We are now on Day 35 of a water crisis here in Panama... (read more)
My dad forwarded me an interesting article from the Wall Street Journal about Assembling the Global Baby and how to "assemble" one. It is a must-read, even mentions Panama! Just click on the title and it will link you to the article. But read it with a warning, it is one that most likely will not sit well with you. I had NO idea the lengths people are going to today in order to get a baby. This is sad on multiple layers, the glaring one is that this "assembling" is especially bad considering the thousands of children needing homes right this minute all over the world... the sick and lonely, the forgotten ones. Adoption has become so difficult, with all the red tape and bureacracy and "restrictive laws", that people are going to such great lengths as mentioned in this article. Why is adoption so difficult today??? Mind-boggling. What has happened to the world as we knew it? (Click to continue reading)
Matt had been looking high and low, all over Panama, for potential orphanage sites. We finally thought we had narrowed it down to a site outside of Boquete in the Chiriqui province, near the town of Volcan. Most of you know that Ari works with us under HCCM. She came with her son, Josh. Also, our dear friends Jana and Luigi came, along with their kids Aryelle and Levi (and doggy Bibi). And we brought our doggy Jake. We tracked up to the mountains in a caravan of 2 cars, for the 6+ hour drive. It was definitely worth the trip. We were able to rule out several of the locations, as Matt and our friend Rodrigo were able to determine that the locations would not serve an orphanage site for various reasons. Yet it was worthwhile to get to know the area better, establish contacts so that when future land developments arise they will inform us, and also to spend time together as a group (as we have been seeking the Lord as possibly being foster parents on the site.) See our Gallery section under Hunt for Orphanage Sites for a few pictures from this weekend.
Well, Matt and I returned to Panama the first week in January. What a whirlwind it was! We are truly thankful the Lord allowed us to return home for Christmas and for all the events that were ahead of us. Little did we know what was to come... It all started the first week in December, when we received the call that Matt's father had taken a turn for the worse. His dad, Dillon Hedspeth, had been battling with ALS for 7 years. Before we left for the big move to Panama (in October), he was in the same stable condition (on a respirator, traecheotomy and feeding tube, unable to move almost every muscle - but stable). We were shocked to hear that he was doing worse, as he had been stable for so many years. We changed our flight ASAP and went back to Raleigh. The flight back was a fiasco due to a 3 hour delay and we literally had to RUN thru the airport in Miami- as the lady told us to run and don't stop. We did. At one point I literally told Matt to "Go on without me" b/c I didn't think I could make it :) Now it seems kind of funny, but not at the time. So, we made it back.