Tri for Hope, Sacrifice with purpose...

Buried in my brain I have the remnants of a story, I am not sure where it was from. There was a fella watching another fella running full speed into a brick wall. Over and over... As expected the brick wall didn't crack, crumble, or fall. So the spectator asked, why do you keep running into that wall, you know you cant knock it down that way. The reply, "I run into the brick wall, because I can".

So its a silly little thought, that story, but it illustrates my point. Most people can do just about anything if they set their minds to it. A few years ago I would have never thought I would be able to swim 1.2 miles, follow it up with a 56 miles bike ride, and then top it off with a 13.1 mile (1/2 marathon) run. People have all sorts of reasons for doing what they do, even that fella running into the brick wall. For me, simply put, "because I can" is just not good enough. Not any more anyway.

Traveling through terribly impoverished areas in Belize, Guatemala, Peru, Ecuador (and soon Ethiopia), has transformed me. We, in the United States, have so much. So much transportation, electricity, communication, TV. So much food. So much water. We are so blessed, and I suspect that many cannot even see it.

If I were born in Ethiopia, I could expect to die within the next 10years. The average male lives to be only 48 years old. 48!!

I probably cannot change the entire world. Although through Team World Vision Chicago and its efforts to help the poorest of the poor in Zambia and Ethiopia, I can certainly help to touch the families in those communities. As a result of Team World Vision we have a sponsor child named Geremew in the Guraghe region of Ethiopia. We have improved that young boy's life.

My wife and I are very spiritual, and devote practicing Catholics. We believe that the Lord does work in mysterious ways, and through each of us. I also believe that if I lift up my Joys, Gifts, Works, and my sufferings to the Lord for others, he will indeed help them.

So am I ready for this weekend? You bet! Bring on the blood, sweat, and tears. I have been given Beyond Measure, its time to give back..

Peace
Ted


p.s. If you read this, and you have not yet contributed to TWV or sponsored me, won't you help? Any amount, even $25 can help to save a life. You can help by clicking below:

My Weekends Inspiration

Motivational Song for the weekend
"Beyond Measure" by Jeremy Camp.

The fog has finally cleared to see,
The beautiful life you've given me
To feel the breeze of my newborn's gentle breath
With one to walk hand in hand,
To share this life that you have planned
It's like a storybook with dreams
That are meant to see every next step is an extraordinary scene

I know that I've been,
Given more than beyond measure,
I come alive when,
I see beyond my fears
I know that I've been given more than earthly treasure,
I come alive when
I've broken down and given You control

I've faced a great tragedy,
But have seen the works of what You bring
A display of faith that You give,
I don't know if I will ever understand
The depth of what it is You've done inside,
But I know that I won't find any worth apart from You

I know that I've been,
Given more than beyond measure,
I come alive when,
I see beyond my fears
I know that I've been given more than earthly treasure,
I come alive when
I've broken down and given You control

Everything that I have
Has been given so unselfishly
And shown that even when I don't deserve
You always show the fullness of Your love

I know that I've been,
Given more than beyond measure,
I come alive when,
I see beyond my fears
I know that I've been given more than earthly treasure,
I come alive when
I've broken down and given You control
When I've broken down and given You control

All quiet on the Western front...

Its been a whirlwind for me the past week or so. So much is happening all around. So lets just jump on in...(the water's great!)

The Dossier Blitzkrieg has begun. Jodie and I have split up the documents we are to collect to fulfill our dossier requirements. The dossier is a collection of personal, medical, financial, and miscellaneous documents that get translated and sent to the Ethiopian government. I guess one way to look at it is this, someone in the Ethiopian government will look at this collection of documents on us and determine if we are not only worthy of being parents, but being parents for an Ethiopian child. Amidst work being busy, training for the BIG race this weekend, we are pushing through the document collection quickly. Hence the phrase "Dossier Blitzkrieg"

Work has had me slammed, but I am still gainfully employed, so no reason to say much else there except that its been a tough juggling act these past few weeks.

The BIG race.. is now just 3 short days from now. In fact by this time Sunday, I'll probably be in the middle of my 1.2 mile swim. The shin splints are mostly gone, and I am feeling reasonably well rested. I am as ready as I'll ever be. I'm excited. I'm inspired. Crazy as it sounds though, not because of the personal experience of this all. At least for this morning, I'm feeling really good that what I'm doing, with Team World Vision, is helping to make a BIG difference. And its so great that I have the ability to do this (race) not for myself, but as I said in the "Welcome Message" for something "Greater". More to come tomorrow about the race and how I'm doing going into it.

Before I go, I wanted to share a quote that a friend from our local fitness center shared with me (Thanks!!), and how true (and relevant) it is..

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of WILL ! - Vince Lombardi

The paperwork frenzy can offically begin!

Hubby informed me yesterday that we received three wonderful pieces of mail (thank you kind postal worker!). Two of which were our fingerprint appointments for USCIS (Yah!) and one was a large envelope from AAI with our Dossier Packet (Double Yah!!!). It was a great mail day indeed. After a stress filled meeting last night, I was geared up to unwind in front of the computer and dive right in to the paperwork (until way past my bedtime). Ironically, the stress fill meeting involved discussions regarding the critical path for a construction project which didn't go in the direction I felt was necessary to accomplish the goal. I understand from the wealth of experience on AAI's forum, that the critical path in the dossier packet is the state certifying of two documents. Now there is something I can move forward on. With hubby busy at work and preparing for the big race, I am hopeful we can move these two documents along quickly and then focus on the others in the next few weeks.

