down & kissed my face & hugged me for a long time...that smile again touching a place deep in my heart. All my life I will never get over what I saw there. Never. As we left Thom was standing by the van. I pointed to him & gave him thumbs up & the I love you sign & I putmy hand to my heart... he pointed to me and put his hand over his & flashed me that beautiful smile.

How then, shall I live differently with the faces of 140 orphan boys forever etched in my heart????

In Christ's Grace- Kristen

Immigration & Visa

2006-07-27T10:44:00.000-05:00

Today was the toughest day yet...the meeting for the visa didn't go as well as well as we had hoped. It took all day to get a "yes" answer on a visa for Ake...thanks to the visa natzi...and by the time we got the red stamp of approval we were told we had to run across the street to the US Embassy before it closed in five minutes. Have you ever tried to get across a busy street in Bangkok with 10 million people all going somewhere at once??

We arrived to find out that we had some serious God favor on our side...they don't let ANYONE in right at closing time. We found out that the office across the street at immigration didn't fax over the approval form so we could make the appointment. No approval, no appointment. Period. Oh, and by the way, you have to make the appointment in person & it's always for the next day. Well tomorrow the immigration office is closed because it's the 4th Friday of the month. Visa Natzi left that part out too. So we are being allowed to go to the Embassy tomorrow at 1pm to make an appointment for Monday. Did I mention that it can take three days to get the visa??? Can you say TEARS???? When the lady told me I just put my face in my hands and cried. There is a chance that we could have it by the afternoon on Monday.

I found out today that my new son would do anything to see his Mamma NOT cry. he put his arms around me & buried his face in my shoulder & teared up with me. "Momma, you angry?" "No son, Momma not angry, sad." He says, "I go with you to America?" I said, "No matter what!!!" He said, "I love you so much Mom, please don't cry. God love you more." I put my arms around him & he just held me for the longest time. He held my hand all the way to the car.

So...we pray that we are given the favor of the Embassy tomorrow & that by some miracle they let us have our visa submission. I am finding out that there are some details that our agency simply isn't privy to. We knew that there would be some trials here...there usually are aren't there???? I just pray that we get the visa & get on that plane Tuesday as planned. We are really ready to come home. I'm really glad I didn't allow myself to be discouraged from staying the extra time here. I guess I did something right when I decided to bring the kids & stay an extra five days huh????

We also have to call Northwest & change Ake's name spelling on his ticket. They decided to spell it even differently than any of the paperwork had said before.

Please also pray for a family we met today. They are adopting a girl that is 12 years old. He mother is blind & her Dad passed away a few years ago & the Mom could no longer take care of her because she can't work. They found out today that all the paperwork they had done in the states & translated had many errors. So they have had to do all of it over again. They had an even tougher day than we did. The Mom & Dad are Lao & they are both U.S. citizens. They fled Laos in the 70's & have had a tough but redeemed life in Christ. It's amazing to me that in all of Thailand that we have met more Christians than we have Buddhists. It's been amazing.

Lastly, my ankles are a mess. They are so swollen & tight I finally went to the apothecary & got some prescription strength diuretic. The pharmacist gave them to me for ten days. So that will keep me good until we get home. Pray that it will work & that I will not get dehydrated. It's really hot here!!

We go to Mayhamed tomorrow & Ake is really excited to see his friends there. He has not seen them for six years. He told Joe tonight that he wanted to practice his guitar in the morning to take it with him & sing worship music for the kids. He told Joe that he then wants to tell them the gospel message & see if they will except Jesus as their Savior.

Oh also pray for Joe's eyes. It seems he has a clorine burn of his eyes from the pool & to say that they are bloodshot is an understatement. Ake has him lay down & he put drops in his eyes & prayed over him & read scripture over him. He even rubbed his legs. He is so sweet and has such a heart for the Lord. I see a worship leader in our future! MOVE OVER RAY!!! :0) He can't wait to meet you Ray.

I am off to bed. We go to the Embassy at 1pm. Thanks so much for all of your posts. I will try to get Joe in on the act. Poor guys falls into bed every night & just sleeps like a log. I on the other hand lay awake & wonder what I forgot to do or what document we won't have for the next step. hahaha

Firm in His Grip- Kristen

Board Meeting

2006-07-26T09:26:00.000-05:00

Just so all of you know...I am still trying to do the photo thing. I am hoping Richard our friend in Chiang Mai who burned photos for us to a disk will read this email & check his hotmail with all the needed info to do it for me! :0) NO PRESURE RICHARD!!! The whole world just wants to see the boys face. :0)

We all learned today that you don't give Tanner a chance at an open mic. :0) Imagine if you will...We all walked into a large room dressed in our finest clothes. You all know if I'm in a dress it's a big deal. Anyway..imagine Senate confirmation hearings with eveyone setting in front of a microphone. There are toys on the long table & Tanner walks in & says "sawadeekrup" bows & gets right to business. He says, "Will this take long?" Right into the mic. LOL The whole room erupts in laughter & I wish the ground would open up & create a large trap door beneath me. He was a sweet as he could be but really wanted to get past the point of knowing we could keep Ake forever.

They asked all of the kids questions & all of the board members commented on how sweet the children are & told me that I must be a good mother to raise children who love other people so much. There were probably 12 people other than us in the room. It was a bit ittimidating. Ake acted very nervous until it came his turn to talk. We found out afterward what they had asked him. They basically asked him did he really want to be adopted & how did he like his new parents, brother and sister. He told them that he loved his new family that they made him very happy. He said, "I can tell they really love me a lot. So now it's my responsibilty to go to American and make a good son for them & honor them." I saw the whole board misting over & really wasn't sure why. He told them at first that he was afraid when he learned that farangs wanted to adopt him because he didn't want to go to a family who didn't love Jesus. But now he sees that we really do love God & is glad that he gets to go with us.

After the board meeting we went for the visa medical. And he did really well for that. He wanted me to go in with him so I did. He told me that he likes that I am his Mom & I take care of him. He reached over and grabbed my hand and held it for a very long time and would look over & smile at me & almost giggle like he was teaming with joy. It was really special to get to have him alone for about an hour.

All is well. We go for the rest of the visa paperwork tomorrow & we have heard that the lady who is in charge is like the soup natzi in Seinfeld right down to the letter on all the translations matching letter by letter.

We love you all. Looks like we will be going to the beach on Friday or Saturday for the weekend. Pray that everyone stays well & that these fankles (fat ankles for those who don't know) of mine go down.

Love- Kristen

Back In Bangkok

2006-07-25T10:16:00.000-05:00

We're back in Bangkok...hot, loud & busy. :0) But I have to say that we still are having the time of our lives. The airport went well even though it was bittersweet. Kiat & his wife sent us off with joy. And hugged us all & told us all how much he loves us. Ake was sad but didn't shed a tear. As we walked out of site I pulled him under my arm & I was the one who was crying. He said, "It's okay Mom. God is with me. I be happy in America and make you a good son. I take care of you when you old." I just hugged him & told him that Kiat would be so proud of him being so brave. He reached up & dried my tears & said, "No cry Mom. God with us and God love you."

My dear friend Kerri is here from Cambodia & we have gotten to meet her new daughter Chenda...she is a doll. She is the sweetest little thing. Emily's age & a head shorter at least. We are enjoying their company so much but have been really busy. After tomorrow there will be more time to visit. It is so nice to be able to share Ake with them. Kerri agrees that he is as sweet as can be.

Khun Oh, our paid helper here for all our paperwork has been an immense help. She has taken us to all the places that would have taken us hours to accomplish alone. She is worth her weight in gold!! And bless her heart, she might weigh a hundred pounds soaking wet. :0) Ake loves her because she translates for him.

