Since my last post on foster parenting our computer stopped working and we have recently been able to have it fixed. I had written two additional posts on foster parenting, which unfortunately were not recovered. I will write them again and will post them as soon as I'm able to.
Brief update on foster parenting- We are finished with our training and paperwork, however we did not pass the radon test. Radon is an odorless gas that causes cancer that comes from the soil. It is specially high in this area from what we've been told by our FDS worker. Our levels came in at 5.8 and the maximum allowed is 4.0. We have retested twice, but unfortunately were not able to get a good reading and so we are working through this. The good news is that it is treatable and the levels can be brought down. The bad news is that it is expensive to treat and it will cause a delay in being licensed. Please pray for us as we are awaiting the results of the last test any day now!
Also we are getting ready to visit my dad next Wednesday for a week. We are very excited to spend some time with him! And this will be his first time meeting Palmer :)
Venezuela
Monday April 15th was not a good day.
It was sad because of the Boston bombing and the families that lost loved ones that day.
And it was sad because the result of the presidential election for Venezuela was released. Two presidential candidates were in the running: One a socialist Nicolas Maduro which would continue with the socialist regime of the previous president Hugo Chavez. The other one Henrique Capriles, a young 40 something year old with hopes to take the country in a new direction.
It's been hard to watch my beautiful homecountry of Venezuela steadily decline for the last fifteen years. I so long to go back and visit. I wish my family and friends wouldn't have to endure the uncertainty of living in an unstable economy. You can google Venezuela right now and you would find endless articles of Venezuela being at the brink of a civil war.
During the last fifteen years president Hugo Chavez has been president.
I still remember the day Hugo Chavez attempted to take over the democratic government in a coup d'état back in 1992. I was 10 years old at the time, sitting in our apartment, which was on the 16th floor of our building overlooking the city. I looked out the window to see military armed men patrolling the streets, alarming everyone to go back inside their homes. Suddenly the TV channels went black, and Hugo Chavez came on to give a speech that would change history.
* Source: http://profesor-daniel-alberto-chiarenza.blogspot.com/2013/02/4-de-febrero-1992-rebelion-de-hugo.html
In his speech he admitted defeat and took responsibility for the events of that day. He gave such a good speech that he began to be viewed as a martyr and praised by the Venezuelan people.
He failed to overtake the government that day and was sentenced to jail for life. Two years later he was granted a presidential pardon and was allowed to run for president in the next election. Oh how different things would've been had this pardon never taken place!
He was elected to president in 1998 and ruled until he passed away earlier this year. Whether I agree with his policies is not relevant in this post, and I could go on and on that subject. But since then the economy of Venezuela has steadily declined. Back then it only took only 4 Bolivares to buy $1.00. Today it takes over 3,000 bolivares to buy $1.00.
Back then large international companies were based in Caracas, Venezuela. Each one representing hundreds of jobs. Each job providing for a family. And today most of them have left.
A good example is the Latin-American headquarters Coca-Cola had in Caracas, Venezuela. (I'm going off in a little tangent here). Brent Willis (pictured below) was in charge of running that office. Years later he would become CEO of Cott Beverages based in Tampa, Florida.
I worked for Cott for a few years and would look forward to his company-wide speeches. I have sat through more CEO speeches than I care to count, and most of them are rehearsed, routine, and boring. Brent Willis was different. He never read off a paper.. He wasn't always politically correct, but he was always energetic and inspiring. I know he had good influence during his time in Caracas.
Less than six months of working at Cott, I attended their first formal Christmas party. This was a pretty big deal as we went offsite, listened to a band and got to bring our spouses. I was surprised to find out when we got there that we had been assigned to sit in Brent Willis's table. It was such a fun night chatting it up with our CEO and two other VPs.
Brent Willis either thought I had a bright future in the company or he wanted to talk about Venezuela. I'm definitely going to go with the latter of the two.
http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2008/08/18/story6.html?page=all
Willis comes to Kmart from The Coca-Cola Company, where he was President of one of their major divisions based in Latin America. In that senior-level position, Willis was the architect of Coca-Cola's turnaround in Venezuela, during which 50 years of competitive brand dominance was reversed. Coca-Cola now leads in Venezuela with near 70 percent market share versus only 10 percent in 1996.
Source: http://www.searsholdings.com/pubrel/kmart/pressrelease/2000/news/pr001204.htm
Today my beautiful homecountry of Venezuela feels empty and forgotten in some ways. In April 15th, Maduros was elected and he will continue with the socialist views previously carried out by Hugo Chavez.
Please pray for this beautiful contry! That it would one day flourish again, that jobs would come back, that it would be a safe place to travel to. Please pray that more missionaries would be led to minister there and bring hope to a very broken community.
