Archive for May, 2007

weather/il tempo

Monday, May 28th, 2007

The current weather forecast is rain and thunderstorms for the entire time we are in Italy. Doesn’t make for good sightseeing. But last night at Daryl and Kayo’s send off to Cambodia, one of the brothers said that they shouldn’t fear the weather. I don’t know if that meant anything to them, but it did to me. Today I am reading in Jeremiah 10. Verse 12 and 13 say “He made the earth by His might, established the world by his wisdom, and by His understanding stretched out the skies. When He makes His voice heard, there is a rumbling of water in the skies; He makes the vapors rise from the end of the earth, He makes lightning for the rain, and brings forth wind from His treasuries.”

God makes the earth and stretches out the sky and he brings the rain. So if he wants it to rain, we won’t be afraid of the rain. Basically not a whole lot has been straightforward about this trip. There has been a lot more than I will reveal in this blog….. but through it all, God keeps clearing the obstacles. So rain or not, we are going to have a good time in Italy and may His will be done in our lives.

Il previsione attuale dice pioggia, rovesci e temporali per il nostro tempo in Italia. Non fa buon sightseeing. Ma ieri alla festa per Daryl e Kayo Record, i nostri amici che partono per Cambodia, un mio amico ha detto «non temere il tempo». Non so se questo aveva un significato per loro, però era quasi una profezia per me, perché dentro di me, mi preoccupavo moltissimo del maltempo. Non volevo che il nostro viaggio fosse rovinato per la pioggia. E oggi, ho letto questi versetti nella Bibbia, Geremia 10:12-13- «Il signore potente ha formato la terra, con la sapienza ha creato il mondo, ha disteso il cielo con la sua intelligenza. Al suo comando le acque si accumulano in cielo. Egli fa salire le nuvole dall’estremità della terra, scatena temporali con lampi e pioggia e sprigiona il vento impetuoso»

È fondamentale che il Signore ha creato il mondo ed è lui che comanda le acque. Allora se lui vuole che piova, non avremmo paura della pioggia. Non tanto di questo trasferimento- e pure questo viaggio- è stato facilissimo, ma……. nonostante Dio ancora rimuove ogni ostacolo. Che ce ne importa la pioggia? Andiamo all’Italia, ci godiamo, e la volontà del Signore sia fatto nelle nostre vite.

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the consulate called me today

Friday, May 25th, 2007

… Monica told me that she had checked with her contacts and she is convinced I don’t have a good chance of getting the citizenship without petitioning the courts in Italy to recognize it. I’m still holding out to see if they change thier minds once they see my original birth cert. But if things don’t change, then it looks like we’ll have to file a petition in Rome to have them recognize the adoption before we can get citizenship. This would seriously slow down the process…. 5-6 years.

Whatever God wants. Pray for me that we can figure out his will in this instance. But outside of some kind of intervention we will continue down the path even if it takes 5-6 more years till it happens. Lots can happen between now and then if indeed that is what he wants.

By next week this time we will be settling into bed our first night in Italy.

 dave

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some relief/un piccolo sollievo

Friday, May 18th, 2007

Talked to the state of California today. They had no record of my request, but the guy told me that they are inputting requests from 28 March today. That’s how far behind they are. It will likely be another 2 weeks then before my request is even entered into the system. That of course is when we are in Italy, so I’ll call when I get back. But at least I’m feeling a little better. Gives me some hope that it wasn’t lost, it just hasn’t been entered in.

Parlavo con lo stato della California oggi, e non esiste la mia richiesta per l’atto di nascita… ancora. Comunque l’impiegato mi diceva che oggi entrano le richieste di 28 marzo. Il lavoro è così in arretrato. Allora saranno probabilmente due settimane di più prima che la mia richiesta sia entrata nel sistema. A quel punto saremo in vacanza, poi chiamerò di nuovo quando tornerò. Almeno sento meglio. Ho ormai un po’ di speranza che la richiesta non era persa in transito, ma è probabile che sia solo in attesa d’essere entrata. 

