Well, here we are again almost the end of the week.  Our weather has been all over the place but pretty much it’s been bad

I admit I get pretty annoyed with it.  We have 40 degree temperature shifts and sometimes I think my mood shifts with it!  That video is right out our front door.  Now it’s trying to improve some and I’m really glad to see that.  I was looking out past the backyard at one of my favorite views and enjoying the fact that it looks like it’s at least trying to be spring .  The birds…including my favorite western meadowlark sound cheerful and hopeful and the clouds…though it was misting this morning…are trying to clear away some .  I’ve so enjoyed seeing the flowers that others have…including of course Toodie’s garden and those that have such great flower pictures…gives me hope in our cold weather here that it will indeed change.  We have a little flower garden that we have been bringing in at night when it gets too cold.  I would like to share some of the pictures of that.  These little flowers seem so small yet brave to me…so willing to give their own brand of praise to God .  Here I see nature glorify it’s creator and it’s beautiful.  Pansies in particular remind me so much of my grandma on my mom’s side who passed away…it’s actually kind of bitter sweet .  My grandma’s name was Dorothy but everyone called her Dodi.  She was a tiny little thing in stature but so a sweet dear woman of God.  I feel that it’s a crime she didn’t get to see her prayers come true for me and her great grandchildren.  She’d died of Alzheimer's disease while I was in the mission field .  See the rain drying on the pansy in the picture?  Almost like a drying tear drop. 

Storms must needs be in life one way or another…without the storm that brings rain how would anything live?  I have two videos from my favorite storm site I’d like to share.  All credit to them for this amazing video.  Just when I want to gripe about bad weather I see things like this

.  It’s long been my dream to go on one of these tours though I don’t know when it will happen. 

I have got to continue my story now because it feels like it’s been too long.  Lovely and I made it home to American and barely got settled in before she went into labor with our first child.  We had prayed and already had chosen a name.  We were walking with my grandpa at the zoo in Boise when the labor pains started.  Lovely really didn’t show much pain but knew something was going on…me?  I was a first time dad so what the heck did I know?  We arrived at the hospital and they didn’t take us too seriously when they understood we were first time parents but after a quick examination they rushed Lovely into the delivery room.  Now for me this was a thing I expected to be a challenge because some of you may know of my dread of needles.  You’d think that after the multitudes of injections I’ve endured after all my trips I’d kind of get used to it…no such luck.  Back in the day they had many miserable injections…maybe that traumatized me rather than got me used to it LOL!  I went into that room not knowing really what to expect.  I figured our little boy was on the way no matter what.  It only took a very short time before the baby’s head showed…I watched in awe…fear about needles and such long gone as the miracle of birth happened before my eyes.  Soon the baby’s head and body came out and in a stunned moment the scissors were handed to me and I cut the cord.  They said Mr. and Mrs. C. you have a little girl…did they just say girl?  I didn’t care, I was counting fingers and toes and those lips…I can’t forget those perfect little lips…my God is she really ours?  I wept without even knowing it, I’ve surely never seen anything so beautiful in my entire life.  We adapted the name we had chosen to Danielle because we indeed felt as though we had been judged of God and came through the fire to get to America at last.  This was our first step to become our current party of five.  I remember sleeping in the waiting room because the hospital was very full.  The girl next to Lovely was having a baby on her own…the daddy did show up but she told him to get out…it was heart breaking to see that and made me realize just how blessed we were.  Storms come and go

but I know for sure I will every be grateful to God for as much as nature speaks of God so does my family.  I never see them and not God…they are forever mingled together.  Since I’ve dedicated my life to my family on a very up close and personal level.  I have home schooled my children because of our extensive travel and never regretted that decision though it’s cost us…the cost has never out weighed the benefits.  We travel as a family and are a missionary unit.  The nations of the world has been our classroom.  I’m eternally blessed in this.

Well, our good weather is gone in a flash and now it’s hovering around forty degrees outside and is very gloomy out.  I wouldn’t ever want this weather but could likely put up with it for a day…this is supposed to drag on for a week…I can hardly believe it!  Fortunately not all was lost, I did get some pictures and we celebrated Lovely’s birthday today which was really nice.  I pray that the buds that are opening at last don’t get really nailed tonight .  It felt like summer yesterday…the sky has been an amazing sapphire blue and there’s been big puffy clouds that I love so much  .  The only thing I know that’s better than a blue sky like that is a bright sun bringing lots of warmth ! 

