Here we go a caroling

Tonight we went caroling for the first time as a family. We went with our church. It was a wonderful night to go caroling.  It was chilly but not too cold (which was nice because of Bethany). Bethany passed out when we had 4 stops left So I st with her for most of those stops.  We all had a great time.

Nope I did not get pictures. But oh well.

Blessing #3 Singing with friends under the stars.
My blessing that I am choosing for the day occurred while we were out.  At our last stop I was able to stand by the just outside the car and listen to the carolers.  The sound was quite sweet.  I think many saved their best singing for last.  the house were were at was one of a member of the congregation.  The wife has cancer and is not expected to be n this earth much longer.  I stood listened, sang along, prayed and looked to the stars. I could feel God with us. It was beautiful!

I may have to cheat and use a second blessing today.  OK I think I will...

Blessing #4 T is for tidings...
  This was the beginning of Naomi's line in her first Christmas program.  She was awesome.  She worked hard to memorize her line  "T is for tidings the big bells chime, over and over, time after time."

Nope did not get a picture of this either but I do have a picture of her in her outfit.

OK so I cheated again. This was taken last year!  But the dress still fits (we got it a size or two big)  It is a bit shorter and she out grew the shoes. It just felt wrong to post without a picture.

random update...

OK. So, things did not work out at the church.  It was a mutual decision.  It was a bit "messy" at the final meeting.  Adam and I were unaware of somethings that caused their decision to "terminate" him.  But Adam went to the meeting ready to resign. So it seems God was confirming our decision to leave.  So we are back at our previous church.  We are getting geared up for VBS and MOPS. 

I am currently trying to update my resume.  I found a part time job that seems good for me.  It is a foster care family recruiter. I think it would be fun.  Also right up my ally.  When I am asked about adopting or foster care I get all pumped up.  It is with our agency which could be good.  also it is part time, with the possibility of night and weekend so, I bet it might be flexible enough to work with Adam's schedule.

We are coming up on Adam being "jobless" for a year now.  It is hard to believe. We are getting desperate.  He has exhausted so many of the typical engineering and pastoral job hunts. Now he has began applying at Quick trip, FedEX and the like.  I think I heard him mention Wal-mart too. He has been struggling the last few days.  Please pray for him.  He could use some direction and wisdom.

As for adoption, we were being considered for a little boy and a little girl.  Well we are no longer being considered for the boy.  The agency had to downsize the "potential family pool" from ten families to three.  So we got cut.  Not too surprising. But the girl's parental rights will be severed soon.  Which means she will have her staffing (the meeting they decide the best family) in the not too distant future.  

 

Fluff! (updated)

Where to start... hmmm

Well we are still waiting when it comes to Adam's job. The church where he works part-time is trying to sell some land.  Once the land is sold they will bring Adam on staff full time. The land has a buyer...but we are now awaiting on the government to approve everything. It has to go through the government because of the size of the land sale.  So we are waiting.

Adam was able to preach the first time at our new church.  This was his seventh sermon.  He did a pretty good job.  The next time he preaches will be at the end of June.  Unless the Pastor needs him before that.

The senior pastor at our church has announced he has stage 3 cancer.  This is his second battle with cancer in the last two years.  So they are going to hit him pretty hard this time. Please pray for him and his family.

     

We are currently being considered for two children for adoption.  No, it is not a sibling group. One is a 10 month old girl.  The other is a three year old boy.  Both of these children have special needs.  Should we be chosen for both, we do not feel we can take both of these children on at the same time.  Honestly, we are leaning more towards the girl mainly so we can maintain birth order. Naomi has developed the only (oldest) child personality.  She is very motherly when ever she is around babies.
  
It would be great to be selected finally.  We have been in the system for 3 years now.  But for us to get chosen it would certainly help if Adam had a full-time job. 

The girl's staffing meeting is first.  It will be at the end of June at the earliest.  So we wait and pray.

