Adoption Days

Hello!

"So, how is your adoption going?" is a question that we are asked on a regular basis. "Slow" or "really slow" has been our answer for quite a while. Everything is based on when our file was logged into the system in China. January 29, 2007--almost six years ago! Every month (it used to be every couple weeks) files are matched with babies in China. For a long time now they have only been matching a few DAYS worth of files each month. From June to September this year they were only averaging 3 DAYS per month. They were up to September 24, 2006. People on an adoption blog that I follow started to speculate that China was going to close down the program we are in and just do special needs adoptions.  I was discouraged. Even at that rate, it would take YEARS for us to get a referral (name, picture, and info about a baby.)  I started to pray. I prayed that the program wouldn't close down before we got a baby and that things would speed up.

In October, China matched 13 DAYS worth of files! It brought them up to October 8, 2006. The statistics-keeping adoption website had only predicted that 1 DAY's worth of files would be matched. It was 13 TIMES what they predicted! Thank you, God! What an encouragement in a very long and often discouraging process.

I don't know if the speed-up will continue or if it was just making up for slower days in the previous months. But I do know that I will continue to pray and trust that God will bring us the right child in His perfect timing. 113 DAYS of files more to go.

Waiting and praying,

Marcie Cooper

Click here to read the beginning of our adoption story

Robbed Again

Dear Friends,

I know that I told you that I would write an "answered prayers" message and, I promise, it will come. As you head to bed tonight though, I would like to ask you for your prayers.

Last night, at 3:00 am, I woke up to strange noises and a loud popping sound. Paul went to the living room to look around and noticed that our security camera was stolen out of its base. He also notice a pickaxe on the porch railing but, after bringing me the broken camera, noticed that the pickaxe was gone. We could not get back to sleep. I am a natural worrier and kept thinking that the thief would return. We were also trying to figure out what he was after (we think motorcycles) and were mad at ourselves because the camera was not actually working at the time so we have no recording to show for it. 

Just before going to bed I read 1 Peter 4:12-19 which talks about not being surprised when we face trials. I have also been doing a Bible study on Nehemiah and have been looking at how he faced opposition when rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. We are here sharing Jesus and bringing hope to kids. It is not surprising that we have been robbed multiple times even though our house is the smallest on the block. Yes, it might have to do with the colour of our skin and assumption that we have money. But it could also be that Satan does not want us here doing God's work.

Please pray for our safety and protection. Pray for peace and a good night's sleep without worry. And pray that the work here would make a difference and that children's lives would be changed.

Thank you!

Goodnight!

Marcie Cooper

Update 11/07/12: We slept well and our landlords are going to make our fence higher. We are also looking into other ways to increase our home's security. Thanks again for your prayers!

See Building up treasures in heaven to read about one of the other times we were robbed. 

PiBoIdMo

Hello!

I decided to try something new today. Actually, I decided a long time ago but was about to cancel the whole plan when a few ideas came to me. You see, somehow in the middle of last November I read about Picture Book Idea Month ( PiBoIdMo) where the goal is to come up with thirty ideas for picture books in thirty days. I had published Meet the Teens through Tate Publishing but more ideas kept entering my mind. PiBoIdMo sounded like a fun challenge but I had missed the cut-off. I subscribed to the blog and waited for this year.

As you can see by my lack of blogging lately, I have not had much free time. I have a whole list of ideas for Marcie's Messages but hardly any of them materialize. By the end of long days with kids and homeschooling and ministry on top of a teething toddler and a preschooler that wants to come visit me in the middle of the night, I am just too tired. But here I am and hopefully it won't be so long before I'm back again.

Up until this morning, I did not know if I had time to fit in PiBoIdMo. I felt like I could barely make it through the all things I needed (or wanted?) to get done in a day. So how did I decide? I prayed about it. I prayed that I would have an idea for today, Day 1 of the challenge, if I was supposed to sign up. Silly? Maybe. But I wrote down six ideas! Most are about missionary kids and I don't know if they will ever get published but you never know!

