God's Good Design in Disability

We sent this book to our immediate family members just before we left for Colombia. Among our primary motivations for doing so is the fact that it deals with several essential questions regarding Gabi's disabilities, like: 1) What is God's relationship with disability; and 2) What does the bible say about disability.

We're not sure of the nature of Gabi's disabilities or what the future holds for her health-wise. However, because of where she is now we've been forced to deal with some of the questions raised in the book. These are not merely theoretical questions or interesting concepts to wrestle with (like, "Can God build a rock so big that he cannot lift it?"). Their answers are the foundation upon which we will look at Gabi, parent Gabi, and make medical decisions for her. We love Gabi because of how God made her, not in spite of it.

We certainly don't claim to have all the answers, but we hope that this book will point us and our family faithfully to the Book as we all engage in this new chapter in our lives.

As providence would have it, Pastor John Piper's most recent sermon (thanks Jamie and Molly) deals with the book and some of the theological questions that it raises. We commend this sermon and this book to you.

Happy Memorial Day

It really didn't seem like Memorial Day, but we got out and enjoyed the weather today. We took a good hike to another park (there are so many here!)

The boys found their first Colombian Geocache.

Climbing at the park.

The girls on a merry-go-round with seat belts.

Gabi on another neat swing.

Posing during a break.

A teeter totter built for two!

We got some hamburgers for dinner since we would have liked to be grilling today.

We are a little sad to report that we heard today that we have still not passed phase one of the court process. That's all we know about that!

Thanks for continuing to pray. Gabi has been a little congested the last day and a half. We are watching her closely and hoping so much that she will continue to stay well.

We hope you all had a great memorial day!

~Gerri

More pictures

Gabi and Anna taking care of their babies.

A butterfly they caught at the park.

Gabi loves pretending to take care of babies, pretend food and dishes. She will be a great helper to me at home I'm sure.

First trial run with having an "at home date time." David and I got to hang out while the kids watched a cartoon. It was pretty successful, so we might try it again.

Anna's Perspective

Anna Naomi VanAcker - 3 years old

We have gotten the opportunity to continue being a part of our church while we are here in Colombia by using skype on Sunday mornings. It has been great to hear the sermons and feel a small sense of worshiping together. It has also been an added blessing to say "hi" to friends via skype after the service. Last Sunday, after the service was finished, Anna was particularly emotional. I asked her what she was feeling and she said, "I'm glad we came to Colombia to get our sister, but I'm just so sad that we can never go to our church again. I just miss our church so much." Apparently, she thought that when we made the decision to adopt Gabriela that we were committing to moving here to live with her! I explained to her that we would only be staying in Colombia until the adoption was finished and then we would be returning home to Minnesota and our church. She cheered up at this news and immediately began collecting a notebook, paper, and several pencils. She climbed up on the bed next to me where I had been reading and starting making herself busy with all her supplies. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I'm ready." I said, "Ready for what?" She said, "I'm ready to help you with all the paperwork we need to do to go home." I laughed so hard realizing that she thought that all the paperwork I had to do before we could leave for Colombia also needed to be done in order to get home!

One another note...Anna was excited to go on our tour of FANA the other day. On the drive there she asked if it was ok if we could bring home another sister. I guess that is a good sign that she is enjoying the one she has!

~Gerri

Sleep! Praise Report

Thank you all for praying and for your encouragement and support in trying to help Gabi fall asleep. I was able to speak to the head nurse at FANA and she gave us some insight into the situation. After talking to this nurse, she said that Gabi usually goes in her crib every night at 7pm and then takes however long she needs to fall asleep...usually 1-2 hours! She suggested we try the crib. (There must have been some miscommunication because we thought we were told that she would climb out of a crib.) We have done this for 2 nights now and it is working well! The first night she went right in the crib without being upset at all. She laughed and babbled for about a 1/2 hour and then fussed for a minute or two and went to sleep! Last night she cried for a minute or two and laid right down and went to sleep! Apparently she wasn't ready for the freedom of being in a bed yet and I was probably making it harder for her to fall asleep because she was loving all the attention. We are so thankful to have found something that will work for everyone (at least for the time being). In order to make sure we are still getting snuggle time with her we are laying down with her at nap time and holding her for a while just before bedtime. All of which seems to be going just fine.

Tour of FANA

Jeremiah, Anna, and I (Gerri) got to go for a visit to FANA today. David and Daniel stayed "home" with Gabi. (They will get to go on the tour another time.) FANA is the institution that Gabriela lived in for the first 3 years of her life. It seemed much like a school building to us. There were many rooms, with many women, babies, and children all busy with their daily activities of life. We got to see where Gabriela spent her days and meet the women who cared for her so well. We could see that there has been much effort to promote the well-being of children here and how support from Friends of FANA Minnesota, over the years, has done so much! There were many hugs and tears as we thanked everyone and promised to do our best to love and care for Gabi.

