Adoption Update

April 23rd and 24th we will be attending an adoption workshop. I'm not sure what all it will involve, but I'll let you know after we get back. This is the next step in our process. After that will be the home study. Michael's mom is coming up at the beginning of May to help us get the house ready. I'm sure there will be some more smaller steps along the way, but as far as the big stuff goes, after the home study we wait. Thanks for your prayers as we follow God's leading in this journey. We love you.

Family

I realized on this family vacation that good family are like good friends - it doesn't matter what length of time or what distance separate us, when we do finally get back together we just pick up where we left off. I was very blessed by time spent with family - the love, good feelings, encouragement, smiles, laughter and just time together were very nourishing to me.

I love and miss you all more than ever!

NEWS

I can't believe it's been a month since I've updated! Sorry, guys. Michael and I are on vacation with his family right now (more about that on another post). The news I wanted to share happened before vacation. Michael and I sent in our completed adoption application! They have already sent out stuff to all of our references. Once they get responses back from that we will have to go to a workshop and be certified as foster parents then we will have to have a home study. After that we pay the big bucks and wait, but all of that is in God's hands. We are already waiting and praying for our baby(s) and the birth mother (we don't know who she is yet, but God does) - and waititng and praying :) Thanks for joining us in the waiting and praying. Love you guys!

Encouragement in the midst of struggle

I just wanted to share with you today two very encouraging words of Scripture and the difficult passages they come in the midst of.

"The joy of the Lord is your strength."

This verse actually comes from Nememiah (not Psalms, like I thought.)
The people have returned from exile and the wall around the city has been completed. Ezra has gathered the people together and read to them the whole law. The people are mourning over their sin and weeping. This is when Nehemiah tells them, "Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength" Ch 8 verse 10 - In the midst of realizing their sin and disobedience the people are reminded that it is joy in their Lord that will provide them the strength to be obedient.

"This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."

I discovered the context of this verse when I decided it was high time I knew the "address" for this verse I was trying to get in the habit of repeating to myself every morning. It is from the Psalms - 118:24 This is one of the Psalms historians say was repeated during the Passover meal - it was probably used during the Last Supper when Jesus presided over the Passover meal with His disciples. This verse is preceded by two others vs. 22-23 "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Check out the rest of the Psalm and consider how amazing it is for our Lord to speak these words to His disciples fully knowing what they meant and declare rejoicing and gladness in the face of His impending crucifixion! Apparently the joy of the Lord was His strength also.

So rejoice in the Lord despite your circumstances today and rest in the strength that joy provides.

We're getting a roommate!

No, it's not inside pet, he's a real person. And it's all our parents fault! How could that be? We were both raised by parents who believed it was their job to minister to others with what God had given them - even their house. As elementary school girls, my sisters and I were blessed by the single women who lived in our extra bedroom. What a great influence and source of fun they were. As high school- and college-aged kids, Michael and his sister Kellie were able to experience sharing their home with both men and women who needed a place to live. We now have the opportunity to share in that legacy. A young couple in our church are engaged and planning to live in this area, but Tyler now lives about 2 hours away. He's been looking for housing and a job but hasn't found either yet. Well, now he has found one, I guess. He'll be moving in this weekend until they get married this summer. This will let him go ahead and move here and also save up money for when they get married. We are excited to have him here and we are excited for their upcoming marriage.

Updates

OK, I do realize that 4 posts in one day is a bit excessive, but I thought it would be better to break them up a bit than to have one everlasting post. So now for some more current updates:

• this weekend through Monday highs did not make it out of the negatives! When I drove to work on Monday at 9 am the temperature was -15! It's a little warmer today (like +15) but is supposed to go back down by the weekend
• I was sick this weekend and did nothing for two days while it snowed and the temperature fell. The fever is gone, but I still have a monster cold
• The church is in the process of purchasing a trailer to place on our property to add more Sunday School room and a place for the youth to call their own
• While I was sick on Saturday and the temperature was plummeting, Michael went hunting. He stayed warm and brought home ducks, but he also slammed Haddie's tail in the truck door and now it's broken. We'll have to wait and see if she is ever able to wag it again :(
• And last but not least - Michael performed his first baptism! One of the kids in AWANA got saved and Michael did the baptism service at AWANA so all the kids could see.

Keep reading "previous" posts to see what else we've been up to this Fall.

I did it!

I got my deer! Her name was Jane (Doe, get it?) After we got back from vacation Michael and I went out one Saturday morning around 7 am and she was hanging in the garage by 10:30 am. That includes draging her back to the truck for about a mile.
For those of you unfamilliar with hunting photography, usually the gun is placed in the antlers of the dead animal while the hunter proudly holds up the head. We forgot the camera when we went hunting and Jane has no antlers, so. . . Anyway, if you're ever hungry for a Jane burger or some Jane steaks, come on over