Saturday, October 25, 2008

Little angel

I don't know if I've ever put my hands on a child as pitiful as the one I took care of last night. This poor baby probably doesn't know she's even in the world. If she does realize there is life around her, I don't know if she can comprehend it at all or if it's just an irritation, not understanding when she's touched or moved, etc. I probably shouldn't say much since she is in foster care. I know I can say that she, her mom (who is very young & having mental/depression problems), her near-future foster family & her biological extended family need all the prayer they can get. What a sad, sad situation.
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If nothing else, I believe God heard my prayer over her while I was there.
Anyway, I'm beat. I guess my night shift Tuesday night, working with the baby last night & then helping my dear, little sister out by babysitting/cleaning today has caught up with me. I laid down after Eddie left for work tonight & slept about 3 hrs!! Maybe I can catch up on some rest this weekend.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

This week

I spent the better part of Sunday evening organizing lesson plans & catching up on laundry while my guys were away. Now we're just waiting on his History/Geography books to come so we can get that started too.
In the meantime this week, I had been dreading my night shift at work (last night) for various reasons. Prayer & lots of it got me thru...
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'Great is Thy Faithfulness' was the song the Lord gave me yesterday morning. I was wondering if that was because there was a possibility I would be downstaffed (ie, no work=less paycheck) but it turned out not to be the case. Eddie & I prayed (for Peace & not so much anxiety). I didn't know what I was going to face when I went to work & it'd been several years that I'd worked night shift. I had another song on my heart later in the day that I wished I'd made note of b/c I can't remember what it was now. Seems like God gives me a song to hum or sing to help give me the Peace I ask for. I take it as being literally from the Lord, like He's "talking" to me.
Does He "talk" to you that way??
I did go to work after praying for my patients, the other staff I would be working with, etc. It went well & I didn't even get overly sleepy, because I had enough work to do to keep me steady. My patients rested pretty good, even the ones who had been having to take pain medicine around the clock before went longer intervals without having it. That was God's intervention!
Today I got a call from DSS asking if I would be interested in "sitting" with a foster child in the hospital. The extended family who is "involved" needs back-up at times & the child has major health issues. So I get to meet & help take care of this little one tomorrow from 3p-11p. They're hoping the baby will be placed with a foster family by next week. We feel pretty certain we're not the ones for this little one. It would take God smacking us hard to make us think different. As of right now, I don't know 'why' this has been brought before us & we probably shouldn't try to figure it out. It can be just so we come in contact with someone who needs 'us' or even someone we need to know for more info about something in our future. We don't know...we're just going to 'go with it'. So please pray for this little one (5 mth old little girl & her family, future foster family). Also pray for me (& our family) to be 'used' by the Lord, so we can be a blessing to whoever we come in contact with. We want folks to see Jesus thru us!