We had a wonderful opportunity today to go the the orphanage here in Bangkok to see where Ake spent two years of his life after he was at the baby home Pakkred. He spent two years a Mayhamed Children's Home & then went onto Chiang Mai to his wonderful foster home. We asked the social worker here could we go to all the places that Ake had lived & Ake told her that there was a woman at Mayhamed that he really wanted to see. Her name is Ma Oy. We stopped at a flower stand so that he could take a gift to her & the orphanage superintendant. In Thailand you can buy two rings of flowers (roses & jasmine for a dollar). We arrived & I could tell that he was a bit nervous. When we walked in he saw Ma Oy & she had no idea that it was Ake that was coming to see her. She knew that it was one of her boys but when she saw him she fell into tears. He knelt on the ground in front of her & bowed to her in a deep wai & she just grabbed him up & cried. She took his arm & pulled him all over the room to show him off. She hugged me & hugged Emily & Tanner & made over them. Then the director walked in & when Ake saw her he got her a chair (she is older) and kneeled in front of her & bowed at her feet as well. This is the most humble thing that a Thai child can do to show their respect to an adult they love. It was precious. Everyone just made over the kids. The director showered Emily & Tanner with attention & gave all of us gifts. It was so sweet. They invited us to return on Friday to have dinner with them. The crown prince of Thailand is hosting a banquet meal for all the children and workers at Mayhamed & they wanted us to come & bring Ake so that he can see all his old friends there. What an opportunity!!!

All is well. The kids have been really tired as we have had some late nights. So tonight everyone was in bed by 8:30. Tomorrow we are presented in front of the adoption board. Pray that we are called early so that we don't have to set all day & wait with the kids. Pray my dress shoes fit my feet. Still swelling but not quite as bad.

Not much else to tell...we will try to post again after the meeting. Thanks to all of you who have posted your sweet words. We feel so loved!!! Hope to try to post at least one photo if I can figure out how.

Pray that we tie up lose ends early so that we can have a few days to just relax before we have to head home. Much love to all- The Kolp Five :0)

Saying goodbye to Chiang Mai

2006-07-23T03:18:00.000-05:00

Well here we are saying goodbye to the precious people we have come to love here in Chiang Mai. It's indescribable to think of all that the Lord has done in the last week.

This morning we attended church with Ake's church family as well as our friends the Cummins. Ake really loves "Khun Connie" and begged her to go with us, so the whole family came along!! It's been such a blessing sharing all of these memories with us as we have made them here.

Pastor Kiat shared a wonderful message, while his associate Pastor Add (sounds like odd) translated for us the entire time. At the end Kiat invited us forward to share as we felt led & it was a very tender moment. Ake also shared as well about how he was glad to go to America & was glad the his new Mom and Dad love the Lord and that he is so greatful for the love of his foster parents and his church family. The leaders came forward and prayed for us and our trip. It was overwhelming to think of all that God has done to bring us to this place.

As the service was being finished the ladies of the church prepared a meal in their outdoor kitchen for all that were there. They offer a meal so that those who are struggling finacially here are provided for. The poverty here is daunting. It's amazing to see how much Kiat & his wife & daughter sacrifice to minister to their people. They share all that they have. Everything. Saying goodbye was the most bittersweet moment. The smiles and the prayers of our brothers & sisters in Christ here mean everything to us. Even Emily and Tanner are so sad to leave. They love it here as we do.

We are off to the airport in about an hour. Kiat wanted to take us to the airport and have dinnerwith us before we leave. He told Joe and I that he sends Ake with us with peace and joy seeing that we love the Lord and love Ake. We told him his blessing means so much to us. and that he has a place with us in America as does his wife and daughter.

We have a really busy next three days ahead. We have had some trouble with getting access to our money via the atm. Please pray that this is just temorary as we have to have cash for most everything we have to do before we leave. My feet are a bit better but still swollen. Today is the first day that has been super hot since we have been here. It's been beautiful. We will fly into Bangkok about 10 tonight. We meet with the Thai government social worker tomorrow. Please pray that as we prepair for the Board Meeting to take custody of Ake happens, that there aren't any glitches. Pray they let us make corrections to his name with the airline we fly back to the US on.

Most of all, pray that our time with Kiat this evening is full of all that God has for us. This will be so hard for all of us but most especially he & Ake.

In Christ's Grace- Kristen for all

Ake's Thai Family

2006-07-22T03:20:00.000-05:00

When we were at the Boys Home on the first day we insisted that we didn't want to leave Thailand until we met the family that had cared for Ake. So the social worker made an appointment with the family & told us that we could meet them Wednesday morning. She seemed a bit taken back by our desire to meet them. But she made a call & set it up.

One of the things that was so wonderful that God did was that He orchestrated it that we were able to go to Vien Ping and see the baby home & the area where the younger children stay. they ahve an HIV home & a place where children & hundreds of kids that have no family. We have been in contact for months with a family who is here as missionaries. As we arrived at Vien Ping the social worker was giving us a tour & as we rounded a path to a setting area outside, right in front of us was Connie. The kids recongized her right away from photos I had shown them on their web page. She had no idea who we were at first & she was shocked when she realized who we were. It was really awesome. Well, because she knows well the workers there, the social worker asked her if she wanted to go with us the next day to meet Ake's family!!! So Connie & her husband Richard got a front row seat to see something incredible!!!!!! So....

Wednesday morning came early! :0) A driver & a social worker we had not yet met came for us to take us to meet Ake's foster family. With her & Connie & Richard in tow with our kids, off we went in through Chiang Mai. We arrived at Ake's home to be greated by his foster Dad and Mom and one of the boys that is his foster brother. Ake immediately went to Kiat (his Thai Dad) and embraced him for a long time. Within moments it was so obvious how much he loves Ake. As we looked around the greeting area of their home we could see evendence of Jesus all around in photos & things on the shelves.

Kiat (kee-aht is how you say it) speaks very good English & we immediately were able to share that we are Christians & we have prayed for a long time about adopting Ake. We told him what we had been told about Ake & we realized that there has been a lot of misinformation about where he lived & when. We were shocked & horrified to find that they were only given three days notice of our arrival. While they had seen our photos many months before & Ake had our gifts that we had sent with him via a friend, whoever was responsible to let them know that we had been invited to come for him didn't let them know until the day before we flew out. So they were all really having a hard time knowing how abruptly they had been given the news. Joe & I over & over told them how sorry we were & that we had no idea they didn't know we were coming. Joe & & both cried at how hard it was making things for them. It was so completely evident that Ake is the joy of their hearts. We were soon flooded with emotions. All of us.

After just a short time they were able to tell us that they are Christians & have a church here in Chiang Mai of about 60 people. Their ministry is to the most needy of people in the city. People with sickness, HIV, some completely destitute financially. They have six orphaned boys that they are raising in the Lord & raised them they have!!! Ake is an incredible muscian (He can't wait to meet Ray Benton!!! He keeps saying "I make friend with you friend Momma who play music Okay?) ) He is on the worship team at the church. His most favorite thing is worship!!! (He is so going to fit in at our church!!!!!!!) He plays the drums, accoustic guitar & the a little dulicmer. He reads his bible every day & LOVES ANY MUSIC that he hears. He is very tender & loving, a quality that he very evidently has been taught by his Dad here. His Ma here is a very soft spoken lady with a sweet smile. She works very hard with meals & care taking of the things that they need for the boys.

We shared how we found Ake on a list of waiting children & that we knew that God had planned for him to be our son always. He told us that he prayed & asked that God would put Ake in a good family. The entire time that we were sharing our story they listen so intently & were so gracious to us. Connie would interpret when things were a bit unclear. Ake played guitar for us & we sand Thai worship songs (he has his very own guitar that he is bringing to America with him). We asked Kiat if his church was close & that we would like very much to see where Ake worships. He told us that he could take us there. So we all went to the church & there we were greeted by some more of the boys. What was so neat was that we have seen all of these boys in our videos of Ake & Emily & Tanner recognized them. They boys thought that was neat. We were also greeted by Aht the associate pastor. I would say he's Joe & my age. He too was so tender to us & to Ake. He is a man that is passionate about his love for Jesus. He spoke wonderful English and told us that he would like to be able to email Ake in American & we said we would love for him to do that!

The boys gave us an impromptu drummer recital & that was really fun. It was neat to be in a building with geckos crawling up the wall as we talked about the Lord & His providence at bringing all of us together. We went outside & showed us the area that they are trying to build a new church. They can only build as funds allow & it's very hard as funds aren't anything like they are in our church. They told us they build as God provides for them. They have great faith & it was wonderful to see how God is working among our brothers & sisters in Chiang Mai.

