We had a good but uneventful weekend, which was exactly what we needed. It just still feels so stinkin' good to be at home! There really aren't any exciting details to mention or at least not any that I can remember right now!
Today was my first day at my new job. It was basically just an orientation, sort-of. There are 5 of us teachers that are going to be tutoring. The expectations weren't very clear today and so we left kind of saying "Huh?" It's basically up to the teachers to tell us what they want us to do and so I'm not sure it's really going to be strictly tutoring since some of my time will be spent in the classroom assisting the teacher. I think I'm going to like it, though. The hours are fantastic and it shouldn't be all that stressful. I guess I'll just have to wait and see but I think it will be much more enjoyable than substituting plus it will be a regular paycheck, which will definitely help with the adoption fund!
One of the other tutors is a teacher who retired last year. She has been one of my closest "school" friends during the last 6 years. I'm very excited to be working with Marie again. After we finished at school, she and I went out to lunch and just enjoyed chatting and catching up on life. We have a really neat friendship. She's about the same age as my mom but we've always had a lot in common and never run out of things to talk about. I'm looking forward to seeing her on a regular basis again!
I called today to reschedule our education meeting with our agency but "M" was out of the office today. I left a message for her to call me tomorrow. I'm really hoping we can schedule it for this Friday. The sooner the better!
Monday, February 8, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Friday
Thanks for all of your prayers and sweet comments. Mitchell's sister Melissa is doing better and hopefully will be released from the hospital sometime this weekend.
I've been feeling pretty out of sync since we got home. I've had zero motivation and really haven't accomplished all that much. I have caught up on the laundry, which I guess is an accomplishment in itself! After going so long without any internet access, all I've really wanted to do is catch up on reading blogs and mostly just stay on the computer. But in the midst of reading all of my adoption friends' blogs, I've gotten a little discouraged about our lack of progress on the adoption. We were supposed to have a meeting with our agency 2 weeks ago today but we had to cancel. I need to call and reschedule but just haven't yet. I really thought we would be a little farther along in the process by February and it just seems like nothing's happening. We mentioned last night that we've got to get going on our online class since we weren't able to complete any of it in the last 2 weeks. I'm such a list-maker and I just want to be able to check some things off of the list like it seems everyone else is doing. I know this is a long process and I need to exercise some of the patience I've (hopefully) learned in the last 5 years but I'm just ready to get the ball rolling at least a little bit!
I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but I am starting a new job on Monday. I'm going to be tutoring 3rd grade students at my old school. I'll be working Monday-Thursdays about 4 hours a day. I'm looking forward to it...I think. I'm glad to be able to have more of a steady paycheck than subbing has brought in, which will help with the adoption fund. I'm also looking forward to seeing my school friends on a regular basis. However, I will miss the days of just spending the whole day at home! I never get tired of being at home and can always find something to do. I am glad that I will have Fridays free, because who doesn't love a 3 day weekend?!?! Hopefully it will be a pretty stress-free job. I love 3rd graders and I should only have 2-3 at a time so there shouldn't be any discipline problems. I'm going to be tutoring them in Reading and Math and preparing for the NC end-of-grade tests. Overall, I'm really looking forward to it! But we'll see if I feel the same way a week from now! ;)
We don't really have any big weekend plans. It will be nice to just be at home after the stress and busyness of the last 2 weeks. Hope you have a great weekend!
I've been feeling pretty out of sync since we got home. I've had zero motivation and really haven't accomplished all that much. I have caught up on the laundry, which I guess is an accomplishment in itself! After going so long without any internet access, all I've really wanted to do is catch up on reading blogs and mostly just stay on the computer. But in the midst of reading all of my adoption friends' blogs, I've gotten a little discouraged about our lack of progress on the adoption. We were supposed to have a meeting with our agency 2 weeks ago today but we had to cancel. I need to call and reschedule but just haven't yet. I really thought we would be a little farther along in the process by February and it just seems like nothing's happening. We mentioned last night that we've got to get going on our online class since we weren't able to complete any of it in the last 2 weeks. I'm such a list-maker and I just want to be able to check some things off of the list like it seems everyone else is doing. I know this is a long process and I need to exercise some of the patience I've (hopefully) learned in the last 5 years but I'm just ready to get the ball rolling at least a little bit!