It was sad because of the Boston bombing and the families that lost loved ones that day.
And it was sad because the result of the presidential election for Venezuela was released. Two presidential candidates were in the running: One a socialist Nicolas Maduro which would continue with the socialist regime of the previous president Hugo Chavez. The other one Henrique Capriles, a young 40 something year old with hopes to take the country in a new direction.
 |
| Capriles |
It's been hard to watch my beautiful homecountry of Venezuela steadily decline for the last fifteen years. I so long to go back and visit. I wish my family and friends wouldn't have to endure the uncertainty of living in an unstable economy. You can google Venezuela right now and you would find endless articles of Venezuela being at the brink of a civil war.
During the last fifteen years president Hugo Chavez has been president.
I still remember the day Hugo Chavez attempted to take over the democratic government in a coup d'état back in 1992. I was 10 years old at the time, sitting in our apartment, which was on the 16th floor of our building overlooking the city. I looked out the window to see military armed men patrolling the streets, alarming everyone to go back inside their homes. Suddenly the TV channels went black, and Hugo Chavez came on to give a speech that would change history.
 |
| A picture of his statement that day |
* Source: http://profesor-daniel-alberto-chiarenza.blogspot.com/2013/02/4-de-febrero-1992-rebelion-de-hugo.html
In his speech he admitted defeat and took responsibility for the events of that day. He gave such a good speech that he began to be viewed as a martyr and praised by the Venezuelan people.
He failed to overtake the government that day and was sentenced to jail for life. Two years later he was granted a presidential pardon and was allowed to run for president in the next election. Oh how different things would've been had this pardon never taken place!
He was elected to president in 1998 and ruled until he passed away earlier this year. Whether I agree with his policies is not relevant in this post, and I could go on and on that subject. But since then the economy of Venezuela has steadily declined. Back then it only took only 4 Bolivares to buy $1.00. Today it takes over 3,000 bolivares to buy $1.00.
Back then large international companies were based in Caracas, Venezuela. Each one representing hundreds of jobs. Each job providing for a family. And today most of them have left.
A good example is the Latin-American headquarters Coca-Cola had in Caracas, Venezuela. (I'm going off in a little tangent here). Brent Willis (pictured below) was in charge of running that office. Years later he would become CEO of Cott Beverages based in Tampa, Florida.
I worked for Cott for a few years and would look forward to his company-wide speeches. I have sat through more CEO speeches than I care to count, and most of them are rehearsed, routine, and boring. Brent Willis was different. He never read off a paper.. He wasn't always politically correct, but he was always energetic and inspiring. I know he had good influence during his time in Caracas.
Less than six months of working at Cott, I attended their first formal Christmas party. This was a pretty big deal as we went offsite, listened to a band and got to bring our spouses. I was surprised to find out when we got there that we had been assigned to sit in Brent Willis's table. It was such a fun night chatting it up with our CEO and two other VPs.
Brent Willis either thought I had a bright future in the company or he wanted to talk about Venezuela. I'm definitely going to go with the latter of the two.
http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2008/08/18/story6.html?page=all
Willis comes to Kmart from The Coca-Cola Company, where he was President of one of their major divisions based in Latin America. In that senior-level position, Willis was the architect of Coca-Cola's turnaround in Venezuela, during which 50 years of competitive brand dominance was reversed. Coca-Cola now leads in Venezuela with near 70 percent market share versus only 10 percent in 1996.
Source: http://www.searsholdings.com/pubrel/kmart/pressrelease/2000/news/pr001204.htm
Today my beautiful homecountry of Venezuela feels empty and forgotten in some ways. In April 15th, Maduros was elected and he will continue with the socialist views previously carried out by Hugo Chavez.
Please pray for this beautiful contry! That it would one day flourish again, that jobs would come back, that it would be a safe place to travel to. Please pray that more missionaries would be led to minister there and bring hope to a very broken community.
Foster Parenting I
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Steve and I are going through the process of becoming
certified foster parents. We prayed about it for many months before making this decision. This post is a little background of how it all started.
Will be posting two more entries on foster parenting:
Foster Parenting- II: Serving out of gratitude and not from guilt
Last fall we joined a couple’s bible study through our
church going over the book ‘Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God’.
The overall theme of the book was about how it would look like to put God first
in our lives above everything else. If God called us to leave the comfort of
our home to a far away land would we be obedient? If he called us to love on
the unlovable would we say yes? Would we be willing to let go of our most
prized possessions?
We were particularly challenged with the many times the
bible talks about caring for the poor, the orphans and the widows. On one
assignment we were asked to write down the poorest person we knew of that was a
part of our lives. And surprisingly the only person I could think of, had a
very nice house with a pool and drove an SUV.
Not that this was a bad thing and it is certainly not to pass on any
judgment, but it was a far cry from the poor described in the bible.