This is a view from the back of the building.

This is one of the girl's rooms. This picture shows half of the cribs in the room.

There are rooms on the other side for boys.

One of these beds was probably Gabriela's!

This is where daily showers took place.

The rest of the pictures we took either didn't turn out, or they have children, etc. that can not be posted on our blog. Sorry! We will enjoy showing them to Gabi as she gets older. If you would like to learn more about FANA, you can visit the website at http://www.fundacionfana.org/

Adoption Process Update

The way we understand things, we have 3 steps that need to be completed before we can get Gabi's visa and bring her home. Each step requires a different person in the court system to sign or approve that step. Each person has a certain amount of time to complete their step (up to 10 days). We hope to hear something about step 1 this week. In the meantime, we are staying busy and growing as a family. We are enjoying our time here (for the most part!) and looking for ways that God would use this time for His glory. This week we look forward to a tour of FANA and seeing where Gabi spent the first 3 years of her life.

Prayer request: Overall, Gabi is doing very well and we just love having her! One area that I continue to pray about is her sleep. She sleeps very well once she is asleep, but getting her to fall asleep at bedtime has been a challenge. She seems comfortable and is not upset, but she just can't fall asleep it seems. It has been taking 1-2 hours many nights. As I lay there with her I have been asking God for wisdom as to how best to help her. Staying up until 9:30-10pm is not good for her (especially when she gets up at 5:30 sometimes!) and it is getting hard for me as well.

~Gerri

A new park

We spent a good part of the day Saturday at Polo Park. (Thanks Christophersons for letting us know about it!)

It was a beautiful day!

Court # 7!

We heard today that we were assigned to court number 7. It is said that court #7 is a "good" court, not the fastest, but not the slowest. "Good" can also mean "in favor" of adoption. We continue to pray for God's perfect timing, that we would enjoy our time here together and that Gabi would continue to stay healthy. So far, so good! Thank you God!

Here are some more pictures.

Gabi and Anna taking their first nap together! Up until this point we have had Gabi in our room, but now we think they might be ready to make the transition into roommates, at least for nap time. It went well. They both fell asleep and and slept for 2 hours.

Gabi wearing a hat of a boy we met.

We went to "Betty's Place" the other night for dinner. There were 3 other families that are here for adoption staying there. We enjoyed an amazing Colombian dinner and hung out with the families there. We hope to do it again soon!

Last hugs with Papa before bed.

Jeremiah and Daniel using their free time to get a little silly. This was the sign they hung on their door. Don't worry, David and I started charging for entrance to the kitchen (200 Pesos). It works out just about right!

Gabi playing in the rocks. We aren't sure if this is a cheerleading stance or if she might eventually try the hurdles.

Anna looks up from playing too.

Successful Appointment!

Our interview with the defender of minors is finished. It went very well (we think!). We arrived at 9am and waited until about 9:30am. At 9:30, the woman that conducted the interview called us into a small room filled with folding desks. As soon as she saw Gabriela, she began to talk very fast and smile. She then proceeded to cry and we were told that she said how happy she is for Gabriela and how sad she is that we had not had the last three years to be with her. Maria Teresa (our driver and paralegal) told us that she had been following Gabriela for some time. They were all very impressed when Gabi used her new sign language skills to ask to read a book while we were there! We looked over the paperwork for accuracy and signed everything before we left.

The way we understand things, this was the first big step (other than getting Gabriela) to get the court process started. Our lawyer will try his best to file the paperwork today and we should know which court (there about 23 of them) we are assigned to soon. The court we get will determine how long we are here and whether or not our case will be consider for medical expedite. Our lawyer has also agreed to do his best to plead our case in hopes that we will be able to bring Gabi back to Minnesota (one step closer to surgery) as soon as possible.

Park outing

We found another park to take a break at.

This is a picture facing across the street from our apartment.

You can just barely see the yellow sign on the building. This

is the grocery store and mall that we are able to walk to.

Defender of Minors Interview Set

The boys are really impressed by all the guards watching over everything here. Jeremiah took this picture of one of his favorite guards up in a tower.

Sitting out on the balcony on Saturday night listening to some live music in the courtyard below.

Hello!