On a side note, our little guy has moved on from sleeping under the bed to sleeping on the futon. It is a small accomplishment as he is actually on something as opposed to under something. I am starting to wonder if tomorrow we will find him in a dresser drawer.

Extreme Home Makeover quote

This past week on Extreme Home Makeover (from the Green Bay Wisconsin area), there was a quote from a Father who was stricken down (quite suddenly) by cancer. Ty and the gang, as a part of the extreme makeover, built a large stone bench with this quote from the father:

There's a lot of things to think about, but nothing to worry about.
- Matt Koepke

That quote just hits home. As Jodie and I ponder the possibility of (possibly large delays) in the USCIS processing of our I-171H form, I am hoping that we can keep the mindset that this process is moving at the Lord's pace, an not necessarily ours. And if we should encounter delays, however difficult they might be, that we can look for the blessings in them. Like more time to prepare our son, our home, our family, to prepare ourselves.

We would love for our adoption process to be smooth sailing all the way through, and have our second child home soon. Your prayers can not only help to make that happen, but even if this adoption does begin to stretch out, our family can be strengthened through your prayers and support.

Peace...

We have just one life...

Why all the biking, all the running, all the swimming? Why bother with all the sacrifice? What can a few measly dollars do to help anyone anyway? The problem is just to big. Right?

I recall a story told in church one day about a little girl that was on a beach with her father. The beach was full of countless starfish that had washed ashore. The young girl was picking them up and throwing them back. Her father watched as she proceeded to throw the starfish back, one at a time. Then the father said, "You know honey that with so many starfish, you are not really going to make a difference". As the daughter picked up another starfish and threw it back into the water she replied with "it made a difference to that one".

That is what this is Team World Vision effort is about. If nothing else it is about helping one person at time. I've discovered this World Vision video that expresses the need in a way I could never hope to.

The Campers Return

We are back from a wonderful camping weekend with our World Wide Marriage Encounter Community! We had a beautiful weekend weather-wise and enjoyed some quality time with family and friends. The little guy is quite the outdoors-man, busy busy all weekend, collecting rocks, meeting new people and even trying the penguin dance (which was priceless and sent the crowd into an uproar). Needless to say, after the big weekend, he slept the whole way home in the car and didn't make a peep when we put him to bed that night after a much needed hair cut.

The Ethiopian adoption process marches on. We received a draft of our homestudy today. It will be finalized soon and sent to USCIS as well as faxed to AAI for their review and approval. No dossier package as of yet, as Mary over at Owlhaven always says, "Time to start stalking the mailman!"

Unexpected Mail

After getting word from our homestudy agency last week that both our State Police clearance and our DCFS background check had been received and they were letting our social worker know that she could finish our homestudy update, we were shocked and surprised by another piece of wonderful news when a nice white envelope came in Monday's mail! We were so happy to see AAI's name of the return address and realized after we tore it open that the contract was enclosed. As I understand, this means we are off the waiting list to start our dossier, which is the document that we will put together that will be sent to Ethiopia. Once AAI receives our contract back, they will be sending us our dossier packet, then the paperchase really begins! We are very excited to be at this next step in the process and are hoping our homestudy arrives soon so that we can put our I-600A in the mail (that is a pre-application with USCIS to bring a foreign orphan into the US).

Needless to say, hubby and I spent last night completing the forms and hoping we signed and filled everything our correctly! (Go Fed-Ex man Go!)

If I were to describe our excitement, I would have to compare it to our 2 yr old's excitement when we pulled into the church parking lot last weekend and he yelled "Yahhhhh Jez" at the top of his lungs (that's "yah Jesus", for those of you that don't speak toddler babble). Yep, that's my sweet boy!

Whether Whether Whether Whether...

Inspirational Song for the Day:
Adapted from the "School House Polka Veggie Tales Song" © 2004 Bob and Larry Publishing

Whether, whether, whether, whether
Whether you like it or not
Weather, weather, weather, weather
Weather is cold, warm and hot.

Try, Try, Try, Try
Try everyday without waste!
Tri, Tri, Tri, Tri
Tri's will sure slim my waist!

Homophones! Homophones!
Where the daze from days of training brings the weal!
Homophones! Homophones!
I rode the road on a cycle with one flat wheel!

I hope you fare well at any local weekend fair!
Peace

The first Blow out..

I rode to work yesterday, and as I was about to head home I came to realize that my front tire was flat. Luckily I had both a patch kit, a spare tube, and two cannisters of compressed air (I don't carry a bike pump). That's the first time I've fixed a flat in, gosh, I can't even remember. Maybe since grade school or junior high. Rather than take my chances with the patch, I decided to just use the new tube. I was ..so.. thankful for having two cannisters of air, since the first had nothing left in it. In the end I made it home. I need to get that tire into the bike shop anyway. it seems like one of the spokes might be pushing a bit to much into the tape on the inside of the tire rim.

On another note, I've been getting comments from Jodie about how the temperature in Addis is always triple digits on the widget on the right hand side of this blog. I dont have an explanation why WeatherChannel.com can other report 113 degrees, while AccuWeather and other report close to 80 degrees. Either way, I changed the widget to use AccuWeather. Maybe Addis is not as hot as Jodie and I were thinking? We're checking into it.