Respite Care Update!

Hello, friends! 

Well, we did it! We had our first respite care assignment. Honestly, I'd say that it went pretty well. I say that knowing that Megan did most of the heavy lifting but she and I agree that it was a worthwhile experience and we're happy we did it. We're also open to doing it again (more on that later). 

I'm still not sure what I can or can't reveal about the assignment but I can say that it was multiple children around Jonah's age. These were some high energy kids, that's for sure. Let's break down the weekend. 

The kids showed up around 8 on Friday night, which worked out well because it was already bedtime. We gave them a tour of the upstairs and introduced them to Phoebe and Gus before getting ready for bed. They came in super polite and immediately felt at home. We had them in Thaliea's room (Thaliea moved in with the boys) and they pretty much went right to bed. Honestly, they went to bed better than our kids did, which was a blessing. 

Saturday was a fun one. Megan got up early with the kids and got them ready for the day, as well as getting our kids ready for the day. It was absolutely jam packed:

- Megan left for an appointment at 8:30
- I took all the kids to Ezra's basketball game @ 10
- Megan met us at the game
- After the game, I took the respite care kids home while Megan took our kids to a birthday party
- As soon as they got back from the party, we switched and I took our kids to a Bellevue Basketball game while Megan stayed home with the kids. 
- We got home and had dinner, then played, took baths, and got ready for bed

The kids left around 8:30am on Sunday, which then gave us enough time to get ready for church. At the end of the time, one of the kids asked about when they could visit next. I guess they had a good enough time that they wanted to come back. =0). 

All in all, it was a really positive experience. Megan and I have already talked about wanting to do it again and seeing if there may be some regular respite assignments we can take (like, the same kid once a month or something like that). 

Thanks to everyone for your prayers! It really means a lot to us that so many people were invested in the process. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Respite Care!

Hello, friends! 

Prior to Megan and me getting married, we had a conversation about how we were going to grow our family. We both wanted kids and we both wanted to do foster parenting at some point. We weren't sure of the details but we both knew that foster parenting was something that was in line with our values and something that we wanted to do. 

Fast forward a few years ago and we decided that the time was right for us to get certified as foster parents. The training was really good and actually helped me in my current parenting. At least I think it did. You'll have to ask the kiddos... =0). 

One of the decisions we made through that process is that we wanted to start with respite care. Respite care is when foster parents can't care for their foster kids for a short period of time and need someone to cover the care. There are a lot of benefits to respite care for long-term foster parents, and we felt like this was a great way for us to dip our toes into the foster care process. 

After a few different false starts (i.e., we were going to be out of town the dates that respite care was necessary) we finally got our first placement for this weekend! 

I'm not sure what I'm allowed or not allowed to say about who we will be fostering this weekend, so I'll be sparce on the details. I just know that there was a need over the weekend and we're happy to help! 

Dear friends, please be praying for us this weekend. Right now everyone is excited, including the kids, which is great. We just have no idea how this will go. We also have a pretty packed Saturday, so coordinating that has been a bit of a situation. Here are a few prayer requests: 

- Health: There's a cold that's been traveling through our family. Pretty much everyone is out of the woods but we want to be totally healed and make sure that the kiddos don't catch anything.

- Comfort: We can only imagine how difficult it is for a foster child to be moved to a new location, even for the short term. Pray that we'll be able to provide a safe and loving environment. 

- Phoebe: Phoebe loves new people. She may love new people a little bit too much. She doesn't like it when we have guests over and she can't get to know them (read: lick them a bunch). We've been working on her training but there's still work to do. Please pray that she'll handle the situation well. 

We'll give an update next week on how things went. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Proof of 40...

Hello, friends! 

On Wednesday, I took Jonah to the trampoline park after school for some one-on-one time. It's something that I've done tons of times before so it wasn't that big of a deal. The one difference was that since this was our "special time" he wanted me to jump with him. Because of our membership, it was only an extra $2 so I said, "why not?" and went for it. 

Friends, since taking this photo of us after our time jumping, I haven't been able to lift my arms above my head without soreness... The Oldening has happened... 

I remember when my dad has his 40th birthday party all those years ago. The house was decorated in an "over the hill" theme. I'd been told stories about how once you hit 40, your body breaks down. I remember reading once that studies have shown that 29 is when one hits their physical peak. I said to myself, "I stay in relatively good shape. I work out 5-6 times a week. I generally keep my eating within an acceptable range. Sure, I could always do better but I think I'm doing OK. 40 shouldn't be too bad." 

Y'all, I was VERY wrong. 