Saturday, October 18, 2008

Our week

First off, I have to thank the Lord for helping me get thru the weekend at work (last weekend)...I don't know that I'll find my niche in life in the working world but can think of a 'job' working on God's Time Clock that would be the most rewarding experience ever!
Anyway, I ordered Matthew's HS books Tuesday. The lady (I think her name was MaryJo) at usedhomeschoolbooks.com was a tremendous help!!! The mail had already run for them so she put them in the mail Weds & we got them Friday! Yay!! Of course I was more excited than Matthew! LOL! They didn't have the History books that I wanted but I went to Ebay & there they were! In all, we spent less than $80 for his whole curriculum! Praise the Lord!
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The hassle part of the week was partly my fault. We let Matthew stay home (even though we didn't have the registration completed with the HS association). We did get the call Monday afternoon. I called the school Tuesday to tell them we were withdrawing him & would be turning in his books Weds afternoon. The lady I talked to (I think I've blogged this already) couldn't have cared less...then she didn't pass on the message to the right person, so we got a call the next day saying Matthew was going to be TRUENT if we didn't get things taken care of. I told them that I'd already spoken with someone & was planning to come to the school that afternoon. She proceeded to tell me I had to get there before 3p.m. since that's when the lady who handled attendance was leaving for the day. Long story short, I had to still take in an "excuse" for the days he'd missed. The worst part was how the front office (one lady imparticular) treated us when we went to turn in his books & tuba. It was like we were making her SO much more work to do. She talked to us in a degrading way, like we were clueless & bothering her.
With this beloved school, we've had issues of books & supplies missing. I know things get misplaced by my DS but I honestly think he's not completely at fault. Anyway, his Science & Social Studies book (which I've never seen come into our house) had been kept at school...are missing...Thankfully the teacher is going to check everybody's books in case someone has his "by mistake"...We spoke to the Asst Principal who said he couldn't "completely withdraw" Matthew until both books (all--he had his Math & Language Arts books) were accounted for...Soooo, we are prayerfully (is that a word) hoping that we get the $123 back.......It was sickening, but I didn't feel like I had any choice but to write the check. By the way they talked, I was afraid if we didn't handle it, we'd have a bigger hassle on our hands. We may have been taken advantage of but it's a good possibility the money will be refunded soon or atleast at the end of the year...The Lord knows our needs so He'll make sure we're ok.
Now we can get started on our new adventure of homeschooling!
Well, football season for us is done & I think we're all relieved. Today was the first (& last Playoff game) for our team. We lost by one point but the boys played their hearts out!
We went to see our dear friends (the Hagermans) & had a great time at their going away party. I know they will be missed by all!! We can't wait to see the work they're going to be doing & hope to atleast get to go help/visit them in the future!
Tomorrow we have church & I get to start making lesson plans for the week! I'm looking forward to it actually!!! Please pray for us as we get started! Also continue to remember the Hagermans as they're leaving Nov. 6th for Paraguay & remember my dear friend (with her marital issues). Thanks!


Tuesday, October 14, 2008

WOW!

"WOW!" was all I could come up with as a title to this post. Lame, I know...
Anyway, We got the call yesterday that we were officially processed with the association to homeschool! What a relief!! I was alittle antsy that things wouldn't go right & it would be delayed but the good Lord moved & it was DONE! I called the school today to tell them we would be bringing school books, etc tomorrow & the lady who answered the phone sounded like she couldn't have cared less! So atleast I didn't have to stay on the phone trying to convince them that this was something we needed to do.
Today I called to order homeschooling books! I'm so ready to get all this started & have our son "home" where with God's help, we can mold him into a well-rounded young man! So in the next few days our time will be filled with lesson plans & getting a sort of routine planned out that can be flexible. So we're on our way!
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Tonight I have a "mama night" while my guys have a "boys night out". So I'm enjoying the REMOTE, my computer, a frozen pizza & QUIET! LOL! (Don't tell them, but I'm enjoying myself but will also be glad when they're back home!) Oh & I can't leave out the fact that my DH made a special trip to the gas station to get me "supplies" to make S'MORES while they're gone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I was feeling the 'need' for chocolate) I may be sick by the time they get back! If only I had a small bonfire...guess the microwave will have to do!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Praise Report

I got a couple of wonderful phone calls yesterday!
First Praise is my "sister" who has been having some marital difficulties called with the news that her husband is having a change of heart (Thank you, Lord!!) & is willing to work on their marriage!!!! Little does he know, he's had LOTS of prayers going out for him (& her)! When God is "for you" who can be against you???????? Nobody!!! We're STILL praying for the rebuilding of their marriage & family!
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Our second Praise is we got the call from the homeschooling association saying it's NOT too late to get Matthew started!!!!!! We are SO excited! We are heading in the right direction!! So I got the application filled out & the money sent this morning! Praise the Lord! Now to decide which curriculum to use.
Now we'll see "what's next"!



Sunday, October 5, 2008

Alittle update/Praise

It's so amazing to see God's special plan for our lives open up for us! We didn't understand "why" after only a short time of being foster parents that things were happening to change our focus & our dreams. We think we have an idea now of some of the "why" when it comes to our precious little foster son we had. We knew his new family would be in the ministry but to find out they are involved in a Christian School was a sweet finding. Also, the foster mom is a MK (Missionary Kid)! Her parents are missionaries in Japan & have been there 32 years! Eddie says little man maybe the next Billy Graham! In looking for the "positive" (of us missing him & missing out on watching him grow up) we honestly believe God put him with us until his new family could get their fostering license done. They are also working on their adoption license and hopefully will be his forever family if the courts see it's in his best interest to do a TPR (termination of parental rights). Please include the new foster family and even his biological mother in your prayers.