We took lots of photos & I asked if I could see the rest of the church upstairs. The room where Ake sleeps is in the upstairs of the church. We took photos there as well. The others boys showed us where they had their rooms.

Joe & I did as best as we could to articulate how much we were overwhelmed with the way that Ake had been raised in such an incredible family. Kiat told us that he sees that God is taking Ake to America to train him & give him also American parents & that we all have a home in Chiang Mai with him & he counts us as family to him as well.

Now you all know me well enough to know that I cried ALL day. I did really well when I met Ake that first time but I bawled all day the day we met his Dad & Mom. When Kiat told us that he was struggling with how abrupt Ake had to go to America, Joe & I were heart sick for them. I told Kiat there was a part of my heart that feels so badly that we are taking Ake from him & he told me that it's God's will for Ake to go with us. Joe & & both were humbled at his acceptance of our taking Ake.

So we had to go as Kiat has a lot a responsibility to tie up things for Ake. He took us to the school were Ake attends & to the bank to remove Ake's savings he had for him to take to America. He is a man of intergrity in every way. Ake adores him.

I have no idea why the Lord loves us so much. But Joe & I keep telling one another that we have no reason to ever again doubt God's soveriegnty. We have Thai people here tell us that Ake is lucky to have us to be his American parents but Joe & I have come to insist that we are the ones who are blessed.

Imagine us being prayed for by Kiat & he sending us out with his son!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
22July 06

Yesterday we were able to do some sight seeing with Ake & that was really enjoyable. I could tell that Ake was struggling a bit & I asked him (with our English/Thai dictionary) if he was frustrated or struggling & he said "Mom, I love you & Dad but I miss Pa (Kiat). And he put his arms around me & held me for a long time.

He is such a sweet & loving child. He loves Emily & Tanner. We took him to the mall with Connie & Richard & their kids. He really like getting new shoes. He said, 'Mom, I play football & jog with Dad in America in my shoes!" He bowed to me & told me, "Thank you very much for my new shoes Mom. I like very much." A little later I felt a hand slide into mine & it was Ake reaching for me. He saw a manaquine when we walked into the mall & he said, "Mom, she lovely but you & Emily much more lovely." I just kissed his face. He smiled from ear to ear & hugged me. He tells me every time he has a chance, " I love Mom. God bless you Mom. You make family to me." My heart just melts.

Last night a man who is here as a missionary & knows Ake came to our hotel to say goodbye to him. He was really kind & told us he could tell that Ake likes us a lot. He told us not to let him get by with anything that we wouldn't let our others get by with. That he is a very smart boy & that he will be a wonderful son for us. In our conversation we realized that Ake's church had a service last night, so we hurried up & ate something & decided to drop in!!!! IT WAS SO WONDERFUL!!!!!! Ake just thanked us for wanting to go. He said, " I go today?!" And we told him "ka, ka" (yes, yes!!). He ate a really fast dinner!!!!!!

We arrived with a driver & we could tell that everyone was suprised to see us. It was a wonderful time of worship with Ake's church family & in prayer time he asked that they would pray for him that he & his new Mom & Dad would be able to communicate better. They also had a time where people could share their blessings & we were able to share that we were blessed so much for legacy that Ake's parents have given him. I asked for prayer for my lower legs as the swelling was really bad last night and remains today really badly.

Kiat brought us back home & he told Tanner that he would take him to the zoo. Tanner just loves Kiat & told him he and Ake both have two Dad's now. Kiat said "Yes, you can come to Thailand and stay with me someday." Tanner thought that was a grand idea!

So today we went to the zoo with Kiat. We are trying to spend as much time with Ake's family here before we go that we can. We think it's so unfair that they didn't get to have more notice. We were not able to get a flight out of Chiang Mai until almost 8pm tomorrow night, so we are going to be able to go to Ake's church again with him.

We went to a Vietnamese place to eat for lunch today & we really enjoyed it. We had a really nice visit with Kiat today & he told us that we will always have a place here with him. He said that he loves Ake so much. He has asked us many questions about what we believe. He tought on the Holy Spirit last night & it was right on biblically.

I asked him if he was alright with us being Ake's new family. He said now that he sees that we love the Lord very much & that we want to be good parents to Ake & raise him to have a good life, he is at peace with Ake going with us. We all concure that we are gaining not only a son but a real family here. We were able to ask him about their daily life & there way of discipline. And he was very encouraging. He told us that he sees that we will be a loving family and that Emily and Tanner love Ake too.

We told him that we will make sure that Ake remains faithful to the Lord. He knows we home school and he likes that we will be giving him a Christian education. He asked us how we are getting to the airport and he insisted that he take us for Ake's sake. Joe & I cried again. He is a gracious, loving man. Joe & I are honored that he wants to take us. So after church & a shared meal with the congregation, he will make sure we get to the airplane.

I need to go for now. Richard & Connie are coming to visit with us & say goodbye to Ake. Pray for us. While this is so wonderful...it is bittersweet. Ake is being so brave & wants to go with us very much. But he is so loved here. Emily is a little jealous but she knows that Ake is needing extra reassurance. She told me today that she loves him but that she sees that it's going to be different. She also sees that she is very blessed with the life she has in America. Both the kids love it here. It's a beautiful place.

We love all of you & are facing a busy four days the next week. Pray for Ake as leaving Chiang Mai will be hard.

Much Love- kristen

Meeting Ake

2006-07-20T11:25:00.000-05:00

So now it's Tuesday morning and we have an appoinment to meet Ake. We leave at 8 am with our driver & arrive at the Boys Home. We were greeted by three very nice ladies but not Ake. They get on the phone & they tell us that Ake will be on his way, that he's walking from the his house. Emily & Tanner went over to set by the window & within seconds they see two people walking toward the builing. They jump up from their seats, "Mom, Dad, it's Ake coming!!!!!!" I look to see that it is himcoming. He was really far, probably two blocks away coming with a friend & they recognized him. Joe & I looked at one another & both of us began to cry. The ladies began to mist over & pat us on the back. Ake is now at the door & we walk up to him & he bows in a precious wai & says "I am happy to meet you." He was very polite and tender with the kids. He & Emily are both about the same height. It was somewhat awkward for him but we asked him if we could see where he lived & he was very proud to take us for a walk to his home. There was a woman there that was the house mom of sorts. She told us to go in with Ake & we asked her if we could take photos for Ake. He took us to his bed where he had all his things in sacks to bring with him. His most prized posession being his guitar. He asked, "May I bring to America?" And we told him YES!!! He was so relieved that we would allow him to bring his things. We asked him if he would play his guitar for us & so he did & he was really happy that we enjoyed him playing. We went back to the office & they told us that he had to go to the doctor for a check-up. So he had to leave. He asked us what you call parents in America & we told him & pointed to ourselves, "Dad" and "Mom" and they lady said that we would take Ake with us. I asked her if we could ask Ake if he was ready because we didn't want him to feel rushed. So she asked him (after we encouraged her to in Thai to make sure he understood) and he said, "YES!!! I go with my new family today. I want to go with them." So he left to go to the doctor nd we were then taken to the office of the Superitendant of the Boys Home. They were going to just send him on his way with us & we told them that we wanted very much to meet the family that we heard that Ake had been raised by for a long time. They at first hesitated and then we told them that we thought that it would be best for Ake to have the chance to say goodbye to them. So they made arrangements for us to meet them Wednesday (today).

The one thing right away that Ake asked Joe as we were walking to the office was "Do you go to church?" Joe told hi, "Yes, we go to church Ake." Ake said, "Are you Catholic?" We told him no. He wanted more information, "Do you love Jesus, Dad?" Joe said, "Yes, we love Jesus very much Ake!" Ake said "I am very happy that you love Jesus. I want my family to have Jesus in their heart." (I was walking behind Ake & Joe & Tanner, Emily was walking with me) Joe reached over & put his arm around Ake & told him that we love Jesus very much. Ake was relieved. He asked us, "May I go to America to you. You are my friends now and I like my new family." He got out the photo album that we sent him & he began to name all of us. He asked if the photo of the house was his home & he told us that "He work very hard for us." We told him that we want him to be our son & that he didn't have to be our worker." He was again relieved. So the van came to take him to the doctor and he wanted to be sure that we would be there when he got back & we told him we would. He smiled from ear to ear & got into the van after a tender wai for us.