We got word this morning that we have our appointment with the Defender of Minors on Wednesday morning at 9am! This will complete our interview portion of the adoption. At this interview we hope to be able to ask for consideration for anything that can be done to get Gabi home to Minnesota quicker (because of her medical needs). We would be so grateful if you could join us in praying for this. So far Gabi has been feeling well, but our fear is that something might change while we are here. Anna has had a slight fever for the last 24 hours, so we just hope that it doesn't lead into something more. We are trying our best to limit her contact with Gabi.

An outing to the mall to get some ice cream.

One week already

Nothing new to report. I (Gerri) am feeling a little homesick. We haven't heard anything from the court system yet. Here are some pictures that show ways we are keeping busy.

Papa and Gabi riding around on the rolling desk chair.

Daniel and Jeremiah set up a volleyball court in the apartment.

Anna turned one of the showers into her "school". She comes and goes throughout the day.

Lots of snuggling.

And more snuggling.

Gabi's favorite thing...trying on others people's shoes.

More fun in Colombia

Gabi really liked playing with play dough. She mainly

just organized the containers and the balls I made her.

It was fun that lasted about an hour and a half!

Jeremiah and Anna at the park.

Daniel and Gabi at the park.

Prayer request update.

Thank you all so much for praying for us as we transition as a family of 6.

As we continue to move through this process please pray:

1. Please pray that God would be glorified in this process and in Gabi’s inclusion in our family.

a. Pray that our adoption would highlight the gospel.

b. Please pray that we would trust in God above all things.

c. Please pray that we would engage in this process in a manner consistent with God’s Word.

2. Pray that our adoption of Gabi would be a blessing to Gabi.

a. That she would get and love and grow in the gospel.

b. That she would get the physical and emotional help that she needs.

c. That she would attach to us quickly and trust us for what she needs.

3. Pray that our adoption of Gabi would be a blessing to our family.

a. That this adoption would help us to live by faith.

b. That this would begin a legacy of many generations of VanAckers defending the fatherless.

4. Pray that our adoption of Gabi would be a blessing to our church.

a. That this would help promote a culture of life at Grace.

b. That others would be willing to consider adopting and/or supporting adoption.

c. That we’d be able to keep the level of awareness up regarding the fatherless (and otherwise vulnerable) at Grace.

Getting to know Gabriela!

Anna and Gabi after their morning shower.

We are having a great time getting to know Gabriela!

Here are some things we have learned so far:

Gabi is very small. She only weighs about 22 pounds and she wears size 2T.

Gabi is sweet and smiley and everything seems new and exciting to her.

Gabi loves music. She really enjoys it when we sing together at family devotions.

Gabi loves to try on everyone's shoes. She also likes to mimic anything you do.

Gabi is very ticklish. She can hardly stop laughing when her skin is touched.

Gabi is very particular about what she eats. So far we have found that she likes applesauce, veggie straws, and peanut butter and jelly. She also loves milk!

Gabi gets tired and out of breath easily (because of her heart condition). She can not run or be active very long without stopping to rest.

Gabi is not really verbal yet (in English or Spanish). So far the only words that she says are "papa" (which she says often) and "mama" (which she says sometimes).

Gabi is learning sign language quickly. So far she has learned to sign for "milk", "more", "please", "all done", "eat", and "diaper change". This is helping decrease her frustration greatly.

Gabi can have some pretty good tantrums! We are working with her to be gentle and trying to keep everyone safe.

Blog Issues

Sorry for the delay. We have been unable to post on the blog for two days now! We will do our best to catch up and hopefully we won't encounter any more problems.

First 24 Hours

The first day we spent time getting to know Gabi. We took turns playing with her individually, while the others watched from as close as possible, so that we didn't overwhelm her. So great, so fun!

Anna loves to help Gabi and so far Gabi likes to have Anna help. They took turns trying on each other's shoes for a good portion of our first day.

First dinner as a family of 6. Gabi didn't eat much, but she really enjoyed the singing during family devotions.

More smiles for Papa.

Matching Dora P.J.'s! These were the first thing that Anna packed in our suitcases before we left. Hopefully Gabi will like Dora.

Jeremiah gets some one-on-one with Gabi.

Pausing to pose for Mama.

Being silly. She seems happy to have all the attention.

Hanging out with Daniel.

Tired out after our trip out to sign more paperwork, run a few errands and visit to the park.

Papa time!

We have had a wonderful first 24 hours. We are enjoying getting to know Gabi and learning all about her. She seems to fit in so well already. (Thanks God!) We are thankful that we were able to skype with her for many weeks before coming here. It seems to have made a difference in her familiarity with us. Our biggest obstacles, for the moment, are communicating, helping her fall to sleep and being gentle. All things that we are taking to God for wisdom. Thanks for praying!

We appreciate your comments! We are so glad that we are able to share all of this with you.

Good night,

Gerri