Our future

We are in the beginning/planning stages of simplifying & down-sizing our worldly possessions. There are still alot of questions in our mind but we know with God's guidance, those answers will come to us as we need them. I guess/hope it's "normal" to wonder in the meantime...
I talked to my mom about feeling led to get involved with Missions. She's one who wants all her kids & grandkids close by as much as possible, but she also had a sister who was a missionary in Thailand when I was a baby. I'm not saying she was jumping up & down with excitement but she wasn't against it (atleast not openly). When I told her we would be downsizing & not expecting to take anymore foster placements right away, she asked how many boxes I thought we'd need to store in her attic. This coming from us who "moved" to Asheville, NC, my birth place to try to make a fresh start with our life...I got homesick & we moved back after about 9 months! LOL! BUT Eddie & I realize that preparing for missions, isn't like what we were hoping to do by moving to Asheville. Yes, it could be a "move" & lifestyle change, but it would be "different". Things in our life are different now then they were then. We would be doing the Lord's work & not just trying to make our ends meet by punching a clock...We would be on God's time clock. Wow, what a concept!
Yes, we would miss our families but we know it would be such a rewarding experience! So we're praying hard for guidance & direction.
In the meantime, we're trying to muddle thru. We do still have life to live here but it's hard to stay focused when there's so much that can be different in the near future.
We are getting out of the rabbit & chicken "business" as soon as possible. For one thing, it will be less we have to fool with when it comes to day-to-day life. It will save us money as far as their feed goes too. We've lost all but one goldfish so even that will be one less thing...we've already told Matthew when "Goldie" is gone, we will empty the tank & put it away (probably sell it). There's just so much "stuff" that takes up our time, money & energy, I'm ready to get things down to the bare necessities. Even if we weren't considering missions of some sort, I had already been wanting to unclutter our home & lives so it won't hurt my feelings at all! All of the worldly possessions that we have were either bought, given to us & can be gotten again later if we need them. There are materials of convenience, habit, etc that we will learn to deal without.
When I read Christie's email tonight to Eddie, it just stoked the fire that we feel is burning in us. Like I told her, he said to be able to have a job of doing God's work would be the most amazing experience ever in helping build a missionary training center. After all his life, knowing he had a "gift from God" with his skills and finally being able to do it for the glory of God is like a dream come true!
So we're going to try to use our time wisely...learning Spanish (or trying to!), setting aside $$ to get our passports, etc. Another question in my mind as far as getting sonny-boy's passport is that he doesn't have a "father" listed on his birth certificate...he also has my maiden name...We don't want complications if we're going out of the country & it would make things more simple, I think, if he had our last name, which is something we've been wanting to do for a couple years now...I'm planning to call an attorney to find out what a step-parent adoption is going to involve since there's not a biological father in the picture & never has been. Matthew wants this & already considers Eddie his "daddy" so it's just the legalities. So if anyone reads this & has any info, please feel free to share!
Another issue we are possibly facing is my dear grandmother who is 96 years of age. She still lives alone (well with her dog "Sweetie") & is declining alittle at a time. (IF I make it to 96 I'll be doing good!) She has been more forgetful, Bless her heart & has been falling more. My mom & aunt have broached the subject of possibly needing to get a "sitter" for her to help keep an eye on her. I promised grandma many years ago that she wouldn't go to a nursing home, that I would quit my job to stay with her, if need be. I intend on keeping that promise! I told mom Saturday that Eddie & I have discussed me being her "sitter" if it was decided to go that route. For one thing, we're very hesitant to just send any ole body in there to be with her...It's bad people can't be trusted now days but it's a big concern. I think we could get it worked out where I could still work a 12 hour shift at the rehab hospital once a week or so & still have her being watched over more regularly. We have even talked about the possibility of 'somebody' needing to move in with her. If it comes down to that, we are downsizing anyway & not planning to take anymore foster kids right now, so that shouldn't be an issue. I guess we'd just have to have another home inspection when we got settled again some where. See...over thinking again. Mom agreed that we are more "mobile" than anybody else in the family...everybody has their homes & families, pretty much rooted. We're kind of like the gypsies in the family, I guess. We know it will all work out, just trying to keep all options open.
Well this has gotten super long & I have tried to get my posts to show the short version instead of novel length but it hasn't worked. So don't get too overwhelmed (whoever might read this)! LOL Keep us in your prayers, please!!!!!!!