Ticket please.

I feel like I have purchased a ticket for a roller coaster... I've sat down and the ride has been this steep hill that we've finally crested..the plunge has ended... and the ups and downs of the subsequent hills have begun. We had our first part time placement and it ended yesterday, I received a phone call before noon today and I was so excited. It was another little one and we gladly accepted the placement. Now, after doing some shopping for him, we received another phone call at 4pm that they found a family member to take him instead... although that's great for the family, my heart is so heavy... I feel like my mind and heart ran through many months ahead thinking about what was to come and what our lives would look like... I'm having a hard time believing that he won't be here tonight... I was ready... the roller coaster is in full swing and I'm holding on to the hope that our time will come....

Baby A

We've had a temporary "daycare placement," that's what I'd call it for the past few days and it's been amazing. This sweet little baby is about 3 weeks old and I've had the joy of watching him from about 6:30am to about 4:00. It's amazing how little he is, how sweet it is watching him sleep and snuggle. My heart is full. Hoping for a full time placement is hard, because honestly it's hard to want a family to be split up... so I can't really saying hoping, but I'm ready for it any day now.... I think I'll have "baby A" as we call him, since he is our first baby for a few more days and I'll be enjoying every minute of it.

Thankful Thursday!

'Tis the Season for Thanks! Love that this time of year brings to mind lots of things to be thankful for. I am so grateful that our foster care license is complete and we are now ready to take a little one! We've already received two calls and one of the situations fell through and the other we said no to. That was hard for me, saying no...so, actually Michael made that call to say no. I had the privilege of texting a friend after that and she wrote something that absolutely soothed my troubled heart. She said, "God's got this! He won't let you make the wrong decision for you both love Him and submit to Him. You are journeying well, my friend." How amazing is that? I will cherish and hold on to those words, they will remind me during times where I question whether or not I made the right choice and trust that indeed God's got this! Blessed and thankful for a friend like her!

So today I give thanks with a grateful heart that we can officially begin our foster care journey. Also, that God is faithful to put amazing friends and family in my life, who will walk with us as we serve the children of our community.

Licensed Soon!!

Just got word from our agency partner that we should be licensed today or tomorrow! Praise the Lord!

Orphans Among Us

Last Sunday we had the blessing of attending a class at LBC with other foster & adoptive parents called "Orphans Among Us". It was wonderful to gather together with like minded Christians who are journeying the foster care system. We had lots of round table discussions and got to know some new faces. I am incredibly excited to gather again with these people soon. We had the chance to hear from a case worker here in Lincoln and also an attorney share their journey and how to pray as we move forward.

It made me all the more ready for our processing to be done. I am so ready to be licensed and have that checked off our list. It feels like it's taken a long time for our agency partner to get our paperwork in and we are still waiting on the state to get back to us. I plan to give our worker a call tomorrow and touch base. After our wonderful meeting on Sunday, my heart is feeling more stirred to start serving! 

Looking forward to letting all of you know when the process of licensing is complete! Praying it's soon!

Still an hour left in my Thankful Thursday!

Thankful for so many things. I honestly hate to focus on just one thing, but I will tonight. I am thankful for relaxation in the form of a bubble bath. That's the way my night has winded down and I needed it!

Conversations in our living room tonight consisted of a very heavy topic. Our exchange student has some very strong opinions. He is passionate about what he's learned and seems to have a hard time believing that there might be another way to look at something. He likes talking about war and leaders of other countries, he enjoys telling us about what he knows or what he's studied about. What caught me off guard was his take on WWII and hearing some of his teachings in China about the Jewish people and in particular Hitler were hard to swallow and honestly just wrong. My heart was heavy and I had a hard time staying calm about what he was saying. I don't want to go into a play by play, but let's just say I had to walk away from the conversation. Michael was great at not getting emotional, but well, I on the other hand got all emotional. Pray for Ethan, pray that he would be open to learning, that he would leave room in his head for others viewpoints, that he would seek to know more than what he think he knows. Pray that he would question... because so much in life requires our questioning...

This brings me to the bubble bath. After our conversation, I let Michael end the chat with Ethan and took a long bubble bath. I put on some great music and soaked away my worries and laid my heavy heart at the feet of my precious Jesus. So thankful for my calgon take me away moment!

Whew, life is crazy!

I apologize for taking my sweet time getting back to blogging. I have missed the time I take to stop and reflect on the weeks that have gone by. November is here! October was filled with lots of great memories; Ethan (our foreign exchange student from China) arrived safely to the USA and to our home, production week at school went great (read more about that here at my hubby's blog) http://koinoiawithmichael.blogspot.com ,we celebrated our first Halloween in our new house, I am volunteering with the Color Guard at school helping them polish and develop routines for marching band and winter guard, also I start wrapping Christmas gifts at Von Maur in a couple weeks!

I love that November causes most of us to ponder all the great things we are thankful for. I know that I sometimes need the reminder to stop and enjoy what's happening here and now. Not to think ahead to the next thing on my list, but to enjoy the moment. I am very excited to be celebrating two of my nephews birthdays tomorrow and plan to also enjoy the Husker game with the family as well. Can't wait to catch up with everyone! It's been a busy fall and there is nothing like being together with your siblings to hear about what's happening in their lives and planning our next family get together at Thanksgiving! Love this time of year!