I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but I am starting a new job on Monday. I'm going to be tutoring 3rd grade students at my old school. I'll be working Monday-Thursdays about 4 hours a day. I'm looking forward to it...I think. I'm glad to be able to have more of a steady paycheck than subbing has brought in, which will help with the adoption fund. I'm also looking forward to seeing my school friends on a regular basis. However, I will miss the days of just spending the whole day at home! I never get tired of being at home and can always find something to do. I am glad that I will have Fridays free, because who doesn't love a 3 day weekend?!?! Hopefully it will be a pretty stress-free job. I love 3rd graders and I should only have 2-3 at a time so there shouldn't be any discipline problems. I'm going to be tutoring them in Reading and Math and preparing for the NC end-of-grade tests. Overall, I'm really looking forward to it! But we'll see if I feel the same way a week from now! ;)
We don't really have any big weekend plans. It will be nice to just be at home after the stress and busyness of the last 2 weeks. Hope you have a great weekend!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Another Prayer Request
I didn't mean to go this long without updating but my internet access was very limited throughout the last couple of weeks. Mitchell's dad passed away Sunday evening January 24. He never regained consciousness. On Sunday afternoon we could tell that his breathing was starting to change and it wasn't long after that before he just slipped away. His room was full of his family and it was the most peaceful thing I've ever witnessed. We had been praying that it would be very peaceful and the Lord answered our prayer. It was very, very hard for everyone but I think we were all relieved to know that he wasn't suffering any more. Even though Mitchell and I were upset, we had such a peace knowing that we will see his dad again one day. We have absolutely no doubt that he is with the Lord now and with Mitchell's mom. We would have loved to see that reunion! After he was gone, many of us had walked out of the room but it wasn't too long before we were called back in to see him. He actually had a smile on his face! It was absolutely amazing and such a comfort to the whole family. We know that the Lord gave us that to reassure us that he was fine now.
The days after that are pretty much a blur. His dad was very well-known in his community and was from a family of 16 children so we had 3 different times of visitation at the church. I think I met most of Canada! The lines seemed never-ending and were such a testimony of who his dad was. The funeral was on Thursday and was a very special service. His dad's request to his pastor was that he would preach the Gospel at his funeral because he knew there would be many people and family members there that needed to hear a salvation message. The pastor did a wonderful job of telling the congregation about the peace and assurance we can have when we accept Christ as our Savior and the eternal life He gives. We are still praying that the message heard that day will penetrate the hearts of our lost family members. We were able to have the burial service right after that, which is unusual during this time of the year. Since the ground is frozen they usually have the burials in the spring after the ground thaws. This is what happened when Mitchell's mom passed away 6 years ago. It was very hard to have to go through it all again in the spring. The family requested this time if at all possible that we have the burial now. There was about 4-5 inches of frost in the ground and Mitchell's uncles and cousins dug through it so that we could have the burial. We were all so appreciative of their hard work, especially knowing that it couldn't have been easy. It was extremely cold and windy during the burial service but we are glad that it is done and we can all begin to heal.
We just flew home yesterday. We stayed a few extra days after the funeral to help begin the process of getting things in order. There are alot of things to be done and decisions to be made so please continue to pray for our whole family. I really don't think it has sunk in yet. We've all been so busy and now that we are back home I think we're starting to realize all that's happened. It just seems like a dream. We knew at Christmas that his dad wasn't doing well and we weren't sure how long he had but we never dreamed he would be gone a month later. God has been so good to us and has given us such peace and comfort throughout the last 2 weeks. It's hard to understand why Mitchell has lost both of his parents at such a young age. We know without a doubt that we will see them again but we miss them. It's hard to know that they will not be here to hold our children or see them grow up. We know that this was God's plan and we trust Him even though we don't understand.
Thanks for all of your prayers and comments. I'm sorry that this was the first time I've been able to blog. I know many of you have been wondering and praying and we so appreciate it. Many of you left Facebook comments for us and they were such a comfort to read and know that we had many people praying. Please continue to pray for us, especially Mitchell and his brothers and sisters, in the days ahead.
***Mitchell just called to tell me that one of his sister's is in the critical care unit of the hospital with pneumonia and a viral infection. She has two very young children. Please pray for her and the doctors. They are doing some tests to try to find out what's going on. Thanks!
The days after that are pretty much a blur. His dad was very well-known in his community and was from a family of 16 children so we had 3 different times of visitation at the church. I think I met most of Canada! The lines seemed never-ending and were such a testimony of who his dad was. The funeral was on Thursday and was a very special service. His dad's request to his pastor was that he would preach the Gospel at his funeral because he knew there would be many people and family members there that needed to hear a salvation message. The pastor did a wonderful job of telling the congregation about the peace and assurance we can have when we accept Christ as our Savior and the eternal life He gives. We are still praying that the message heard that day will penetrate the hearts of our lost family members. We were able to have the burial service right after that, which is unusual during this time of the year. Since the ground is frozen they usually have the burials in the spring after the ground thaws. This is what happened when Mitchell's mom passed away 6 years ago. It was very hard to have to go through it all again in the spring. The family requested this time if at all possible that we have the burial now. There was about 4-5 inches of frost in the ground and Mitchell's uncles and cousins dug through it so that we could have the burial. We were all so appreciative of their hard work, especially knowing that it couldn't have been easy. It was extremely cold and windy during the burial service but we are glad that it is done and we can all begin to heal.