Look, I'm not saying that my body started breaking down as soon as I turned 40. I'm just saying that I've noticed it more. The trampoline park incident goes on top of my Achilles tendon still hurting from my run on Monday (NOTE: it was an 8 mile run, so that seems reasonable). That sort of thing would usually only take a day to heal. I had a week of fasting a few weeks ago (for spiritual, not physical reasons). In previous years, during a fast, I would drop 2-3 pounds a day then keep it off for at least a few months. This time, I dropped 3 pounds and immediately put it back on within the week. The fact that my body needs more recovery also means I need more sleep, which is new too. I used to be able to function on 6 hours of sleep a night. The past month has proven otherwise. Y'all, I think I'm breaking down here! 

The original plan for my 40's was to defy age. This was the decade I was going to complete an Olympic length triathlon. If I was EVER going to dunk, it was going to be in my 40's. Anything and everything was possible! 

And now, I have trouble getting out of the foam pit at the trampoline park... this does not bode well for the next decade... =0). 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam 

Happy (Lunar) New Year!

Hello, friends! 

If you're reading this on Wednesday, happy Lunar New Year to you! It's the year of the Snake, which means that if you were born 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, etc. years ago, this is your year! According to the Chinese Zodiac, the snake symbolizes intelligence, mystery, and renewal. =0). 

Lunar New Year has honestly become one of my favorite holidays. When I was younger, I don't think that I thought about it much. The only time I remember really thinking about it was in 1997, when it was the year of the Ox and I convinced my dad that I didn't need to go to school because it was "my year." The legend goes that the year after that, they did away with the "perfect attendance" award at school. Coincidence? I'll let you decide. 

Despite that memory, Lunar New Year wasn't that big of a deal for me growing up. In college, the LNYF Performance was one of the biggest things that a lot of my friends did but I was very much more a spectator than a participant. I enjoyed the eating and the red envelopes but it wasn't something I thought about a ton. 

The reason why I've had so much fun recently with the Lunar New Year has actually been because of the Cub Scouts. I'm leading Thaliea's den and the past few years, I've really enjoyed being able to teach the den about the different traditions. 

Our meeting last night was no different. It actually was one of my favorite lessons to lead of all the ones I've done over the past few years. We started by going over the wheel and the story of how the animals came in the order that they did. We also had the scouts name people in their families and identify which animal they were. I followed that up with a story about fireworks and each student got a red envelope. We finished the day by making tang yuan, which is just rice balls in a ginger brown sugar soup. I have no problem saying that it's still my favorite part of the day. 

As I was thinking about it today, I think there are three reasons why Lunar New Year with the scouts so much fun for me. The first is that I love to teach. Any chance I have to teach folk, I'm going to take it. The second is that I get to teach something that students find interesting. Honestly, when I'm teaching about MPD, it isn't the most stimulating for folk. They do it because they have to. With the scouts, they're eager to learn and that makes it fun. The third reason is that it's a chance for Thaliea to be an expert in the den. Since we talk about this stuff all the time, she's the one who gets to help lead, which she loves doing. 

Happy Year of the Snake! 

~Adam

AMBITION!!!

Hello, friends! 

First of all, thanks so much to everyone for the birthday wishes! It was a great day and I definitely felt the love and appreciation. 

Honestly, I was really tired on my birthday and not just because I got up at 5 so I could make it to my 6:15 systematic theology small group. I was still recovering from an AMAZING week in Denver at Ambition. 

As is my tradition, let me give you a rundown of the weekend:

THURSDAY:
- 7:30am: Leave the house to get to the car rental place
- 8:30am: Get to the church where all the students are meeting to load up cars and pray
- 8:45am: Hit the road! 
- 11am: Pit stop number one at the Fat Dog
- 11:15am: Hit the road again!
- 1:30pm: Pit stop number two for lunch
- 2pm: Back on the road! 
- 5pm: Arrive in Denver
- 6pm: Buy pizzas for all the students so they have dinner
- 7pm: Session 1 starts
- 9pm: After party in the staff suite
- 11pm: Finally in bed

FRIDAY:
- 6:30am: Up early to run a few miles in downtown Denver
- 8:30am: Back up to the staff suite to make sure students got breakfast
- 9am: Session 1
- 11am: Into the coaching lab to help students who want to start Asian American Ministries on their campuses
- 12:30pm: Lunch Break
- 2pm: Back to the lab
- 3pm: Meetup with Asian American students who are attending Ambition
- 4pm: Back to the lab
- 5:30pm: Hosting dinner for all the Nebraska students, staff, volunteers, and alumni who came to Ambition
- 7pm: Session 3
- 9pm: After party
- 11pm: Finally in bed

