Just Stuff

Ok, so last week we got the news that we were approved to become adoptive parents. The next day we went to Rundle Park for a walk'n talk about how our lives were going to change in a big way. One of the things we felt we needed to do was to get the bedroom ready for our little one. The room we were going to use was at the moment Angel's crafting room, which we knew was eventually going to become a child's bedroom should we become parents. There was just one problem though; we were kinda broke at the moment. Well, sort of - we had some money saved in the bank but that was for a rainy day, and these days there's a lot of clouds on the horizon. But, I said to myself, don't worry because God will provide for all our needs. Little did I know how soon those needs would be provided for.

The very next day I got an e-mail from my sister-in-law Wanda-Lee. Now bear in mind here that we hadn't said a word about anything other than our facebook update on being approved, so no one knew that we wanted to furnish the bedroom - let alone have money issues concerning that very idea. In a nutshell we had received an offer for some donated furniture; specifically my niece Bethany's old captain's bed, dresser and desk. "Would you be interested in having them?" the e-mail said. Obviously we leaped at accepting this generous offer. We knew that anything Palle & Wanda-Lee bought was nice stuff, so we wrote back and made arrangements to have the furnishings delivered for the following Saturday.

Now here's the character development part of this story: we had to move a fair bit of stuff around our home to make room for the furnishings, and what couldn't be kept would be thrown out or donated to the local thrift store. It's amazing how we cling to the stuff we have, but in the end it's just stuff. However some of that stuff has sentimental value; for instance we parted with a stereo I had since I was 15 years old. It was bought with money that I received from my maternal grandparents in Denmark, and it cost $300. Now $300 back in 1985 was a lot of money, and it was a good quality stereo. Also it was a reminder to me of my trip to Denmark in '85, which was the last time I saw my grandparents before they died. However the stereo had fallen into disuse; in other words I wasn't spinning LPs like I was a teenager anymore. So, practicality won over sentimentality.

The other character development part of this story had to do with the ensuing chaos that resulted from moving all our stuff around. I agonized over how this piece of furniture didn't look right in its new spot, and lamented how things couldn't have just stayed where they were. If only we had one extra bedroom!! Seriously, I am the kind of person who lives by the creed, "A place for everything and everything in its place." I would look at how we arranged something and say, "I hate it there," or get frustrated when I found that something didn't fit in the new space I had thought would work out well. But I realized there was a bigger problem; if I'm this way when we're simply moving things around, how am I going to handle the potential chaos that will come with parenthood? I had to remind myself of what was really important, keep telling myself that once the dust settles we would get that cozy feeling of home again, and that in the end it's all just stuff.

I do have to say that through it all there was one area of the house that I didn't hate. In fact I absolutely loved it, and that was our child's bedroom. In spite of the fact that it felt a little small I was so taken by the notion of a little one who would one day be sleeping in the pine bed now sitting where a filing cabinet and bookshelf once were. I also thought back to our renovation days when we were getting ready to move into our home. Angel & I had written Bible verses on the floors of each room before the carpet was laid, and in the child's bedroom we had selected Psalm 127:3: "Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him." So, now the room is ready. All we have to do now is wait for our reward.


We would like to thank everyone involved in the donation and moving of this marvelous furniture. Angel & I are so blessed to be a part of a caring and generous family. Whoever we adopt is going to hit the jackpot with having so many loving uncles, aunts, cousins and grandparents. And thank you Jesus for being our reward and provider of all good things, including the reward of being a family one day.

Big Stuff

The mail came early this Friday morning; I should know as I don't go to work on Fridays. One of the letters had the return address for Alberta Child and Family Services... I opened the letter which read the following:

"Mr. & Mrs. Nicolajsen: I am pleased to advise you that your application to adopt was approved effective April 24, 2009."

We are now officially going to be adoptive parents! I was so surprised to hear back so quickly from the government, considering the time line we were told to expect. The first thing I did was call Angel at work to tell her the news. Needless to say she was more than happy, and the first thing she did was e-mail her boss notifying him that we had been approved and would need to look into adjusting her hours once we have a placement. The second thing I did was update my facebook status, which now says, "Hendrick and his beautiful wife Angel are OFFICIALLY approved to be adoptive parents!! Now the wait begins..." And so it does. I feel a sense of excitement and anticipation, and that sometime in the future our lives will be drastically altered. The timing of the letter is funny, as I had a dream last night about having adopted a son. In the dream he was having a hard time adjusting to having new parents, and I was simply giving him a listening ear. Prophetic? Maybe...

So needless to say big stuff is happening in our lives; we've taken the next step in the journey towards parenthood. The letter stated that we would be hearing from an adoption/permanency worker to talk about what happens next, which is something I really appreciate. There's a level of communication and support that wasn't there 10 years ago when we went through the adoption process the first time. In the meantime we've got some preparing to do, as we need to start changing the physical layout of our home in order to make space for a little one. Not only do we need to make space in our home but in our lives as well; for Angel that means her hours at work will change once we get a placement, and for me that means I need to get school out of the way.


Which brings me to some more big stuff... It's been a while in coming, but after months of thinking, praying and talking with people I've made a decision. I've decided to become involved in pastoral ministry again. Yes, you read right, I'm getting back on the horse again. Well, not quite yet. As I mentioned I need to get school out of the way first, as I've learned the value of doing a few things well. A number of things led me to this decision, one of which was my convocation at Prairie. Something seemed to click for me there that was, I suppose, the final little nudge in this direction I was already heading in.

I guess I've come to accept that like it or not, whether I want it or not, God has wired me for pastoral ministry. I don't know if it'll be vocational, as much as it needs to be if I'm going to have the time to do it well. But I now realize that Calvary is my ministry field and not just the place where I was doing my training. So it'll start small by getting involved in prayer ministry (which won't happen until the fall) and getting back on the teaching team, which won't happen until the new year. There's still a part of me that says, "Are you nuts?" But that's another blog entry, which I'll think about writing another day. In the meantime I have papers to write and furniture to move.

Big stuff. What an understatement...