We just flew home yesterday. We stayed a few extra days after the funeral to help begin the process of getting things in order. There are alot of things to be done and decisions to be made so please continue to pray for our whole family. I really don't think it has sunk in yet. We've all been so busy and now that we are back home I think we're starting to realize all that's happened. It just seems like a dream. We knew at Christmas that his dad wasn't doing well and we weren't sure how long he had but we never dreamed he would be gone a month later. God has been so good to us and has given us such peace and comfort throughout the last 2 weeks. It's hard to understand why Mitchell has lost both of his parents at such a young age. We know without a doubt that we will see them again but we miss them. It's hard to know that they will not be here to hold our children or see them grow up. We know that this was God's plan and we trust Him even though we don't understand.
Thanks for all of your prayers and comments. I'm sorry that this was the first time I've been able to blog. I know many of you have been wondering and praying and we so appreciate it. Many of you left Facebook comments for us and they were such a comfort to read and know that we had many people praying. Please continue to pray for us, especially Mitchell and his brothers and sisters, in the days ahead.
***Mitchell just called to tell me that one of his sister's is in the critical care unit of the hospital with pneumonia and a viral infection. She has two very young children. Please pray for her and the doctors. They are doing some tests to try to find out what's going on. Thanks!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Update
There really hasn't been much change. He is still sleeping and is unresponsive. He was somewhat restless this morning and we thought he could be in some pain so the nurse gave him a small dose of pain medicine. He's been resting more comfortably since then. Everyone is here now. It was such a relief and answer to prayer when Mitchell's two brother finally arrived about 1:15 this morning. We are all doing okay just really tired. We're all running on just a few hours of sleep. We've been having a lot of company at the hospital and many have brought food to us. Everyone has been so good to us. This is very hard and no one expected all of this to happen so fast. Please continue to pray. We appreciate your prayers so much! Please pray for grace and strength for the whole family. Please continue to pray that he might have just a few minutes of alertness and open his eyes. We feel like he knows everyone is here but I think everyone would feel better just to know for sure that he knows. Thanks again for all of your prayers. I'll update when I can.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Prayers Needed
Just a quick post...We are in Canada. We left in a hurry yesterday when we got word that things weren't good with Mitchell's dad. We were able to get quick airline tickets and arrived last night around 11:00 at the hospital. He is resting comfortably but is unresponsive. Two of Mitchell's brothers should arrive tonight around midnight. We are praying his dad will have some awareness after they arrive. Please help us pray for this! The family really needs this time with him. Thanks for your prayers. I will update when I can.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Ideas Needed
I've been working on some organization projects this week and trying to sort through some things (junk!) in preparation for an upcoming yard sale. In my cleaning out this week, I've found I have stacks of greeting cards (bday, anniversary, wedding, etc.) that we've received over the years and most of them I just don't want to part with because I enjoy going back through them and reading them. I'm trying to think of a good way of storing them (besides ziploc bags) so that they are easy to look through and yet don't take up too much space. Anyone already have a good method of storing cards? Any and all ideas are appreciated!! Thanks!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Girlfriends Night Out
Last night our ladies ministry from church had a Girlfriends Night Out activity. We had so much fun! The theme was "Kick Up Your Heels" and everyone was supposed to wear their fun shoes and lots of bling-bling(big gaudy jewelry, feather boas, big hats, etc.) The best part of the night was seeing how everyone was dressed! My mom and I had been brainstorming in the last few days and really couldn't come up with any ideas since we just don't have any of those items. Yesterday I finally had the idea of wearing our sequined choir jackets from a few years ago. (Our choir did a few formal Christmas concerts and all the ladies had to order these beaded, sequined jackets. Needless to say, we don't wear them that often and this seemed like a good opportunity.) They are definitely gaudy in my opinion and so my mom and I showed up as twins in our gaudy jackets. I didn't get a picture of us and I wished I had but here are a couple of pictures from the night:
These well dressed ladies were part of the contest for the best dressed. The lady in red won! She did look very glamorous!!
This is a cake someone made to go along with the shoe theme. Those shoes look real, don't they?
We played games, ate some yummy food, and just talked and enjoyed having some girl time! I'm so glad that our ladies ministry is having these get-togethers every few months because I think we all need some girl time every now and then! It's always good to just be silly and laugh and enjoy being a girl for a few hours.