So we then were taken by the two social workers to have meet the Superintendant that I mentioned earlier. She was an older lady and was very sweet. She let us ask questions & we told her that we wanted to see the ViengPing Home. This is where the younger children and babies live. So we took a tour of the baby home with Khun Noke and were able to play with some of the children. They are all so precious & it was sobering to look into the sea of faces & know that many of them will never have a family. We went to the baby room and all of us soon had babies in our arms. Some of them were so frail and sick. One little one just clung to Joe. Tanner just reached in the baby beds & touched them & tickeled them. It was so sweet. But it was Emily that was the one that was touched by one particular child. She held her for the whole time we were there and when we left the baby cried & waved to Emily as we left. When we got outside Emily burried her head in my chest & cried. "Mom, I am so sad that these children will never know how it feels to have a Mom that loves them like you love me. Can't we please just stay here and hold them longer." It was a really touching moment.

When we returned back to the office they told us that Ake had waited all morning & the doctor had still not seen him. So we had to wait for him until that afternoon. They wanted us to go with them & they bought us lunch & took to a temple and to a nice market to shop. We bought small gifts for very little and had a really nice time. The whole time Tanner asked to go back to get Ake. The ladies thought he was just as cute as can be for wanting to be with Ake. :0)

Joe had told Ake that morning that he was really happy because he was gaining a son for his birthday. Ake was so excited that it was Joe's birthday. When we came back from being apart all day, Ake greeted Joe at the door of the office with a bouquet of roses & said "For you my Dad, Happy Birthday." That was it for Joe, he just melted into tears. and Ake fell into his arms into a tender hug. He said, "I go to America with you Dad. You make me a good father because you love God." And he has been Joe's shadow ever since.

We then met up with the family here that wanted to tutor Ake but never got to. They are just wonderful people who love the Lord & Ake really liked them a lot. We had dinner with them and they took us to the mall. It was so nice to have them there to help us communicate with Ake. He knows how to read English but he doesn't understand all of what he knows. He was really concerned about how he will tell us what he needs when he goes with us in America. He had a small Thai/English dictionary that he carried & so we took him to the buy a really nice one that is has lots more words. And we bought one for us that is English/Thai.

We returned to the room & showed him the things that we had brought for him and he was so thankful. He is very protective of Tanner & Emily when we go out in public & keeps them close to him. He is just as precious as he can be. When we all got ready for bed I got out the dictionary & I asked him if he was feeling afraid. He said "Mom, I not afraid. I have God in my heart. He with me always." The tears just flowed (mine & Joe's). He then asked again, "Emily do you have God in your heart? Emily said, "OH YES!!!" He asked, "Dad do you have God in your heart? Momma, do you have God & Tanner have God too?" We told reassured him that we have God in our heart & we love Jesus very much. We gathered around him & we asked him could we pray with him & he said "Yes, please pray." We prayed & cried and he said, 'I love my new family and I love they love God!"

And we called it a night. All of us were just overflowing with joy. It was glorious. He showed us his bible & he slept with it by his head. He hugged all of us & saw that Tanner was already asleep. He gently walked over & touched Tanner on the head & said, "Tanner my little brother." He walked by Emily & patted her on the leg (she was already tucked in bed) and said, "I like you Emily, you are my sister. God bless Tanner and Emily and Mom and Dad. you have a good dream." And he crawled into his bed and let Joe & I hug him & tuck him goodnight. I kissed him and he smiled and snuggled down and fell right to sleep.

There is so much more to tell but I have to go...it's midnight & I need to go to bed. The best is yet to tell...Ake is all we could have ever hoped for in a son and a brother and more. He has many people all over the world who love him. I will try to tell you more of the story tomorrow.

My cup runneth over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Much love to all- Kristen

The airport

2006-07-20T10:04:00.000-05:00

Well...I have been sitting here trying to post & just bumped a key & erased everything. The keyboard that I'm using is a bit different than in America.

We are all well here & have so much to tell. Let me tell a bit about our arrival first. As you know we were delayed after our first flight out of Arkansas was cancelled. We finally arrive in Bangkok at 6am on Monday to find that we had no driver like we thought we would. We called Miss Oh & she said that she had sent a driver but after trying to figure out where he was she told us it would be better to hire a driver to take us the hotel.

So we went to the baggage area to claim our luggage to find our next of many trials. We saw the first bag as it came around for us to grab & noticed that it was covered in what appeared to be dirt. When we took our friends bag (one of two bags) off the belt, as it hit the floor...POOF!!! The smell of chocolate wafted through the air. We soon realized what we thought was dirt, was actually four cans (one a SAMS club size) of busted cocoa that had been packed for our friends who are living in Cambodia. We unzipped the bag and it was everywhere. Joe & I just stood with our mouths open... we soon noticed we were drawing a few other opens mouthed stares. hahahaha All we could think about was how in the world are we going to deal with this mess??? I didn't see an industrial vaccuum handy. So we did what anyone else would do & closed the bag & pretended like it wasn't there. We got a luggage carrier loaded it up & took it to the hotel. Our driver didn't know what to think. So we show him the address & ask him to take us the to hotel. After an hour of not being able to find our hotel, he pulled over & asked for directions. We arrived at the hotel & tried to explain that we wanted to take a room for showering & that we wanted to store some luggage for our return. We had a time getting our point acrosss but they let us use a room & we paid them as if we were staying for the night. Then Joe showed them the luggage. hahahaha

Joe asked them while making a suction noise with his mouth if he could use a vacuum cleaner. (I am laughing now but then it didn't seem so funny). They brought us a tiny canister vaccuum. It was sort of like trying to put out a forest fire with a garden hose. By this time my sweet husband can see that I am more than overwhelmed & he sent me to the room to get the kids showered and ready for the plane ride to Chiang Mai. I came up & down the four flights of stairs over & over to find Joe & a sweet housekeeper wiping all the things off & sucking up cocoa with the little dust buster. Then the bag inside the vaccuum busted. HAHAHAHAHA...POOR JOE!!!! When I came back down the next time all the clothes were in a bucket & the housekeeper was patting him on the back saying "I wash for you." Sorry Kerri...we're not sure how that is going to turn out. She told Joe that she would take them to be laundered and that when we return she would have them for us. Joe told me to tell Kerri that she "OWES ME BIG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

So now we are all showered and on our way to the airport. The kids are starving and hot and tired. So we call Miss Oh to ask her to see if the orphanage will have driver for us when we arrive. This is when we found out that they wouldn't be receiving us until the next day to meet Ake. (tuesday). At this point we lose Tanner. After the promise of a meal and sleep he decided that he might want to hang in there with us. So we headed to the hotel and got a meal and drug things out until we finally fell into bed at about 6:30pm.

Then I awoke about 2:30am writhing in pain in my left calf. I am in so much pain that I woke Joe & he holds me and gets me some water. I was shaking horribly and was in enough pain that I was wondering if we were going to get to see a hospitol in Chiang Mai. After much prayer & about 2 liters of water it stopped...can you say dehydration? Needless to say I have kept a bottle of water with me at all times. I thought that I had done pretty well staying hydrated but I guess not.

Since we have been in Chiang Mai it has been beautiful weather....inclimately cool with soft rain to hard rain but not constantly. Perfect really. That alone is an answer to my prayers. But I have so many more answers to share. Since I hit the wrong button & lost this post once, I will hit post & continue with the rest of the story.

Love- Kristen

WE MADE IT!!!!