Today we went out and had dinner with Lovely and it was fantastic!  We love the restaurant here called “Sweet Ginger”.  The owner and his wife are really good to us and have the best sushi in town .  The presentation absolutely rocks !  I think I can easily say that it tastes every bit as good as it looks .  Last time I had the dish called the “Caterpillar” (notice the first food picture”  It’s has unagi which is one of my favorite dishes from Japan.  This time I thought I’d try some of the extra spicy kung pao .  I loved how it was shaped like a giant mushroom!  Lovely tried some of the other sushi dishes they had and it never disappoints!  They gave us a free desert that was fantastic as well   .  I think I can safely say when it’s all said…erm, eaten and done we had a great time . 

God so faithfully provided for us to have a good time and to enjoy each other as a family.  This is when I know just how amazingly blessed I am.  Each member of our family adds a unique flavor of who we are.  None of us are complete without the other.  I feel that I owe God a great deal because without Him surely I’d have never found Lovely and wouldn’t have her or the children with me.  I’m thrilled to have had Lovely as my wife on her birthday another year.  She remains next the children the greatest gift God has ever given me!

Easter has come and gone .  The eggs were set up and ready to go .  The dye was prepared and all the eggs were finally colored …I don’t know why but they didn’t seem very pretty to me this year but we had a lot of fun so I guess that’s what counts right?  We visited our local zoo for kicks.  They claimed they were having an Easter scavenger hunt…didn’t really happen…no eggs, nothing to really find and a lot of kids asking their parents why they brought their Easter baskets…I’m just glad the kids had a good time anyway…though the full price admission for such a joke got on my nerves.  The Big Horns even looked bored with it all and the wolves weren’t much better .  The Eagles were amazing as ever though as if by some cruel irony they were nesting but since the zoo isn’t allowed to have eggs the nest was empty too .  Gabby’s enthusiasm wasn’t dimmed one bit and it was a beautiful day .  The tiger was in a bad spot to photograph so I didn’t even try however the red pandas were unusually active and affectionate which was nice .  They really are cute !  I even took a little video of them

Next came Mike’s birthday party which was a lot of fun .  He never likes having his picture taken…that may be why everyone else looks happier than he is !  I kind of like this picture of him none the less .  We like to have fondue for kicks on some occasions so Lovely made quite a spread for us !  Notice Gabby’s enthusiasm to taste her brother’s cake  !  Here’s a picture of Mike and his older sister Danielle …yes, she’s the one that barely made it to be born in the US thirteen years ago!  Finally Mike gets to blow out the candles ….what a long process!  I will continue with the story of our lives next week…for now I hope this will suffice…it never hurts to look around and be blessed for what we have today and I’m so blessed for my family that the Lord has given me.  Our weather remains gloomy and cold today however I see seventies…actual seventies in the forecast now!  That has got to be a good sign!  God has been very gracious to us and I’m eternally grateful that since He was willing to die for us we can now live through Him!  What a precious gift we have in salvation through Christ!

I have some thing I want to cover before I continue my blog.  There are certainly some things happening here right now.  A very good friend of mine from Thailand has what looks to be a detached retina.  He’s right now getting some tests done to see for sure what the problem is…if you look this up on the net you quickly realize that this is a very serious situation.  Not long ago he has a serious medical situation that nearly took his life and I really want these things to pass…I truly feel for him…please keep him in your prayers.

Further news on the trip for late this summer.  We are throwing around several options…some quite unexpected.  Africa and the prospects to go there are looking more and more bleak…direct flights from America to Ghana stopped in ‘08 so that complicates things and even flights from Holland are prohibitively expensive.  The good news is that we contacted a friend of ours that has several good contacts on Scotland so that opens potential to visit there…I remain excited to see how things will work out.

I have no pictures for the next part of my story.  Truth be told it was a dark and difficult time…the last thing I wanted to do was spend my time taking pictures around Manila.  Our tour rapped up in Mindanao and the bulk of our friends from America went home.  Lovely had made it clear she wanted children but for me I wanted to wait at least a year.  It didn’t take long before it became clear that she was going to have her way.  I felt that it would actually make things easier to get things expedited.  Now that we were married and pregnant they would surely see the reason it was important to get to America right?

Mom and a few others stayed with us as we went to the embassy to get our papers in order.  Let me say that visiting the US embassy in other countries is an experience I wouldn’t wish on anyone.  There are hundreds of people hired to make entry nearly impossible.  They seem all too willing to waste your time and send you in the wrong direction.  Hundreds of people stand in line from dusk ‘till dawn usually to find that after hours in line was wasted and thus are sent to another line where they find out once again they’re in the wrong place.  We found ourselves outside in the heat of the day, Lovely very pregnant at point and it was not fun. 