SATURDAY:
- 6:30am: Up early to run a few more miles in downtown Denver
- 7:30am: Breakfast with my old pastor from St. Louis who was also attending the conference as a part of Vineyard USA
- 9:30am: Found some ministry partners in the hotel lobby and connected with them for a bit
- 11am: Back to the coaching lab!
- 12:15pm: Lunch with my old supervisor who is now working in the National Office
- 2pm: More coaching! 
- 5:30pm: Dinner 
- 7pm: Session 5
- 9pm: Central Region After Party!
- 11pm: Sweet, sweet, sleep

SUNDAY:
- 7:30am: No run today since I knew I was going to be on the road and needed to stay alert
- 8:30am: Putting gas in the car and getting all the cars loaded 
- 11am: Picking up lunch for the road
- 11:30am: Time to go home! 
- 2pm: Pit stop!
- 5:30: Dinner in Kearney, NE
- 9pm: Finally back home

Friends, that was the rundown, but honestly, it doesn't capture all the wonderful things that happened at Ambition. Here are a few highlights: 
- Connecting with my old pastor and former supervisor were such blessings. It's nice when people who used to speak into your life still can. 
- The students who I brought had such a great time connecting with one another. The drives were long but the level of connection that I saw was so great. 
- Students were inspired to start new things on their campuses. I don't know what will come of these ideas but I'm so glad that I get to help students take risks for the Gospel.
- Coaching was tons of fun! It was great to do be able to do what I do best, which is take in data, analyze it, and act as a consultant for paths forward. 
- We had a student receive physical healing and another student give her life to Jesus! 
- I had a moment with the Holy Spirit and received some prayer ministry. I even cried, which hasn't happened in a while. It's nice when these conferences bless the staff even as they are ministering to students. 

Ambition happens every 3 years, so we'll see what's up in 2028. I just know that I had a really amazing experience in 2025 and it was well worth the fatigue. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam 

A Year of Joy...

Hello, friends! 

Happy New Year to you! Here's hoping that 2025 kicks 2024's butt in every possible way. 

One of my annual traditions is to pick a word out theme for the year. This idea was first brought to my attention when co-worker asked me what my word for the year was going to be when I told her that I had a birthday coming up. Since my birthday is so close to the New Year, I combined my birthday word of the year and my New Year's Resolution into one th

Last year, my phrase for the year was Depth and Intimacy. I wanted to not just do things but to actually do them well. This included my work but also my relationships and my life with Jesus. Overall, I think I did an ok job of pursuing more depth and intimacy. There were definitely times when efficiency and distraction won out and there's still more work to be done in this area. But, it felt like the right word for the year. 

This year, my word is JOY. If I'm honest, there were a lot of areas where things were really hard last year (as I'm sure was the case for a lot of people). I survived the year and some good things happened but it really felt more like a struggle and a fight than anything. There was a lot of frustration in a lot of areas of life and by the end of the year, I was tired on a number of different levels. 

So, the hope for 2025 is for me to focus more on JOY. I'm defining JOY as "contentedness in the midst of all circumstances." The reason why JOY is possible regardless of the circumstance is because I know the end of the story. When you know that things work out in the end, it's easier to enJOY the ride. 

An example that has helped me has been thinking about has been roller coasters. For the record, I hate roller coasters, but that's a motion sickness thing. Megan and the kids LOVE roller coasters. The question has to be asked though: what is enJOYable about roller coasters though? Why would anyone enJOY spinning around, steep drops, and things like that? I think it has something to do with the fact that the rider knows the end of the story. They know that the coaster is safe and that they'll end up back on solid ground. If you were in a plane that was doing the same motions, it would probably be terrifying because you didn't know how the story was going to end. But, with a roller coaster, you know that you'll be safe, so you can enJOY the feeling of being out of control. 

My hope for the year is to focus on God's goodness, his abundance, and his provision as a way for me to enJOY all the different parts of life as they come. I know that God loves my kids, so I can parent with JOY, even when things feel out of control. I know that God has called me to this work with InterVarsity, so I can do my work with JOY, even when things aren't going as I hoped they would go. The theory is that by focusing on the end of the story, I'll be able to bring more JOY into my life and bless others with that JOY. 

I'd love you to join me in a journey of a Word of the Year for 2025. Maybe you'd like to join me in JOY. But it could be something else too. Whatever it is, I hope that God blesses you in 2025 with everything that he has for you and that you'll experience more of Him. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam