It's Just A Little Bit Different (& Sweeter) Each Time!

So each time we do this, you know "this adoption thing", it's just a little bit different; different across so many fronts. First of all, we're a little sheepish about wanting to talk about it because Victoria and I are so concerned that we're drawing attention to ourselves, which quite honestly is the very last thing we want to do. Our desire to love an orphan into a home because we have a home and because the Lord has placed a very special burden on our hearts. If we could do it in secret, we would (although we desperately need all of you). On our first adoption, we wanted to tell the whole world, again not because we wanted the attention, but rather our exuberance just couldn't be contained. Now that we're a little more "seasoned" with the adoption process, we can control our emotions and not let ourselves get ahead of where the Lord wants us to be. So we're thrilled, but have things under control. (I'm sure the Lord is laughing at that last statement I just typed.)

It's different on the paperwork side too. One would think it gets easier, and in one way it does because it's not as intimidating as the first time. But actually it's not easier because the regulations and bureaucracy escalates with each adoption. We're doing things this time around that we never had to do with Poppy, or even Willow for that matter, and it's not because Xiao Qian is older. Now lest you get the impression that I'm the one filling out all of the paperwork, let me assure you that it's Victoria. She's doing (and has done) all of the heavy lifting. All I have to do is focus on the signature line of each page, and of course pull out my checkbook. I've got the "John Hancock" thing down now.

Then there's people's reactions. With Poppy I think that people generally thought it was cute, although crazy too. I mean who in their right mind in America would ever think about starting all over with kids again? But when God grabs a hold of you, He doesn't let go until His purposes are accomplished. You can resist it, or you can go with the flow. In other words, He says, "You can make this easy on yourself or difficult upon yourself, the choice is yours." We did a little bit of both. With Willow, I think people were generally not too surprised that we'd want to give Poppy a sister, so folk's reactions were happy and supportive, but still stunned about all of this craziness. Now with Xiao Qian, all of the adoption novelty has worn off, and this concept of bringing yet another girl into the household, soon to be a family of eight (nine with Meagan), has been, well quite remarkably received with a lot of encouragement, partially because I think she's older and people get it. (Although I did have one person jokingly scream out, "What? Are you crazy?" To which I un-sheepishly responded with a smile, "Yes.") These children are not just some accessory (as one anti-adoption-er is quoted as saying), but they're the real thing, real souls. We've got but five or six years to invest into this soul while living in our home, and we intend by the grace of God to give her everything we've got. Every day counts.

And then there's the thought of where we're going to put this new family member into our three bedroom rambler home. That was easy with Poppy and Willow, but we honestly don't have all of that figured out yet. It will be fine, even if it means the little ones come back into our room for awhile, or if all three girls sleep in the same room together. (Wouldn't that be sweet?) Of course, we're really going to have to rely upon Barret even more, and I suspect he'll have a very profound impact upon his new sister, even if he doesn't realize it yet. Now that's pretty exciting.

Then, of course, we have the language barrier. No problem with Poppy and Willow because they could quickly pick up English and had barely begun to learn any Mandarin anyway. Not the case with Xiao Qian, and learning how to communicate with one another during those first few months is going to no doubt be challenging, but man is it going to be fun too.

We cannot believe that God's been so gracious to us to allow us to do this yet again. It's October, and in just about two and half months we'll be heading over to the other side of the world to welcome with open arms another father-less and mother-less child into our home. With the stroke of a pen, she'll become a Kruggel, and with a life of love she'll never be without a parent again, perhaps forever.

Thanks for reading, and thank you for your willingness to stand by us.

We love you,

Tom (& Victoria)

P.S. - The love and support of Austin, Meagan, Annie, Barret, my Sister, my Mom & Dad, Victoria's family, the Kirkpatrick's, and all our friends has been terrific and special!!! We're so grateful.

147 Million Orphans minus ONE (more)!!!

It is OFFICIAL!! We have just received confirmation today that we have been approved as the PROUD parents of yet another lovely girl from China! We cannot adequately express our JOY that the Lord has entrusted another fatherless child into our care. Fatherless No more, I should say!

It is our privilege to introduce our new daughter and sister, LI XIAN QIAO! (That's OK, I don't know how to pronounce it either!) We tentatively plan to name her Piper Joy Xian Qiao Kruggel. (Tentative because we would like to discuss this with her before a final decision is made).

She is 13 years old and lives in Guangdong Province. (This is the same province where Poppy was born). We know some things about her...

• She was abandoned on February 16, 2000, at age 4, and was then assigned a birth date of 2-15-1996.
• She lived for 5 years at a nearby orphanage and at age 9 was transferred to the orphanage that is currently her legal guardian. She has had the blessing of being fostered for the past 3 years (we do not know anything else about the foster family, etc.)
• She attends school and is reported to be a diligent student.
• She is healthy.
• Her file says this: "Li Xiaoqian is a sensitive and thoughtful girl. She is lovely, outgoing, extroverted, optimistic, polite, kind, straight, and sympathetic. Sometimes she would defend somebody against an injustice. She is kind, helpful, often shares her things with others. She is serious at doing anything. She respects the old, and cares the young, and gets along well with her classmates. Usually she loves singing and dancing. She likes to read some extracurricular books or play with friends after finishing homework."

(So, now you probably want to adopt her too!) : )

Stay tuned to our blog...we have much to say about HOW we decided to adopt another child, an "older" child, and much more. It looks like we will travel to bring her home in January as China requires us to finalize the adoption BEFORE she turns 14 which is when children "age out" or, are no longer eligible for adoption from China.

ONE less orphan, ONE more Kruggel...to share life, the Gospel, a home, brothers and sisters, life-long security, unconditional love!

Our hearts are filled with Gratitude to our Lord,

Tom, Victoria, Austin, Meagan, Annie, Barret, Poppy and Willow

I Thought You Left Us!

I remember quite vividly as a young child going to Disneyland for the very first time with my family. It was the year my Dad was serving and flying missions in Vietnam. I was either seven (7) or eight (8) years old, so my sister was probably about four (4), and my brother Rick about twelve (12) or so. We went with my relatives who lived in Southern California at the time (actually most of them still live there now). I was always a bit cautious, so the more intimidating rides were ones I had a love-hate relationship with; I wanted so badly to go on them and be brave like all of the other kids, but they frightened me to death. The ride I wanted to go more than any other was Dumbo. So, while all of my relatives and my older brother ventured off to get their thrills on roller coasters that induced positive G's on their bodies, I asked my Mom if I could go on Dumbo. She naturally acquiesced, but the line was so extraordinarily long (actually, now that I think about it, it's not that extraordinary to see a long line at Disneyland) she asked me to stand in it and wait while they went to check out the line at the Tiki Room. (I couldn't understand why then they wanted to go to the Tiki Room when they had Dumbo right there, but now I do).

Well, believe it or not, the line actually moved relatively quickly and before I knew it I was ready to give the attendant a ticket for the ride, but the only problem was that I had no one to ride with. So I sheepishly handed him my ticket and climbed aboard with a stranger approximately my age and embarked upon what I was hoping to be the thrill of my life. Problem was, I missed my Mom and I didn't know where she was. The whole while, going up and down inside that gray sculpted elephant with the controls maneuvered by my strange bedfellow because I was too shy to ask for them myself, I couldn't enjoy the ride because I was so concerned that I had lost my Mom for life. Now all I wanted to do was get off that stinking merry-go-round and find my Mother. The ride couldn't end quick enough, and as soon as it was over I casually sauntered over to the exit gate so that no one would think I was worried, and then scanned from left to right looking for that woman where all my security rode. After gazing into the crowds for what seemed like an eternity, but I'm sure was only a minute or two, I spotted her, that familiar face that brought such peace and comfort to my soul. When we reunited she had a big smile on her face and asked me how I enjoyed the ride. I worked real hard at keeping the tears inside, but they just couldn't be contained. I began to cry and tell my Mother that I thought she left without me and that I didn't think I would find her again. She knelt down to my level and said, "Tommy, I'd never leave you. You know that, right?" I shook my head in the affirmative, pressed my face into her leg, wiped my tears, and realized that all was well in the world of Tommy Kruggel once again.