2006-07-18T04:21:00.000-05:00

After more hours than my Hillary Clinton looking ankles would like to admit...we are here. We arrived in Bangkok early & our driver didn't show up so we had to wing it. We then went to the hotel to check in long enough to shower & go back to the airport & fly out again. Ms Oh our helper called the Boys Home to let them know that we had arrived & they weren't able to have us come to meet Ake until tomorrow morning at 9am. (Nine pm in America on the 18th). That was pretty much it for Tanner. All the being sweet & good was over for him & he just folded into tears. The horrid long trip was worth it to him if it meant that he could see Ake. He said, "This is just a bunch of crap Mom! I want to go back home!" Poor thing. We told him first thing in the morning after some sleep & banana pancakes we would see Ake.
We love the hotel... just ate the best meal ever. And you bet I had Thai tea with milk. Joe says hello & thanks to all for your prayers. He & I are completely worn out. Chiang Mai is just beautiful...all of us cried when we landed. Not sure if it was joy or thankfullness to be getting off the plane.
I'll post more later when I can type without falling asleep. Pray these fat ankles of mine go down & pray for us as we finally meet Ake. Joe is so happy that he will be meeting him on his birthday. It's all really not sunk in yet that we are just a 30 minute car ride from him.

Love to all- The Kolp's

Some thoughts...

2006-07-13T06:49:00.000-05:00

Last night I experienced the most humbling experience that I can remember in years...but let me tell you a story first.

One of the things that has been a real burden about the journey of our adoption is that not everyone sees things the way God sees them, myself included so many times. Joe & I have set back at times & wondered how this is going to all turn out. Are we really doing the right thing? How on earth are we going to be the parents that Ake needs? (Although we can both say with confidence that there has never been a doubt that this is what God has called us to do. We have doubted ourselves having what it takes more times than I care to admit). I was doing dishes the other day, staring out the kitchen window with a song running through my head. "What If I Stumble," by DC Talk. The part going through my head goes like this....

"What if I stumble, what if I fall? What if I lose my step and I make fools of us all? Will the love continue when my walk becomes a crawl? What if I stumble, and what if I fall?

Father please forgive me for I can not compose. The fear that lives within me, Or the rate at which it grows. If struggle has a purpose, On the narrow road you've carved. Why do I dread my trespasses will leave a deadly scar. Do they see the fear in my eyes? Are they so revealing? This time I cannot disguise. All the doubt I'm feeling..

What if I stumble, what if I fall? You never turn in the heat of it all. What if I stumble, what if I fall? You are my comfort, and my God

I hear You whispering my name. You say, "My love for You will never change!"

Joe & I have for two years set up late at night over coffee and the bible and ironed this thing of adoption out over and over. Does God really want us to open our home to a child that will very likely be living on the streets in a few years because no one would give him a chance? Does He really want us to literally "do" what the Bible says? I mean rrreeeaaalllly do it? (Knowing full well that we're asking Him totally rhetorical questions) We've come to that same late night place & been really vulnerable with one another and admitted that there have been times that it would be easier to have kept our comfortable, safe life just the way it is and not take this risk. (For all who have secretly wondered but been afraid to ask...YES WE KNOW WE ARE TAKING A RISK!!!!!!!!! I took a risk when I married Joe...but look how that turned out??? :0) But then I have the humble moments that I had last night (and this whole last week actually) and I realize that my life really isn't my own.

Back to the beginning of the story. A Christian as it's literally defined...means a follower of Christ. One of the things that our pastor talked to us about last night as a church, is whether or not we are going to be the way Jesus was when he was one earth or are we going to be like the religious people of that day. Jesus had his 12 disciples that were his close support system but the ones He really poured his life out for were the whores, the crippled, the blind, the destitute, the dejected women, loathed and feared lepers and the ever so hated tax collectors, just to name a few.

Am I as a Christian going to do like Jesus did or am I going to be like the Pharasees of the day that scoffed at Jesus hanging out with the people they were loath to even look at? Am I going to pick and chose what parts of Christ's teaching I follow or am I going to do my very best to embrace the whole of who He called us to be? In Matthew, Mark and Luke it says in four places that we are to follow Him... one scripture says it like this...

Matthew 10:34-37 "Don't think I've come to make life cozy. I've come to cutÃ—make a sharp knife-cut between son and father, daughter and mother, bride and mother-in-lawÃ—cut through these cozy domestic arrangements and free you for God. Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies. If you prefer father or mother over me, you don't deserve me. If you prefer son or daughter over me, you don't deserve me.
38-39"If you don't go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don't deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you'll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you'll find both yourself and me. (The Message)

And Pastor Dave asked the hard hitting question (in my words)..."Are you really going to do and be who Jesus was? Or are you going to wear a religion on the outside and live the rest of your life saying your one thing and being another?" Then I thought of the part in the word that the Lord says..."be doers of the word." Then I thought of Ake and how we may be the only chance he has to see what love and security look like. We may be the only chance Ake has to see what life looks like when you lay down your fears and believe God when he says in Jer 29:11..."For I know the plans I have for you" declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you, not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future." I have to rest in the fact that if God loves me that much...Joe that much, Emily & Tanner & Ake that much...then He is going to make good on His word if we do this.

I think the resistance comes when people who aren't in church, see people who say they are Christians, go to church on Sunday, run up bills they can't pay, live like hell all week long, treat their spouse like crap, neglect their kids, flirt with someone at the office who isn't their spouse, steal a ream of paper from work or cheat the lady at the check-out & then use Jesus as their excuse for whatever is convenient in their lives. There are even people who abuse and murder & call themselves Christians. No wonder people think Christians are full of crap.

If we're living like Christians, we need not tell a soul...it's be evident in what we DO. How we live...how we love.

That's the way I want to live. Imperfect, sure to blow it, may fall flat on my face me. Call it a crutch...I need one because I'm a cripple without Christ. Call it convenient if you will...but I will beg to differ with anyone that says being a Christian is convenient. Say I'hypocriteit...I'll completely agree with you! Say I'm a coward...you bet I am! Say I'm a fool...I'll be a fool for Jesus any day. Say I don't do things the way you think I should...you're probably right.

But don't say this about me...

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today, is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." Brennan Manning

I don't ever want THAT to be said about me!

We are only three full days away from getting on a plane and never being the same again. I regret that I didn't take the birth of my other two kids this serious or feel the same burden of responsibility to do the right thing. That has changed already. Already I look at Emily & Tanner in a different way. Kids I will stand before God & answer for how I raised them. It seemed so simple at the time. But their souls are just as much at stake as Ake's. The humbling part is that the Lord has called Joe & I to be parents at all. The word says that God gives us kids as a gift and a heritage. My kids will be a voice to a generation I will never see. A boy & a girl from small town Indiana... a college flunk out & a carnie's kid. Go figure??? And who says He doesn't have a sense of humor and no taste??? Talk about humbled.

And I wasn't feeling small enough in light of how God is so huge & that He loves me...Our church family gathered us up last night after the service & prayed for us. We felt so loved and supported and hopeful. Joe & I just cried. Then Emily began to join the grown ups in prayer, "Lord, thank you for the parents you gave me. Thanks that they are brave enough to adopt Ake and make him my brother even though sometimes it's not been an easy choice they made. I love their heart about adoption and I'm really glad you made them my parents." That is the most humbling thing of all.

I'll post one more time before we leave...

In Christ's Care- Kristen

Only Six Days To Go!!!!

2006-07-10T00:56:00.000-05:00

We are only six days out!! As the saying goes, "So close..but yet so far!!" It's so hard to believe that we will be landing on Thai soil so soon. We'll fly out of Little Rock on the 16th early in the morning (like 7am early...have to be there two hours before we fly out too). We will arrive in Bangkok about 1am on the 17th. Keep in mind Bangkok is 12 hours ahead of East Coast time here in the states. We will fly from BKK to Chiang Mai on the 18th & will arrive there about 2 in the afternoon. We may get to meet Ake on Joe's birthday!! Which would be soooo incredibly memorable.

The biggest thing we're dealing with right now is Emily is sick. Her asthma is acting up & she's just finished a round of steroids & is on antibiotics. We're praying she'll round the corner soon & be good as new well before Sunday morning. We've got a arsenal of meds that we're taking with us & a hand help nebulizer that I'm praying we won't need!! We're also praying that no one else ends up sick.

