God must certainly have a sense of humor...

So, we are in process on the adoption thing, moving out, stepping out and BAM! I found out that my job will be going part-time contract. Now let's look at things, a year ago before I moved here, I made 50K more than I will be making next week. hmm. Okay God, just WHAT ARE YOU DOING?????

Here is what we know: God is on the throne. He has plans to prosper us and not harm us. We will reap what we have sown. He is watching over us and something awesome will come out of this.

What we don't know - what we are going to do. We are moving forward with the adoption, that is not in question at all, but on all other things we are praying for guidance. That God will help us in what path we should take. We appreciate all of you praying for us for much needed guidance and peace. Love you guys. Someday I'll look back on this and laugh...right??!!

A Full Day

We started out the day thinking we were going to get stuff done on the house; we decided it would be a social day instead.

Met a friend at the movies to see A Night at the Museum; it was good. Then picked up another friend to surprise his daughter for her b-day. She wasn't expecting him. A long-time friend's dad had quadruple bypass surgery yesterday so we visited with the fam and saw him. Please pray for quick recovery for him.

Then we went over to the Cross's house for a homecoming party for Daniel - our own hero back from Iraq and other places he can't discuss. We are so incredibly proud of him I think we were all just bursting at the seams. It seems like just yesterday he was that little kid running around the church asking for $1 from anyone who would care to listen. God has granted him tremendous favor and I can't wait to see what fantastic things he has in store for him now that he is back.

Great job raising a great bunch of kiddos Tim and Cindy. We will calling you often for help in the near future; you can bet on it!!!!

Moving Ahead

So it took me a few days to get over the panic stage but I'm good. Lots to do! Josh has been busy cleaning out filing cabinets and reorganizing the garage. Janette and Jonathan, Josh's mom and brother recently moved to Dallas and have been a TREMENDOUS help. Did I mention they are wonderful???

Jonathan has been systimatically cleaning our carpets...WOW..so that is the color of the carpet - who knew. LOL.

The house really is looking nice though. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers. You guys mean so much and we really appreciate the support.

Josh & Juli

Our Homestudy Date has been set! AAAAAAAA

Ok, so I received the email today from our case worker that they are ready to schedule our home study. I couldn't breath and actually thought I might become ill. Silly isn't it, it's just SO real.

The home study lasts 4 to 5 hours and is scheduled for the week of June 22nd. Breath...just breath. Actually now that I've had a few minutes to process I know how much time I have to get everything together and ready. I'm good. Actually Josh said something that really made me laugh;

He said, " You panic now, I'll panic later". I love my husband :-) He makes me laugh at all the right times.

We Passed the Fire Inspection!!

Woo hoo!!!! They came last week but we didn't have a smoke detector in every bedroom so they had to come back. Josh was really cute - he went over the checklist at least three times before they came; wouldn't you know....the item that told us we had to have one in all the bedrooms wasn't on there.....oh well......He went right out and bought them; he was going to be sure we passed with flying colors this go around and we did!!!

Next up, the rest of the paperwork gets turned in and then they schedule the home study.

For those of you new to the game; we are adopting a child from the state, we don't care about age, race or ethnicity. We just want God's will. oh, and did I mention we were thinking of siblings? did I mention you need to pray?

Juli

Still working on the house; getting everything ready for when the Home Study is scheduled. We are down to the details now; most of the large items are completed. We are very excited and equally nervous about becoming parents. God's timing.

Had a fabulous day with the niece and nephews. We had a late Easter get together and the kids had a blast whacking an egg-shaped pinata. I think they like that better than the candy that came out of it. LOL.

The Journey

Josh and I have begun our journey to adopt. We know that God has a plan for us and our family and have stepped out to start the process. We are excited, nervous, and all the other emotions that go with it.

Currently we have completed most of our forms and have had the fire inspection. Next is completing the rest of the list and getting our home study scheduled. Our hope is to have our new family together before the beginning of the next school year, but that remains to be seen. Our timing is not God's timing; we do what we can and then wait.

For those who are catching up with us in general, Josh still works for Life Outreach Today; James Robison's ministry, and I work for Christian Life Ministries; out of Uganda - Jackson Senyonga's ministry.

Please pray for us as we come to your rememberence. And thank you for standing along side us as we continue our journey.

Juli and Josh