I was instantaneously reminded this evening of that moment in my bubbled history when I took the girls to their AWANA (Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed) class. (Victoria is in Denver visiting with Austin and Meagan.) Victoria and I recently enrolled them knowing that they'd thoroughly enjoy it, as did our other older children, and expectantly hoping they'd get even more immersion into the Bible than they already have. One of the things they enjoy doing most is playing on the church playground when they first arrive. It's complete with jungle-jim, slides, ropes courses and the like. I decided I would run in and get the girls registered for the evening by grabbing their name-tags and signing them in. The whole process takes about two to three minutes. When I returned to the playground I found Poppy solemnly walking around the play structures with a confused look on her face. When she spotted me she appeared very forlorn. I immediately flashed back to my Disneyland experience and asked her what the matter was while I also knelt down and looked into her eyes. She didn't say anything, and I then queried, "Did you not know where I was?" She shook her head back and forth and tried to hold back her tears, and then said with a soft voice, "I thought you left without us. Willow and I were looking for you." Of course, Willow was running around the yard without a care in the world and I'm sure didn't even notice that I was gone. I gently stroked Poppy's face and said, "Sweetheart, I'd never leave you, ever. You know that now, right?" She said she did and then tried to regain her energy level to play for a few minutes before the evening's events formally commenced.

I then began to ponder in my mind how I never, ever feel that way about my Father. You know, there's not a worse feeling in the world than to think that you've been somehow forgotten, left behind and to your own devices. But with God, everywhere I turn He's there, and I you what? I know it. Eternal security. There's not a better gift in the whole wide world. Even when I'm lost, He's there. Even when I've dishonored Him, He's still there. Even when I ignore Him, He's still there. And even when I wander away, He's still there.

Whether it's the Disneyland of this world, or the playground of my life, I will confidently look over my shoulder and see Him standing there.

In peace,

Tom

147,000,000 Orphans!

For most of us, that's just a number. For every one of those children counted among the 147,000,- 000, it's much more than a number; it's their life. I suspect few of them know how they're counted among the millions. Like most of us, they live their existence from one day to the next. But I suppose, unlike most of us, they ponder why they're unique, why they're the one's without mommies and daddies, why they must live among the throngs of others (if they're fortunate) under the care of an institution or the state. Most of these kids are survivors, hoping, waiting, believing that their future might change, that they could possibly have an existence as originally designed, with parents that love them, care for them, cuddle them, dote on them, clean them, feed them... you know, all of the things that we take for granted. But I'm tired of taking all of this for granted. I'm tired of living as if these little children don't matter. I'm tired of forgetting about them. I need reminding.

Here's a website that Victoria just turned me on to that will constantly remind me that there are over 147,000,000 orphans on the face of this planet:

http://shopoatsvallvillage.blogspot.com/

Here I can go and shop and purchase merchandise that I can place in the forefront of my vision to stir my mind toward the least of these. These items were designed and manufactured by those in villages suffering from severe hardship and wrestling with homelessness and parentless-ness. And the money expended to purchase these items goes directly toward feeding and caring for the orphans in Uganda. Victoria's already made several Christmas purchases from this site.

But there's so much more that we Kruggel's can do. I don't know what it is, but Victoria and I were chatting yesterday afternoon while sitting in the comfort of our backyard and asking what that might be. It dawned on me while we were talking that we're so fat. I mean spiritually fat. We had just returned from a great church service where we heard yet another among the hundreds of great sermons from the Bible challenging us in so many God-fearing ways. I know so much, but what am I doing? Not a whole lot in the scheme of eternity. I (we with Victoria) don't dismiss the raising of our children and the privilege of adopting Poppy and Willow, but it simply cannot stop there. We must, and we will move on and strive for more. Every day that ticks by and we haven't invested into the Kingdom is a day lost, a day gone. Vicki and I are reaching out to others in the field and asking. Pray for us; there's much work to be done and o' so little time.

Speaking of time, I'm in Houston on a business trip, getting tired and need to hit the hay. I know we've been lax writing much lately, and we hope to re-engage with more entries (for our benefit, quite frankly), but life has been awfully demanding of late. Hope to write again soon.

Warmly in Christ,

Tom (& Victoria)