We've gotten almost all we need to have done before we leave but the packing. And that'll take two days. We're going to bring in the suitcases tomorrow evening & get that started. I flat out will NOT be dealing with packing the night before we have to leave. :0) You military wives know what I mean! Every time we PCS we see o'dark thirty. And for that matter every time we make a trip this big someone pukes...we can do without that tradition too.

All the airline tickets are bought & paid for with the exception of the ones we need to get from Chiang Mai back to Bangkok. We were advised to wait until we get to Chiang Mai to book those, so we have the correct transliterated spelling of Ake's name. :0) I've seen it spelled two different ways so far. And who knows which one is correct?

I'm off to bed. As my Dad pointed out, he can tell by my emails that I've been burning the late night oil. I'm officially not going to do that again the rest of this week. If I have to gargle benydryl to accomplish tiredness, then so be it. :0) It's soooooooo hard to sleep when you have a list of things to do in your head. I know...make a list. Done that...afraid I'm forgetting something. Then I think of things for the list after I lay down. LOLOL

Thanks so much for you prayers. Much Love- Kristen for all

THAILAND HERE WE COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-07-01T23:22:00.000-05:00

I was thinking how different our family is going to look in a few days. :0) It's so hard to believe all the exciting things that God is going to do in the weeks & months ahead. I'm really in awe of what a wondful life He's blessed me with. I still at times look over at the man lying next to me every night & wonder who I am that the Lord would bless me like He has over the years. It just doesn't get any better than this!!!! sniff sniff :0)""""

We got the final call for Chiang Mai!!! We'll be flying out on the 16th of this month. We'll return home on the 2nd of August. Joe will celebrate his birthday in Japan & Thailand on the same day!!!! How cool is that??? :0) I told him today his birthday present is a new son & he thought that was the best gift a Daddy could ever ask for for his 37th birthday.

We're so looking forward to the sites & sounds of a new country. Joe nor I have ever experienced a trip to Asia. So that alone is pretty thrilling. We have layed in bed like two kids on Christmas eve for the last two weeks. Emily & Tanner are going too to "get their new brother!!" And they are so excited as well.

Today we went through boxes & bags of clothing that were given to us for Ake by one of my sisters, Kari & my dear friend Veronica (we were buddies in Germany too). As we hung up shirts & folded things, it hit us that we are really getting a son. A TEENAGER!!! LOLOL I feel some of those same feelings I remember having when we were painting Emily's nursery back at Altus Air Force Base. The anticipation just bubbled out of Joe & I as we waited for her arrival. Angelic pink was the color...now we are looking at a room decorated with fly fishing & Alaskan themed things. It's just so surreal.

We've bought the plane tickets for our flight & while they were the best rates going right now, they were still much more than we had hoped to spend. But we will make it all work. :0)

As the next week dwindles down & we prepare to travel to meet our son, we're really praising the Lord for all He has done to bring us this far. He has been so incredibly faithful to us as we've put out more than one fleece to Him, seeking confirmations of the direction He has been taking us. He's been so clear in His guidance...even when we have doubted. Our resolve has never been stronger...come what may...we are completely committed to love Ake & make him our own.

We will keep all of you up on the details as we lead up to the 16th. Thanks so much for your love & your prayers.

In Christ's Grace- The Kolp's

Never As Planned

2006-06-30T08:35:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to email all of you & let you know where things are at with our journey to adopt our new son Ake... the photo with our post is from "monkey Island" in Thailand. One place we will have to skip on our trip to Thailand. :0) I like looking at monkeys when they are in a cage or behind glass.

As most of you know we received our invitation to travel via a phone call on the 16th. We were invited to travel this Sunday on the 2nd of July. When we posted last we had a few prayer requests and here is how God took care of things & here are the issues that we still need prayer over.

The passport issue is resolved. We all traveled last Tuesday to Oklahoma City (12 hours round trip) to get a copy of Emily's birth certificate (we got two :0). The one that we had for her was not considered a certified official copy. That was the hold up on the passports. We then headed to the nearest post office to overnight them to New Orleans where the passport office is to find out that there has been a embargo put on all USPS overnight delivery. Since the hurricane they have not been able to guarantee overnight delivery to New Orleans as all postal equipment was damaged & it has to be hand sorted. The quandary was then how to ship it since government agencies are really picky about how they will received items due to post 9/11 security issues. So we had to call New Orleans...a really sweet man about my Dad's age let us use the post office phone. I think he felt really sorry for us & I was just about in tears at that point...so they told us to Fed Ex everything & send separate overnight postage paid envelopes for each of the kids passports & a 120 dollar fee to cover the cost of "expediting". UGH!!! Keep in mind this is 4 o'clock on Tuesday. So we head over to the Fed Ex office about ten blocks away & mail everything out. As a side note...We decided to make something of the trip & headed over to the memorial of the OKC Bombing & take that in after we got everything sent off. (I can't help myself...homeschool Mom...everything needs to be educational right???) We lived at Altus AFB when the bombing occurred so we had always wanted to see the memorial. We didn't get to see the inside of the museum but the outside was breathtaking. Just the memorials stuck in the chain link fence were moving. Many personal items that people had left. Photos & love notes from family. Go if you can. It's so worth it.

Anyway...on Thursday morning as I was getting out of the shower about 8 am. The Fed Ex man came to our door with the kids passports. The kids answered the door for me. :0) When I opened the envelope out falls that 120 dollar check...someone saw my cover letter pleading for them to return things as soon as humanly possible so we could travel to adopt our son & took pity on us & put the check back in the mail & didn't charge us!! Thanks Lord for softening that persons heart!!

We still do not have our immigration paperwork. We first sent it off in February before I left to go to Indiana for my Mamaw Hellen's funeral. It was kicked back to us twice, unopened & we didn't have the foggiest idea why. For those who don't know...you can't call the USCIS & get a live person...ever!! You call & go through ten minutes of voice prompts to get a recording telling you to go to their web site online & then you can leave a message that will never be returned. EVER. No one had updated the web page to tell the public that the Memphis office had changed locations. So we were getting it kicked back because of the incorrect address. I guess they don't forward mail in Memphis??? So we have been trying to get this piece of paper since February. It finally made it's way to Memphis by the end of April.

So since you can't talk to a live human to ask them where your paperwork is & why they aren't returning your calls...We have been going through our Senator's Liaison for Immigration to communicate with the Memphis immigration hub. The liaison helping us is wonderful!! But the "officer" woman that she is talking to every day is not. Let me just say that your tax dollars are well at work doing nothing via people who are doing nothing to serve the people they are being paid to help. First it was one thing then we answered that issue & she came up with a new one. Then she threw in another wrench & we had an answer for that one & then she threw a third wrench in & we were able to produce another answer. So now that she is out of excuses we've had to Fed Ex another document per her request (thanks to Lori our social worker who is jumping through hoops for us this week!!! She is AWESOME!!) What we didn't know was that this would give immigration "Officer Notsobright" an extra 2-4 week window to make her decision & make it look as though she's really important. Let me say that we have already done this once & been approved to adopt but that paperwork expired & we had to renew it again. This is the renewal of that first approval. She is using the exact same homestudy documents as the first time with an update showing we make more money than a year ago & we have had our state police background checks done again. So we wait on that whole thing.

With that said it is humanly impossible to go to Thailand on the 2nd without having this document. It's legally required. In the mean time airfare has gone through the roof. So we have to wait until the next board meeting on the 26th of July OR maybe even into August. Which we DON'T want to do because Joe leaves for the NCO academy in September & we want Ake to be settled in well before then.

So please pray for the logistics of all of this stuff. Things will come together in God's timing we well know. Also pray that we will have favor with the immigration officers making the decisions to move thing forward faster. Most importantly pray that they are able to get our son told that we will be coming just a little later than planned. It breaks our hearts to think of him not getting word that we had to come later because of all of this. He's waited all his life for this day to come. Please also pray that airfare will go down. I don't know anyone who can afford 3k-4k for plane tickets!