I have another answer to prayer that I've been wanting to share with you too so check back in a day or two or sign up on the right of your screen to be notified of new posts by e-mail.

Happy November and Happy Picture Book Idea Month!

Marcie Cooper

Concón

Hello!

Would you eat rice that looked like this?

If my little boy doesn't get some at school, he comes home crying, "Concón, concón!"

At first, I did not like the crusty, almost burned rice at the bottom of the pot that is a delicacy Dominican kids fight over. Now it is growing on me. I still like it more golden than darker brown but have finally, after a few years in the country, achieved making it.

It took me a while to learn how to make rice Dominican-style. In Canada, I was taught to boil salted water then add the rice, put the top on the pot and let it cook, and then let it sit for a few minutes before serving. To make Dominican rice, oil is heated first and then the water and salt are added. When the water boils, the rice is added but it is stirred uncovered until the water is gone. Then the top is put on and it is left to finish cooking. There are also people who fry the rice briefly in the oil and then add the water. Either way, the end product is a wonderful tasting rice with a layer of concón at the bottom.

Of course, it must be served with beans (habichuelas) but how to make those is a post for another day.

Goodnight!

Marcie Cooper

Hockey in the Dominican Republic

Hello!

Hockey has now come to our Caribbean home!

I could not resist when I was offered six hockey sticks from a family leaving the Dominican Republic. I did not ask where they got them or why they had them but, as a Canadian, I had to take them. Hockey on the front porch has become our family's new favourite activity. . .

. . . for most of us anyways and especially for a certain four year old who actually has a pretty good slapshot.

Little brother, on the other hand, would rather jump on the sticks or whack the car. 

It is too bad that there is no ice anywhere around here. Or snow. My little girl asked last week, "What's tobogganing?" At least we have a start on winter sports with our hockey sticks. We've got to start somewhere!

Enjoy your day!

Marcie Cooper

P.S. If you're in the area feel free to stop by for a game!

A Gecko On the Stove

Happy fall!

A tiny part of me wishes that I could see the trees with their leaves changing colours but the rest of me is content to be here in the warm sun.  It has been so hot that we have been leaving the doors open to try to get a breeze flowing through our house. That's probably how a gecko got in and came to visit my kitchen today.

At first, I thought he was a cockroach. I saw something scurry under the toaster when I went to make lunch. I got a shoe ready to attack but then this little guy came running out.

I put my shoe back on and grabbed the camera. When I tried to catch him (with a box...I'm not the type to catch lizards in my hands and my helpers were out bike riding) but he ran onto the stove.

The box was not working. As soon as I made a move he would run to another part of the stove. Finally, with two identical sized baskets that we use for homeschool, I trapped him. 

I set him free outside the door and after resting for a few minutes he hopped off into the grass.

I spotted him again later on in the day but he was not heading toward my kitchen. Hopefully he learned his lesson. At least it was better than a cockroach!

Marcie Cooper

Homeschool

Hello!

My lack of writing lately is all due to one thing--homeschool! These two go to school in Spanish in the mornings but do homeschool with me in the afternoons.

They are as different as night and day. 

She is creative with an huge imagination that takes her far away from the tasks in front of her. She loves to learn about the world and has improved in reading but is still scared to write because she doesn't want to make mistakes. I can't fit everything in that I want to teach her.

He wants to get started as soon as he gets home and do everything in his bins and more. He is having fun with numbers in ways that his sister never did because she was too busy making objects talk to each other. I am already looking for more things to do with him and he only started homeschool three weeks ago. Kindergarten math suggestions anyone? 

I feel like I am more prepared for homeschool this year than ever before but am still finding it challenging and time-consuming. Their best hours of the day have already been spent at school from 7:30am to 12:30pm. They are learning Spanish and building friendships but I don't want their English to suffer. I'm going to try to keep them home on alternating Fridays to have some individual time with them but I'm still not sure if that will give us the right balance between school and homeschool.

Please pray for God's wisdom as we try to give our little missionary kids the best education we can while also keeping them involved in the culture we are in.

Thank you!

Marcie Cooper