In our lives there was no naked person to clothe, no hungry
child to feed, no thirsty person to give a drink to. Well I thought, the only
way to find someone that poor I must travel to Africa on a mission trip! And
I certainly don’t want to do that with two little boys. Maybe later on in
life. I’m sure God will understand.
But we continued to pray about it for the remainder of the
fall. Something in our hearts was stirred and we truly wanted to figure out if
God was calling us to do something more (And although we have been involved
for years with Everyday Blessings, a foster facility in the area, we usually just go once a year on Andrew's birthday).
As a group we looked into different opportunities to serve-
I Matter Too, A Kids Place, The Woman’s Place, etc. For us to be
involved would mean giving up our Saturdays or time away from each other as a
family on a regular basis. And if anyone knows my husband they would know that
he is a big family man, and he wasn't ready to give this up. So we
continued to pray. Did we just need to sacrifice our time or was there
something else for us?
One night I had one of those lightbulb moments when I
often kept coming back to foster parenting. Was this really what we were being called to do? Ha! I thought. My
husband will never go for this. God if you want this to happen, you have some
serious work to do.
The following week while out on a date, I asked Steve what
he thought of the idea of foster parenting. And much to my surprise he was open to
it! We continued to pray about it for the next few months. And as of this
January 24th we began the process.
We know foster parenting is outside the box. We know there
is a risk in it. We understand these children don’t come from good family
backgrounds. That they have been neglected, heard and seen things they
shouldn’t have at their age, often not loved the way they should’ve been, and
perhaps even physically and/or emotionally abused. But at the end of the day, these children are not sexual predators that are going to hurt our family.
These children are longing to be loved, longing for stability, longing for
their biological parents, or perhaps just simply hungry. As we went through the
foster training, we went over several real life case studies where children are
just left to fend for themselves for days with little food or water. As it
turns out I don’t have to go all the way across the world to feed the hungry or
clothe the naked. They are right here, just a few miles away from our home.
We will start off with respite and short-term foster
parenting. We will be taking on children five or younger. Our two boys will
continue to be our number one priority, and I pray that they will be incredibly
blessed through being a part of this. We hope for opportunities to teach them
about serving Christ and loving others. We also hope that we will be a blessing to
those children coming through our doors, even if all we get to do is pray for
them during the time they are in our home.
We've finished with the training and are waiting on
some final paperwork (About 90-95% done) but it will probably still take another month or two before being licensed. We don't know how it will all work out or how long we'll do this for. It might be just for a season or for the rest of our lives, but we want to give a try and give it our best.
I am excited about starting this journey. I want to be out of my comfort zone. I want
to take a leap of faith not sure of how it’s all going to work out. I don’t
want to go through the 'motions', I want a life of adventure and taking risks when they should be taken. And I can’t wait to watch God come through and
do something far more incredible than I can imagine.
"He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger or temporary resident and gives him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger and sojourner, for you were strangers and sojourners..." Deuteronomy 10:18-19
"He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger or temporary resident and gives him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger and sojourner, for you were strangers and sojourners..." Deuteronomy 10:18-19
Will be posting two more entries on foster parenting:
Foster Parenting- III: The
impact of loving someone for a short time
Pictures of New House
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
We are VERY excited to have moved into our new house this week! As most of you know, we've been looking at buying a house for almost a year now and are excited to finally be done with the process (which was long and difficult at times). We both loved this home and just had a peace about moving forward from the beginning. Thank you to our family and friends for praying for us through this process and helping us with the move.
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| Different angle of kitchen (and will be taking those three lights down on the left!) |
The kitchen overlooks the family area, playarea, and backyard- It's a very open layout
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| My side of the closet |
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| Steve's side of the closet |
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| Back Porch |
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| Separate Countertops in master bedroom (selling point for Steve) |
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| Backyard |
These pictures were taken before moving in... right now we're unpacking the endless amount of boxes so the house is a wreck! Will post updated ones in a few weeks.
Thank you to all who helped us with the move. From watching the kiddos weeks in advance so we could pack, to helping us move on a short notice, and helping us with unpacking. We are blessed and so thankful!
I have a lot to blog about and very little time these days to write. As most of you know we're going through the process of becoming licensed foster parents (An adventure we're excited about while knowing it won't be an easy road). I have a couple of posts on this that I hope to get to soon.
Right now we're getting ready to leave for Breckenridge this Saturday for a week! Please keep us in your prayers for safety and health as we get ready to travel this weekend.
I've decided to close off comments from posts going forward. I appreciate all the sweet and thoughtful emails and comments, and if you'd really like to share something you can email me at carolbriggs@tampabay.rr.com. Ultimately God should get all the praise and glory for anything shared here!
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