Progress

Well today our chickens & 2 rabbits went to their new home. One step closer to downsizing & simplifying! It was fun to watch the guys catch the chickens & load them up so not to break eggs inside of them. I will miss having the fresh eggs that are so much better than store bought but we'll just have to deal with it until we find out where the good Lord wants us, I guess. It will save us money not having to buy feed which will be a good thing. Now we have 6 rabbits to re-home. We do hope we can eventually use what knowledge we've acquired over the years of raising farm animals. We'd love to help build a "farm" for those who don't know how to get started. To let someone experience fresh eggs, rabbit meat & maybe even goat milk & soaps would be a treat for us to be involved with! I've always wanted to make soaps so maybe that's something that will be included in our future.
Eddie & I both are to a place in our careers where we're so ready to go work for the Lord. He's got such a wonderful gift of fixing & building stuff. He's very creative & has the ability where he says if somethings broken it's like he can "hear" what needs fixed. I'm frustrated with my new job because I don't feel like I can make a difference for having to run around & push pills. Yesterday was really busy & I was able to stay caught up while running up & down the halls until I got 2 admissions on top of the seven patients I had already. One of my patients had a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) from a recent motorcycle wreck & he was having a rough day...he was agitated & combative...his sitter (one of the staff assigned to him) threatened to leave work because he was so tough to handle. So I was having to intervene there & try to get her some relief. The staff aren't happy & are overwhelmed by the patient load. An employee there even told me that I was "crazy" for going to work there. It's just our small town is so controlled by the hospital here, there's just not many options for jobs, & I've been there & done that there. Right now, it's just not very realistic to seek jobs outside of our town, especially with gas prices being the way they are. We're trying to hang in there to get to where we need to be in life. It's just hard when you know there's something else out there that we're being called to do & instead have to deal with unhappiness & being worked like a dog just to make it. We'd much rather put our energies into helping bring others to Christ. We're still praying & believing.
Well we have lots to do still so one day at a time, with the help of sweet Jesus!
I guess in the next week or so, our sweet foster son will be moved. We "know" it's what needs to happen & I don't really have doubts about it, most of the time. My sweet sister pretty much begs us not to have him moved. She says she would help keep him more for us to have a break, but that's not the issue. I'm just ready to get it over with before it gets to the point where it will be harder on him and us. It's not going to be easy at any rate but we truely feel like we'll be able to get to the right place in our lives.
I guess that's all for now.
Happy Sunday!

Not givin' up...

We're still in the process of downsizing & simplifying even though we got our first bit of "bad news" recently. We got an email from the C&MA who aren't able to send out long term missionaries like they would like to due to the "global economic downturn". Then we found out full-time missionaries (atleast the men) have their Master's Degree. Soooo, we're still hoping to line up a short term trip but are still seeking guidance for what else is to come. We still feel strongly led to go help those who haven't heard God's word. We feel like with the signs of the times that it might not be long before the Lord calls His people home. Of course we don't know but we do know we're willing & trying to get ready as soon as we can.
Our foster son should be placed with his new family by the end of this month so we hope to get more done once he's moved. We sold our extra fridge today which is just another step in the right direction. My brother-in-law & his sweet daddy are coming Sunday to get the chickens & hopefully a rabbit or 2. Once we get the rabbits sent to new homes, it will make our life alittle more manageable too. Each step is making progress towards being able to take care of grandma if that time comes & preparing for our future whatever that might hold.
Eddie & I have started a new couple's devotional called Night Light written by Dr. James & Shirley Dobson. We're really enjoying it!
We hope one day to have our main careers punching God's time clock & not somebody else's...=)
In the meantime, we're praying & listening in hopes of hearing where & what we're supposed to be doing.

Another step in the right direction...

Well, our lil guy will be moved to a new foster home by the end of the month. We really feel like this is what we need to do. He's a doll & we know he will do well wherever he is.
We also got good news that Paraguay IS an option for our mission trip!! Hopefully everything will go smoothly! We are looking forward to having a date to work towards. I have been in touch with Brenda in Paraguay who is a C&MA missionary with her husband! We're so thankful to have them as our mentors too!
In the meantime, we're working, working on getting rid of stuff & saving money! Whew!
Please continue to pray for us!

It's been awhile...

We had the greatest time going to watch the UFC with Ken & Christie's youth group!!! Amy kept the baby for us which was a wonderful break! It was nice to not have to worry about his needs & let us relax some.
I can imagine how tired the Hagerman family is! They had a busy Saturday still preparing to leave in November & then setting up for fight night, then church Sunday. It was so great to fellowship with them!
Well after much prayer for this past week, I'm glad the good Lord saw me thru it. I had to do 12hrs Tues, classroom orientation Weds & Thurs, then 12 hrs Friday. It was a long week but I survived. I really don't like starting new jobs. Learning the routine...learning the paper or computer work...learning the people...I don't know that I'm cut out for day shift but I'll hang in there. I would like to try night shift there. I've done nights before so we'll see.
The house has been a mess with us being so busy this weekend & it bugs me! But this weekend I have been able to try to catch up on laundry & Eddie took down the extra crib & bed in Matthew's room. Even if it's little pieces at a time, we're going to see some progress towards downsizing & simplifying! So now the bed is in the suburban to be taken to my mom's for their spare bedroom. The crib has gone to Amy to give to a young, pregnant girl she knows.
We haven't heard from anybody about transferring the baby to another foster home yet. We will miss him. I would like to think we could keep in touch & see him some but I don't want to subject anymore confusion on him than he has to have. So we'll see what happens. Maybe Amy & Dale will consider becoming foster parents so they can kind of take our place if we're called away.
Speaking of being called away, I've touched base with the Christian & Missionary Alliance about short term missions so we hope to hear something soon! Atleast to have a time line of what's next will give us something to work towards! I even mentioned Ken & Christie heading to Paraguay. That I know of C&MA go to Peru but not Paraguay...maybe we can be the "first"! We sure would love to work with the Hagerman family in making a difference in the lives of the Paraguayans!
I found a website www.studyspanish.com that might work for us! So far I've made flashcards which I think will help. I'm a let-me-see-it kind of learner so maybe Matthew will be able to pick up on it with us as we practice with the cards!
Well I have to go to work for a class...ugh...then lots of other stuff before Matthew's football game tonight in Ware Shoals. It's another manic Monday!