We stood in line for some time…boredom takes it’s toll.  I watched the many venders that seemed to make their living selling things to the people in line exclusively.  I was preoccupied with this and so maybe that’s why I didn’t notice the woman that approached us and soon was right next to us.  I quickly noticed that she must be quite insane.  She had wild eyes and torn and dirty clothing.  She was ranting in broken English about things that made no sense but when she reached us her eyes locked on us and she said in perfect English:  “You will never get out of this country!”  It was very upsetting and I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was very demonic and I hoped that it wasn’t prophetic.

We finally made it inside and after much difficulty found the windows where you are interviewed and given a visa.  It took very few minutes for them to realize that Lovely and I were married…therefore the possibility of getting a fiancé visa was impossible and we had to enter a far more difficult process to get a different kind of visa.  I felt like I had just been kicked in the stomach.  Mom and the others had to leave since their time on their visas was running out…mine was too but I would not leave Lovely.  I would get an extension…a process that is also difficult but I made a good friend there that helped me get my papers taken care of for another six months…not easy and it was done at a cost but I felt it worth it.

Going to the hotel that night I felt like I was about to be left in a very bad place with my new wife…this was not the same as Davao where we had friends and family.  The good news is that we did have one relative here that happened to be colonel in the army who would let us stay with him…remember my ghost story?  This was the house we be staying…joy, joy.  Mom tried to comfort us but it didn’t even touch me…I didn’t know if we’d ever get out of here and the baby was on the way..,.I didn’t want us to have to have our first baby here.

We approached the embassy again and unbelievably the man we talked to was incredibly hostile.  He said:  “Are you guys Christians?”  We told him we were and to that he replied that he would do everything he could to see us never leave to America….we were all stunned.  We reported his conduct to the Consulate General but they were all about denials and blame shifting…we were screwed and I knew it.  There are only two that give interviews for the visa we needed and this guy that just made it his mission to stop us was one of the ones that gave such interviews.

Mom left with our friends and I tried to be strong for Lovely though my heart was low as it’s ever been.  Andy tried to help us and there were some American missionaries that promised to help…they stayed in a fancy end of town and assured me that I had nothing to worry about because they knew a Filipino brigadier general and would put in a good word for me…the US embassy had to be laughing when they said they couldn’t care less about what Filipino general said what…they have no authority with US embassy proceedings…of course they were right.  By this time everyone in the States that knew us was praying for us.  The biggest help eventually came from our friends in North Carolina who knew someone that knew then president Clinton and then senator Strom Thermund. 

Lovely and I frantically tried to do what needed to be done to be accepted for the interview though we knew it was a long shot to say the least.  Bumpy roads…low money which meant we starved often enough quite literally…medical tests that I questioned the need for at all on Lovely…high stress with relatives that didn’t want us staying with our uncle Colonel Chung who endlessly hammered us…all of it made me have a very real and credible fear over Lovely and the baby she was carrying.

We spent our time at home talking to the baby…who would kick when we would put music nearby…this was what kept our spirits up.  Finally we had to get an ultrasound.  Clinics there were much different then what we’re used to.  I remember sitting in the waiting room…no dads are allowed to stay with their wife..it’s very old fashioned…they still keep everything very clinical and everyone wears white…it’s intimidating..I’m glad they don’t do that here any more.  I sat there anxiously waiting and a huge rat ran across the floor and I felt such a terrible feeling…I couldn’t stay here…I hat to get Lovely to America…this is an American citizen in her womb…the baby deserves the best treatment and surroundings our medical care can provide…it was like being claustrophobic and being trapped in a tiny room…I felt smothered by the stress.  Lovely came out clutching the ultrasound results…we were both so sure she was carrying a boy…we both had chosen a name:  Michael…the archangel…the messenger of God…hopefully the harbinger of the blessing of God….but the ultrasound said we were expecting a little girl!  We figured it was likely wrong…heh…imagine them thinking we’re having a girl!

Days passed…stress never left us but finally the day arrived for our interview..we brought our love letters…proving we’d known each other for longer then a year.  Since the Philippines is on the threat list for fraudulent marriages these things were necessary…never mind we didn’t fit that stereo type at all…I wasn’t twenty years older than my teenage wife…but I digress.  We stood anxiously in line seeing two doors…one with our enemy the other with a man we didn’t know giving interviews…randomly the door you go through is chosen…we were both terrified.  Finally we were the first in line…and…we got the door of someone different!  It was a young man who I immediately liked.  He looked over our paperwork and then his eyebrows raised and he looked at me and said:  “I don’t know who you know but we don’t do things like this…”  Apparently someone high up in government had cleared us and waived the normal formalities…I know there maybe bad things said about the senator that was then over North Carolina but I owe him a great debt!  We were cleared…stamps we put on our passports and we were clear at last!