Thank you all so much for your love & prayers for our family- The Kolp's

THAILAND BOUND!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-06-22T00:34:00.000-05:00

THE DAY HAS FINALLY ARRIVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After two long years of waiting to have our son with us, we 'll be flying to Thailand on the 2nd of July!!! We received "the call" Friday afternoon & we're in total shock because we were expecting at least six weeks before travel. But it looks like God had other plans in mind! Even our agency was shocked, as someone had just returned from visiting with the children in Thailand and no one had notified them either! No one has ever been invited to travel on such short notice. It's a huge blessing because Joe will be gone in September for the NCO Academy and this will get us home & settled in before Daddy leaves.
We would love to have called all of you individually but there isn't time. We're frantically getting things ready. Sort of like nesting when you're pregnant!!! Most of you have our phone number & email. But I will include our snail mail so that those who would like to send Ake a "welcome home" note can do so. It would make him really feel go to see so many people have prayed him here! :0)""" The tears are flowing already & we're not even there. (You all know what a cry baby I am!!!) We will have someone staying here at the house getting the mail & holding down the fort while we are away.

Here are the areas thus far that need prayer.
1) Emily & Tanner are going with us & their new passports have not arrived yet
2) Our paperwork from the USCIS (immigration) hasn't arrived nor the kids passports
3) We have applied for a matching grant through a Christian Ministry that likes to help defray the costs of adoptive families travel. Pray that we are awarded the grant. We were told to plan for a certain amount for airline tickets & they are nearly double what we were told they would cost. With the short notice purchase & gas prices they have gone through the roof.
4) It's a bit stressful having to do four weeks of work in two weeks. Pray that we will be able to sleep at night in the next two weeks & that no one will get sick. All of us are trying to get over upper respiratory junk.

While we won't be able to answer personal emails while we are away. We're going to try to at least post a few times while we are in Chiang Mai & Bangkok.

All of you have in some way impacted our lives in our adoption endeavor. Some of you have prayed for us as we've sought the Lord to find the children that we have believed He has for us. Some of you have adopted yourselves & as we have watched you live out your faith in this way, you have shown us what a wonderful gift adoption can be. Some of you have supported us through your prayers & encouragement & even tangibly through financial blessings. It's our honor to share this leg of the journey with you.

We want to offer a special thank you to our dear friends Paul & Robin Pennington. They are the original founders of Hope for Orphans Ministry. It was they who showed us what God meant when He mandated in His word that we are to care for orphans in their distress. They have shown us that one family really can make a difference in the life of a child. (http://www.familylife.com/hopefororphans/) The wisdom & love they have shown us over the last three years was the catalyst for us having the courage adopt.

We are eternally grateful !!

All Our Love,

Joe, Kristen , Ake, Emily & Tanner

"God's Will...God's Bill

2006-05-16T18:36:00.000-05:00

Never in my wildest, most far fetched prayers could I have thought that our weekend could have turned out as incredible as it did...

We had such an awesome response to our yard sale. I have to list just a few of the things that God did in praise for our weekend's success.
1. We had GORGEOUS weather 2. We sold some things that I was sure wouldn't sell (Avon bottles that a lady had donated to us from the sale-I sold all of about 100 of them for a buck a piece!!! TO THE SAME PERSON!!!) 3. I had a lady give me a check for 100 bucks for a $10 item 4. We had the raffle on the bike & it brought in $80 alone! 5. A gal came to the sale & left & came back because she "felt like I was supposed to come back & tell you something about myself..." She was born in Thailand to a Thai father & American mother & really thought what we are doing was a great thing. She's from Bangkok & has family in Chiang Mai & left me her phone number 6. The family that won the bike are getting ready to send their dossier to China for a little girl 7. One lady came from over an hour away because she saw the add in the Little Rock paper & gave us a 20 "just to help out"

Those are just some of the incredible blessings that happened. And if that wasn't enough when Joe & I finally had the energy to set down on Saturday night & count all the money out...we made (last weekend combined & the $$ that some people gave us at church on Sunday for something that they bought)...a grand total of................are you ready for this?????????????? One thousand five hundred eighty dollars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT??????? I am in total shock.

And as if that wasn't enough of a blessing. One of the families from our church that donated the most stuff of all for us to sell...called us this evening and told us that the Lord had really layed it on their hearts to give more & they want to add another fifteen hundred to that amount!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't even tell you how blown away we are. I can't believe how the Lord has opened the flood gates on this whole thing. I am completely humbled & convicted for the way I have struggled with doubt & discouragement in this whole fund raising thing. What a ninny I am!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe that I ever even doubted. I am beside myself & so humbled that God would love us so much & Ake so much that He would do something so profound in such a short time despite my whinning & worrrying.

I just had to share this with all of you. I know how much it builds me up to see God move in others lives...it just spurs me on. I hope you all are blessed too by the way this all panned out. It made my sunburned, peeling lips, tired beyond words body & sore feet soooooo worth every bit of it!!! And to top it all off my sweet, precious husband & kids filled a picture frame full of twelve photos (3 each, at different ages of all my kids (Ake included) for Mothers Day.
There are two scriptures that reasonate so loudly to me today...
Psalm 80:1
"I will sing of the LORD's great love forever;
with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations."

1 Chronicals 17:16
"Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?"

I feel so unworthy that God answered a simple prayer that I layed at His feet, that simply said..."Bring in more that we could have ever thought to ask you for Lord & I'll praise you & give you the glory for it."

And I can't forget this either...yes there is more... Carla (a military wife & Thai adoptive mom)took gifts to our son for us in February & called me to tell me that she had talked to Thailand & they have told our son about us & that he saw our photo album & he wants to be adopted by our family!!!! And today in the mail, for Mother's Day, the second half a necklace (that Carla took to him from us-a mizpah necklace with the crest of the Air Force & Genesis 31:49-she gave to us to give to him)... came in the mail. My son has the other half of the necklace!! I just bawled.

I am overcome...what more can I say. And thank you just doesn't even begin to say it!!!
Praise with me everyone!! Hugs- Kristen

He said "Yes!!"

2006-05-09T23:58:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe on the other side of the world there's a boy who wants to be our son!! For sure! We got a call from a friend (Carla) who had been our "courier" in February, when she went to adopt her daughter & take her son, who is adopted from Chiang Mai, to visit. We got permission from our agency to send gifts for Ake via Carla. The lady that she left the gifts with told her to call & check on things in a few weeks. Well I just heard from Carla & she was in tears of joy when she called me. The conversation went something like this...

"Are you setting down? (pause) I just talked to Thailand... Ake knows about you! And he wants to be a part of your family!" (Silence & sobbing...Joe crying and smiling from ear to ear...and laughter & cheering from the kids) "They've moved him back to the Boys Home. They gave him your photo album & your gifts & he's waiting for you to come get him!" Carla still talking..." I specifically asked, 'Does he know he has a family? Has he seen their photos? Does he want to be adopted?' All the answers were absolutely yes!!!"
Let me tell you...it's the next best thing to being on an airplane to Thailand!!!! All our fears of him not wanting to leave Thailand melted away in one conversation. One moment. I'm secretly grateful that he had the chance to choose. So much of his life he hasn't had choices. We would never want to bring Ake from Thailand any other way. We want him to want to come to be with us on his own accord.

We've not gotten official word on travel but it looks like that we are going to get to go to Thailand within the next two months. (OH MY GOSH...I have soooooo much to do!!!!) We just made the trip to Memphis to have our fingerprints done again today. I'll never forget this day as long as I live. The day Ake said "Yes!!!" Now I know how Joe felt when he proposed to me & had to wait for my answer. :0) And he didn't have to wait for the answer for months only moments!!!!!

The photo is of Chiang Mai. It's so hard to believe that we live under the same sky all the way across the world. (Twenty three hours by plane!) Somewhere on the outskirts of town, our son is waiting for his new family. Pray for him... he's probably terrified, joyfull and uncertain of his future...all at the same time. Poor kid. Pray that he'll sense God is near & not be afraid.

Hugs to all- Kristen

God's plans vs Mine :0)

2006-05-08T21:53:00.000-05:00

Thought I would include a photo of a little girl in traditional Hilltribe clothing...just thought she was too cute not to share! Is she not just precious?!