Naomi has been battling a rash the past few weeks. I thought it was caused by the new laundry detergent. However, after seeing the doctor and putting hydrocortazone lotion. The rash had gotten better but not gone away. Yesterday we went for a follow-up visit. He suggested it could be a food allergy or that she was developing eczema. To check for food allergies she is not to eat any fruit and we will reintroduce them one by one.

After her nap, (which was 4 hours) she had a fever. It got up to 103 last night. So we will not be going to the church garage sale today.

Kids!
So here's to a day of snuggling and movies for this mama!

Happy Easter!

We hope you are blessed this Easter Sunday!

He has Risen!

Do you know Him?

Randomness

This is a busy time for me. It probably always will be. Lot's of Easter stuff going on. I love Easter! I truly enjoy celebrating the resurrection and the free gift of eternal life which God has given me(us). Please do not think I am complaining. Just being a Youth/administrative pastor now we have more responsibilities and activates now. (Watch for more news on that front.)

I also have Naomi's Birthday to plan and shop for. Thankfully, this year I have a week between Easter and her Birthday (not the one day we had last year). My parents are coming for her Birthday, so I have to do some cleaning. Not to mention I really don't want to be cooped up all day! The weather has been beautiful! So we have been outside a lot.

I have been taking lots of pictures but I cannot make myself find the time to edit them. So I am VERY behind on my pictures. which is sad for me. I have so many really cute ones. Naomi now loves having her picture taken. She sees the camera and starts saying "Eeese!"(cheese) Very cute!

Also training for the 5K at the end of may has taken a chunk of time. But it is good for me, right? I am really not a big fan of running. but this program is set up so that you work your way up to running. We started out running for one minute and then walking for a minute and a half. By the end of 9 weeks we are supposed to be able to run for 30 min.


I am still working on a post about our Weekend to Remember. We had a great time!

But for now I think I am going to go take a nap on this rainy, cool day! Particularly since everyone else is napping!

on the mend!

So I think we are finally on the mend. I will be trying Naomi on milk again this afternoon. My finger is starting to feel a bit more normal. Although I am in the process of loosing the nail and it is still senstive to bumps. But I can actulally use it with out cringing or tearing up.

We are gearing up for a busy spring. Next weekend we have a first Birthday to attend. (I will also be making the cakes.) Soon after that Adam and I will be running away to Branson with a bunch of friends for a marriage retreat. We have Easter. Then Naomi's Birthday! And that is just the next month.

For the summer I have 3 graduations, a possible wedding, a trip to TX, publicizing and planing MOPS and VBS. And that is only what I can think of off the top of my head. YIKES!

I hope I can keep track of everything. Now that we are juggling school, youth, church, MOPS, family, and friends we are getting busy!

Here's to spring!

Shhhh! I'm hunting for a new church

So my title is a sad attempt at Elmer Fudd, but I am feeling a bit loopy today! I don't like church hunting. It is so hard. You never know what to expect. Today we went to the Westley church around the corner from us. It is a quaint church the preaching was solid, they were very mission minded, but, notice the quaint? There were just about a dozen people there, only one person near our age (She was the pastors Granddaughter), and when I peaked in the nursery it looked like it had not been used in a while. This is hard. We also went to the evening service at the First Southern Baptist Church. We had gone to the morning service last week. It is among the possabilaties but we are going to pray and seek God's guidance. We don't need to join the first church we go to. We know that he has a plan for us here. We just have to rely on Him and follow His desire for our family.
I am reading Redeming Love by Francine Rivers. I highly recomend it! but there is a line

"Oh, God, it's not the way had things planned. But then, what of real, lasting value ever is?"

This line really has resounded lately. Gods plans are always far better than what we could plan for ourselves.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. " Jeremiah 29:11

Now for something more fun:


Yes, that is my daughter under the shopping cart. We were at Wal-Mart and Adam put her down to walk around. The next thing we knew she was under the cart! Crazy girl! She eventually got her self out, it was hilarious to watch!