More... Well all of our "farm" animals have been relocated for which we are Thankful. All we have left are our 2 dogs. So now we can focus on uncluttering, trying to save some money & just preparing for what's to come.
Please continue praying for us as we go down this road in life!


Friday, October 3, 2008

Progress in God's Time

First, I have to say I am so proud of my dear husband for truely "hearing" and listening to his personal call into missions. We have known for alittle while that we wanted to atleast do a short term trip & never really considered doing it full-time until this last month or so. We feel it's a true calling & not that we're "reading into" what we "think" is meant for us to do. We've had so many More...confirmations lately that it's almost scarey...but in an amazingly good way! We were talking last night about where we've been, our past experiences & mistakes and now where we are...more importantly where we're "going". I think we both have a great testimony but to know where Eddie's past has taken him, it is truely humbling to know his past is forgiven AND the Lord is calling on HIM to do His work. He is so amazed & I hope his testimony will lead others to Christ!
We're continuing to pray for guidance. It just feels so "right"!
Today, I took our precious foster son to his new home. I've managed to stay pretty busy getting things ready, so it might hit me alittle later. So far I'm doing pretty good. His new foster family is so genuinely sweet! I hope they get to keep him forever, because I think they will make a great foundation builder for his little life. I've probably forgotten to tell them some things, but it's hard to think of all the little quirks, likes & dislikes of a baby without forgetting some of the details. Anyway, the work isn't done yet, getting rid of all the "stuff" but I'll get to it all eventually. I'm ready to get down to the bare necessities, clean the carpets that are in desperate need of a good cleaning & just make a dent in the de-junking process. The good thing is his new foster family is willing to let us "stay in touch" like helping keep him if they need a sitter & sending us pictures. We would love to watch him grow up even if it's from a distance. I probably won't see him (intentionally) for alittle bit because I don't want to confuse or upset him. Hopefully after some time passes, we can see him again. In the meantime, we're going to be stripping our home of "stuff" & trying to move forward.
I'm kind of ready for alittle mini vacation myself. We've never really had a "family" vacation but if we can just take off & go to the mountains for alittle R&R I'll be happy! I "need" a campfire, s'mores, snugglin' with my honey & the beautiful mountain scenery. Hopefully that will be possible sometime soon! I just wish we had a camper...I wouldn't even mind a tent (with an air mattress), but I don't think Eddie's gonna go for that. Plus it's getting cooler, so we might freeze our buns off @ night this time of year in the mountains.
I have a prayer request for a dear friend...God knows her name. She's having some pretty major difficulty in her marriage. Please lift her, her husband (& kids) up in your prayers! Also, I have an online friend who is having complications in the adoption of their 3 foster kids. Please pray for that situation too!
Thanks in advance! I hope whoever reads this has a Blessed weekend! I'll be at work so you can pray for me too! =)

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Amazing Grace

Today I had a very rough day and fell back into some of my old ways(sinfull). Had alot to do with work and allowing my self to fall victim to satan's attacks.Tomorrow we give our foster son to another set of foster parents.We need to do this to be able to get our selves ready for leaving on our missions.To say that....More... I was taking it hard would be an understatement.I was about to call Sara and talk to her about keeping him and not going on missions I took a few seconds to say a prayer. I asked God to help me thats all I prayed for.I then decided to check my mail and blogs from work and the first thing I see is a news letter from a friends blog, in bold letters before I could read the rest I see: “go into all the world",it was all I needed to see.A feeling of peace came over me and I got chills, in less than a minute God answered my prayer and calmed my soul.To some of you this may seem normal and expected but 6 years ago I was on the express elevator to HELL. But I met Sara she helped me build the mustard seed of Faith I needed. That seed has grown into something completely amazing.


of EDDIE'S post