At the end of the night when we had our announcement and prayer time, I mentioned that we are planning to have a bake sale as an adoption fundraiser in a couple of weeks. I asked everyone to pray for us and also if they would like to donate a baked item to see me afterwards. I was a little nervous about saying anything because I didn't know how everyone would respond and it's just so humbling to ask for help in this journey to bringing home our baby. But I finally convinced myself to say something because no one had to help if they didn't feel like they wanted to. I was completely overwhelmed by the response afterwards. I had about 16 ladies offer to make cakes, pies, cupcakes, or other baked goods. One of the ladies mentioned our coffee fundraiser and several of the other ladies said they hadn't heard about it. I told them that we hadn't advertised it at church because it is so hard to know how much involvement we should have in the fundraising and we are just so hesitant to say much about it. She said we are all a family and we need to know so we can help. I thought that was such a sweet thing to say and confirmed to me that I do need to speak up more about what kinds of things we are doing to raise funds. Several of them said we need to advertise our coffee sale at the bake sale. I hadn't even thought of that so we are going to make some fliers to go along with the baked items. Now I've just got to get busy planning this bake sale and getting the word out about it! If any of you have any ideas on how to have a successful bake sale or any helpful tips, please let me know!!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Weekend
We had a good weekend, fairly low key since I never left the house on Saturday. I love Saturdays like that! Friday night we went out to eat with my parents, which we really enjoyed. Saturday I worked on rearranging this ole blog of mine, which took a while since I don't know much about html code, or whatever you call it! One thing I was very excited to accomplish was I finished my paper scrapbooking. I like to scrap events in our lives chronologically and even though I've started digital scrapping there were some pages I needed to get done from a couple of years ago. So now I'm almost up-to-date, which is a first! After looking back through my scrapbooks, I told Mitchell that they are such a treasure and what he better grab if the house ever catches on fire! I just love looking back through them and reminiscing and know that I wouldn't remember some of the things we've done or places we've been if it wasn't for them. Even though it can be time consuming, I think it is totally worth it!
Yesterday morning we had a wonderful church service that focused on the goodness of God. It really was a celebration for our church of all God has done in our pastor's life in the last week! We had a guest speaker, James Forlines, who is one of my favorites. He spoke about how good God is. He's good in the good times. He's good in the bad times. He's good all the time! One part that really spoke to me was that "what we believe must trump how we feel." I'm so guilty of letting my feelings dictate what I do and even sometimes what I believe. I think I need to make a huge poster of that quote to hang in our house! :)
We had been waiting for last night for several months....the start of the new season of "24"!! Yes, we really do have a boring life. It doesn't take much to excite us! It's our favorite show and I'm so glad to finally have something good to watch on tv again. If you've never watched it, it's not too late to start. The next 2 episodes are on tonight. But be warned, you don't have to watch long to get hooked!
Just a couple of updates: Our pastor continues to do well and hopefully will be able to finally have something to drink today. It's been about 10 days and he is very thirsty. Please help us pray that the tubes will be taken out today! Mitchell's dad is home and doing much better. He is having trouble sleeping at night and would probably feel quite a bit better if he could get a few good night's of rest.
As far as adoption updates, there is not much to report. We are currently working on our online class. We also have a 2 hour education meeting with our agency on Friday. We're really excited about that since this will be our first face-to-face meeting with them. We have lots of questions and hope to find out when we can begin our home study and get this ball rolling a little faster!
Yesterday morning we had a wonderful church service that focused on the goodness of God. It really was a celebration for our church of all God has done in our pastor's life in the last week! We had a guest speaker, James Forlines, who is one of my favorites. He spoke about how good God is. He's good in the good times. He's good in the bad times. He's good all the time! One part that really spoke to me was that "what we believe must trump how we feel." I'm so guilty of letting my feelings dictate what I do and even sometimes what I believe. I think I need to make a huge poster of that quote to hang in our house! :)
We had been waiting for last night for several months....the start of the new season of "24"!! Yes, we really do have a boring life. It doesn't take much to excite us! It's our favorite show and I'm so glad to finally have something good to watch on tv again. If you've never watched it, it's not too late to start. The next 2 episodes are on tonight. But be warned, you don't have to watch long to get hooked!
Just a couple of updates: Our pastor continues to do well and hopefully will be able to finally have something to drink today. It's been about 10 days and he is very thirsty. Please help us pray that the tubes will be taken out today! Mitchell's dad is home and doing much better. He is having trouble sleeping at night and would probably feel quite a bit better if he could get a few good night's of rest.
As far as adoption updates, there is not much to report. We are currently working on our online class. We also have a 2 hour education meeting with our agency on Friday. We're really excited about that since this will be our first face-to-face meeting with them. We have lots of questions and hope to find out when we can begin our home study and get this ball rolling a little faster!
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