I can’t explain the long days and nights to get things done…nor can I accurately express the huge debt I owe to our friends in North Carolina…nothing I could ever say or type would do it justice.  Lovely was so pregnant that the airlines didn’t want to let us through…Andy was coming with us and he got his papers easy enough but they were worried about Lovely giving birth in the plane.  Colonel Chung had his personal doctor sign a slip saying we were safe to fly so we went to the airport as soon as we could only to be stopped at the door by Filipino customs agents.  They said that our papers were not in order…I stood up to them and said they absolutely were in order and we were boarding that plane…he must have thought I meant it because he left us alone threatening that they would stop us in the US…just wait and see.

Finally we made it on the plane and were soon to land in Seattle.  I had the guards words ringing in my ears.  Customs was no trouble for Lovely and I but they quickly grabbed Andy and took him away…I couldn’t believe it!  I followed security and asked why they were taking him…they informed me that if I didn’t get out of their way I would find myself in jail for hindering and investigation!  I approached the airline desk and asked for help but they said that they tried to intervene before and had threats to have their licenses pulled if they got involved it felt like being in a communist country! 

I called home frantically and they were praying in a big way yet again.  About one hour before the plane would leave Andy came around the corner smiling.  He said that they accused him of having a false passport.  His had been damaged in a flood in Davao and they thought it was fake…they threatened him and said that he must admit that it was fake but Andy said he was a minister and wouldn’t lie.  Finally they thoroughly examined it and found him to be right…no apology, no excuse me…they just let him go…we wearily boarded the plane and headed home…I felt that I had aged about twenty years….

Marriage was something I’d waited for my whole life, I knew it meant a huge change but I had some healthy attitudes about it before I ever made it this far.  I didn’t want a slave or a baby factory, not some toy I could dominate.  I wanted someone fiery and independently confident in themselves as a person.  I wanted someone that would be my very best friend whom I could love and be loved by in return.  I was ready sacrifice things as they were before and open my life up for this person.  Lovely fit this description perfectly. 

Many people came from America to this wedding.  We had a large group that sang and would tour around the Philippines and attend our wedding.  We fit the final preparations for the wedding and the tour together…it was challenging but exhilarating.  My dad came along and that added more challenge.  He has no experience in third world nations at all and was not involved in the whole process but still found energy to be very difficult throughout the final stages.  He had a big blow up the night before the wedding…I was already on pins and needles for many reasons but this was about all I could take.  The rehearsal went badly for me the day before…I blew all of my lines and couldn’t focus…I was really disgusted with myself and this was the icing on the cake.

I was so glad that I chose to wear a Filipino barong instead of a tux or the heat would have likely caused me to faint on the big day .  Looking down the aisle could be pretty intimidating…I couldn’t believe all the people that were there and still filtering in .  I wondered if I’d blow my lines when it was the real deal.  Strangely as the entourage started to show up I felt my nerves begin to settle .  There was no reason for it that I could explain…it just felt so right.  I even enjoyed the little kids coming in that were involved…just too cute! 

Finally, at long last Lovely and her mother arrived and my heart skipped a beat …I could see nothing else but us being together forever.  I made it through the entire service without blowing it at all…there were several things included in the ceremony and I had ample time to screw up but it went smoothly…I almost forgot to show respect and bless the stand in for Lovely’s father but Andy frantically told me to “bless….bless Dong!” So I recovered and did that before it was too embarrassing!  Finally it was done and we were married at last. 

Several pictures followed before we went to the reception hall.  Surprisingly my dad bawled like a baby for his part of the ceremony so I just didn’t have much heart to be angry with him and with Lovely near me, I just didn’t care anymore about the night before.  This is Lovely and I with my parents .  I felt that all the Americans there gave it the perfect flavor…not just two people but two nations were coming together here . 

The reception hall was the stuff of dreams to me…Lovely was more than irritated with the gate crashers but I had expected that to a degree.  Mom and dad were dancing here…later we all had our share at dancing.  I have many other pictures but this is a taste of things.  The cake was many tiers and was a work of art…I loved it all!

Lovely and I spent several days at a five star hotel resort and it was a time I’ll never forget as long as I live.  Honey moons like all good things come to an end.  We finished up our concerts and soon we were on our way to Manila to finish the paperwork necessary to get Lovely to America…neither of us had any idea of the difficulties ahead…how could we have known?