You would think as long I have have been a Christian that I would finally realize that it's God who is my source, it's God who is in control of everything...there are some lessons that I have to be taught over & over again I guess. Let me start from the beginning! :0)

Last week was a really a stressful week for me. Too much to do & not enough time to do it in. Obviously the Lord wanted me to learn something that I have not been "getting." Showing me once again that I've nowhere near arrived...

I woke up Thursday morning to the pouring down rain. This was to be my biggest prep day for our yard sale ( I worked on it all week). There was no way to pull it off with all the rain. I had three families that have HUGE furniture items that I had no place to store because my garage is busting at the seams (good problem to have when you're suing the items for the adoption fund raising yard sale). I was just sick about what to do. It's so hard for me to leave people hanging. So I called all my people to let them know that we had to call off the sale & reschedule for next weekend due to weather. Everyone was really understanding & promised to be ready for next weekend. So I spent the day getting things ready to put into an indoor consignment sale Fri-Sat.

Well I woke up Friday morning to clear skies & beautifully cool weather. UGH! It was suppose to rain now that I canceled the sale. :0) My friend Denise came over anyway. She said, "Maybe we can pull a few things out & organize well for next weekend & people who saw the ad in the paper will trickle in!" So we went to work. Sure enough people came. One lady called at 6:30pm who had seen my flyer & asked if she could come over. She found three little nit noy items & gave me a twenty. I made 80 bucks Friday & we didn't even have a yard sale!

So Friday night I went over to Denise's house & made signs. I came home with the understanding if there was no rain the next morning I would call her & she & her dh would come over & help us pull a "few things out."

As a side note...If you know anything about Arkantucky...every spring people all over this area deal with ants. The little black sweet eating kind. They're such a bother & Joe & I have been dealing with them for about a month now. We've gotten them almost at bay...so I thought. I came into my kitchen Saturday morning to see a trail of them, in formation, walking across my kitchen cabinets into my cabinet that I keep my teas, coffees & mugs. They were on my sorghum jar which was totally sealed. SO here I am dealing with ants everywhere & it's 7am & people are coming to my house to help me be ready by 8am to do this thing!! I was so frustrated. (I cleaned out that cabinet & Joe sprayed & we moved on. All the while I'm steamed over the ant thing.) Part of the frustration of my week last week was that in the midst of preparing this sale I had to totally empty all my kitchen cabinets & make sure that there wasn't a crumb in site to draw the little pests. Joe even calked the window jam in the kitchen to seal off where we thougth they were coming in. Back to the story...

So I got up & there was no rain. It was a totally cloudy & the radar showed a lot of rain on the way. But Denise & her dh decided to come over anyway. We all (Joe & I, Denise & her dear hubby Jeff) pulled almost everything out of the garage & the mini barn. Joe put one sign out at the main road so if it rained we wouldn't ruin all of them & not be able to use them next weekend. People came, we had photos of our son up & why we were having a sale & told people that we were having it the next weekend in full force. Lots of people were excited to come back next weekend. They were so gracious & thought what we are doing is so exciting.

We ended up making another 190 bucks on top of the 80 the day before! I had also taken out some of the nicest clothes that I had & put them in the consigment sale. When I went to pick up what didn't sell yesterday after church, the lady told me that she gave me an extra 5% commission & she didn't charge me a consignment fee! She knows it was for our adoption & "just wanted to be a part of getting Ake home." I made 88 more dollars!! So basically 300 bucks on a rained out yard sale.

Needless to say I learned something very precious to me this weekend. God truly is my source and my provider. I really have no idea, many times what God is going to do. And I can "do" all that I can to make things happen but it's He that is in control. Do I know this fact...yes. Am I still learning...yes. Will I need to be reminded of this time and time again...you can be sure of it.

One last note...we got new photos of our son from WACAP. He has little cottton balls taped on his hands from having blood work. They are sending us his child history this week & our travel packet too. Thailand has asked us for another "we want to have him in our family" letter. This means things are moving. We have no travel date yet but the way things look we can plan to travel this summer.

And once again I am reminded that I serve the same God that fashioned the entire universe & beyond. Hard to believe that a boy on the other side of the world was how God planned it to be. God layed an opportunity to be a part of something bigger than us. We believed that He would work out the details. We prayed & God is in control. He was on the job (as always) in Arkantucky this weekend...He had the whole thing planned long ago...and He is taking care of our new son in Thailand until we can get him into my arms...but then again...He doesn't need my help...I just get to be a part of it all.

Thanks for letting me ramble. Thanks for your prayers. I am soooo glad to be able to share what God is doing in our lives through this miracle He's letting us be a part of. I can't wait to see how things go next weekend!!!

Big hugs to all- Kristen

USCIS Frustrations

2006-04-20T16:58:00.000-05:00

It's been a rough four weeks renewing our USCIS paperwork. In March we sent all of it all for the I-600A renewal. (For those who have never had to deal with the government in this way...you haven't lived! :0) I mailed all of it before we left for Kansas to see my family & while there thought that we were receiving the invite to be printed. Much to my chagrin I found out when we got home it was being returned to sender!! UGH!!! So I remailed it thinking that because I used UPS & not the USPS that they sent it back??? So I resent it to them via USPS. Again, about the beginning of April, we get it back again. (Now mind you it has a check for almost 700 smackers in the envelope with that paperwork we already had to file once before!) No one on the USCIS web site decided to tell the public that they serve that they had changed the location of their Memphis hub. UGH again!!! So one more time I sent the same material to the new address. Imagine how excited I was on Saturday when I got an envelope from the USCIS!!! All that quickly changed when I saw that they were AGAIN returning our documents...this time because I had written the check for the wrong amount. Less a whopping five bucks. Did it matter that they could have looked at the stinking form & seen that there was a phone number that they could have called & said, "Mrs. Kolp, we have your documents right here for your I-600A but your check was five dollars off. If you could send a check for the rest of the amount, we could get you processed as soon as that arrives." Oh NO! That would make too much sense & be way to overly helpful. The documents are clearly for adoption. They know people are waiting on children to come home...UGH AGAIN!!! So that is the lot in life that we have had for the last month or so. I have no idea why God allowed all that to happen. But we plug on just the same. I have to keep reminding myself that He is the one who has this time thing under control. I added a fun photo from Thailand that you should get a chuckle from. I'm a diet coke with lime girl myself. :0)

More later- Love, Kristen

The Ball is Rolling

2006-03-30T01:02:00.000-06:00

It's hard to believe that it's been since September that we posted last. A lot has happened since then. Our friend Carla, who traveled to Chiang Mai a few weeks ago was able to take gifts to the Boys Home to be given to Ake. The workers there were not yet aware that he had a family coming for him. There must have been excitement in the air as well as surprise! We sent photos as well.
We also have contact with someone who is in Thailand as a missionary (from W.Memphis, Arkansas) who has approached the Boys Home to offer tutoring in English for Ake. Hopefully that will happen soon. It would be so much help to him as he is learning English in school & it would give him practice with someone who speaks fluent English. What a help to his transition to coming to be with us!
We also applied to renew our I-600A with the USCIS. It's hard to believe that it's been over a year since we started this process. We are praying that we will have a much shorter time than last, being invited to be fingerprinted. We travel to the Memphis office for this. Then we pray that another approval comes soon.
We have just learned that a family that was dossiered to Thailand at the same time as us are traveling to Thailand to go before the adoption board at the end of April. So we are really excited thinking that we may be next & soon! Joe attends the NCO Academy in September for six weeks and we are praying that we will be to Thailand & back with lots of settling in time before he goes.
Not much else to share as far as adoption new. I'll be including Thailand photos with many of my blogs so that you all can have an appreciation of how beautiful a place Thailand is to see! Blessings- Kristen

Beginning the Journey

2005-09-22T10:41:00.000-05:00

This is the beginning of what will be the first of many posts on our journey to bring Ake home from the Boys Home in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We thought this would be the best way to keep everyone up on what's going on & not miss anyone hearing any of the latest news. Things will go slowing at first but as time progresses we want this to be a memoir of sorts for Ake. Thanks for joining us on the journey. It's going to be exciting- Joe & Kristen