 

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some good news/buone notizie

Thursday, May 17th, 2007

I just talked to the state of Michigan and they said mom’s birth cert with apostille should go out next week. I wasn’t even sure if they had gotten the thing, but thankfully thed did.

Today I started the tedious process of contacting California to find out if they even have my court order and request for the original birth cert. I have been checking my bank account online daily to see when they cash the check. Usually the states do this right away, but halfway through the average 12 week wait, they still haven’t cashed it. I’m hoping that doesn’t mean they never got it, but it wouldn’t surprise me.

Oh, and did I mention we are going to Italy in 2 weeks? ; )

 Ho appena finito di parlare con lo stato del Michigan, e mi ha detto che l’atto di nascita di mamma con apostille deve partire la settimana prossima. Io non sapevo se l’ha perfino ricevuto, ma grazie a Dio, non c’è nessun problema.

Oggi ho iniziato il processo di contattare lo stato della California per scoprire se ha ricevuto la mia richiesta per l’atto originale di nascita. Controllo ogni giorno il mio conto online per sapere se è stato versato l’assegno che ho mandato. Normalmente gli stati li versano subito, ma nel mezzo cammino dell’attesa [normale- 12 settimane] non c’è nessun segno di vita. Spero che questo non significhi che la mia richiesta si è persa, ma per dirvi la verità, non mi sorprenderebbe……

ma cambiando tema…. ci mancano solo due settimane più e siamo in volo per l’Italia!!!

 

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kind of an update

Thursday, May 10th, 2007

We are in a sort of holding pattern right now: waiting for documents, counting the days until the trip to Italy, etc. Here are a few updates for what is happening.

1. The birth cert request went to Sacramento and I will not get it back till mid July by thier reckoning. I have been checking my bank site to see if the state has cashed my check. after nearly 5 weeks, they still haven’t. That makes me nervous. I have had ALOT of things lost in the mail, and while I should have sent this registered or something like that, I didn’t. Well, why not? That was dumb! you might say… yeah, yeah, but it’s too late for that. I actually checked into sending it through UPS or FedEx, but since it was going to a PO box, they couldn’t do it. I should have checked with the USPS, but again too late for that. I just sent it through the mail. Anyway, if they don’t get it, I will have to petition the court again for another court order, so I can send it to Sacramento again…. all of these things take months at a time. I have about 10 months till my appointment at the consulate, but I need to submit the docs with an explanation to the consulate and see if I can get this adoption thing cleared up.

2. The adoption “thing”…. I am convinced that when the consulate officer mentioned adoptions to her contact in Rome, he didn’t understand the situation. Everyone I have talked to, including several Italian nationals that have adopted [as well as looking at various laws] states that the adoption should NOT be a problem in the way that they are saying. There is simply no reason for needing an italian court to recognize it. So…. once I get that original birth cert, then I will submit copies of the entire package to the consulate with a detailed explanation of the situation and let them research it a little more. At which point I am SURE that they will see a court petition as unnecessary. But as you can see, having one-of-a-kind court orders lost in the mail on the way to Sacramento slows the process down. I will have to wait until mid July before they will even answer my questions on the status of my request. If I have to wait 3 months just to find out they never got it, initiate the request again for another court order [another 6 months??] and then wait another 3 months before I can get the birth cert, then I am already out of time. I’m hoping the reason California hasn’t cashed my check yet, is that they have received it, but haven’t opened it or started processing it yet.

3. On the plus side, everything is now arranged and paid for with the upcoming Italy trip. Ronnie and Kristi are excited as well and I can’t wait either. “Non vedo l’ora” like the italians say. Literally translated it means “I don’t see the hour”…. but it actually means ‘I can’t wait’….. I don’t know why either, it just does!

Sorry I haven’t done more updates, but I wanted to have some real updates, not just reiterations of what you’ve already seen.

Well pray for the upcoming trip: safety, Kristi’s health while we are traveling- she has specific diet and medical needs that HAVE to be met, or we will have problems, spiritual insight to our situation and that God’s will in all of this will be further revealed. Pray for both Shelly and I and Ronnie and Kristi to hold firm and not be derailed by any attacks of the enemy.   

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