Okay, yes! We are blogger slackers. Just when I think one of us will have the time to sit down and blog we are either eating dinner or sleeping. It's been a busy year for us and I am sure that is the same for all of you. Life is busy. How do you slow down and take the time for yourself? Your family? Your friends? God (yikes, did I just admit that!)? Things to ponder on later I guess. I wanted to take a moment and update you on where Brian and I are!
Brian:
Still doing amazing things for CrossRoads Missions and the advancement of God's kingdom. This year he has traveled a lot more than anticipated but it's been GOOD! When it's all said and done, Brian will have been on 14 of the 40 builds in 2012. He is connecting with more people and helping teach people how to serve their community. Who knew by going and being a part of building walls for a home would jump start service to a community. God is good!
Brian is also working part-time at the Home Depot. When I lost my job in September 2011 we have struggled financially. So I went to work at Home Depot part-time and Brian joined the team a few months later. It's a lot....but because of his commitment, and, well mine too, we are getting better in the financial area. Living in faith and trusting in God has been challenging and amazing. He continues to humble us by constantly providing for us each month and even down to the day.
Speaking of financial stuff. We are in another fundraising year for Brian. This upcoming year's goal is $30,000. We are around 60% of that goal right now. Each month we are getting closer! So, this is my shameless ask for your to support the ministry Brian and I have been called to serve!
Starting in May 2012, I started with Northwest Haiti Christian Mission. Check out our website www.nwhcm.org and see what we are all about. We provide short-term mission trips for people to come serve in Haiti. We have orphanages, medical care, feeding programs, elderly care, and the list goes on and on. There is so much work and need in Haiti we are always trying to keep up! I am the VP of Development so I get to care for all things fundraising, communications, and of course anything else that might need to be taken care of. I am still working part-time at the Home Depot in the Garden Center. It's been a fun job and I work with really great people in both jobs.
We have been settling well into Louisville, KY. We attend The Avenue church and are making great friends there! Plus we still love our neighborhood and enjoy our get togethers that involve lots of food and fun. We are making our house a home. Maybe one of these days we will start our painting project of the ENTIRE house.
So with that quick update now I want to share something personal. Brian and I are excited to share we are in the process of adopting our first child. We are in the beginning stages (which seems like forever) and are scheduling appointments with adoption agencies. We have been in the research phase by reading books, blogs, talking with our family and friends, talking with people that have gone through adoption, and praying....a lot. There is a lot to consider and work through to say the least. For example, do we want to adopt international or domestic? How old of a child do we want to adopt? What ethnicity/race/gender/special needs not special needs/would we adopt a sibling group? See, just a few questions to work through!
We are excited, scared, and hopeful while we go through this!
We ask for your prayers during this process of bringing home our first child. Pray for our marriage. Pray for our child that they are being cared for and loved as they wait for us. Pray for the financial stuff to be taken care of and provided. Pray how you believe you can support us either emotionally, being a sounding board, financially, or giving us a hand when we finally bring our child home.
If you have questions about anything in this blog, please ask! Adoption and parenting are not for the faint of heart and we know this. With all the research we have done, I have learned there are many misconceptions about adoption. By putting this out there so to speak, we hope to raise awareness about adoption and listening to God's calling in each of our lives. I know, such fluffy stuff to talk about and consider!
Be on the lookout for more timely blogs and updates via Facebook. No really! They will be there!
