worst blogger. ever. and other family/job/kid updates.

oh how long it's been since i last typed an entry on here!  i am the worst blogger.  ever.  i will freely admit this.  there's just so much pressure to write something interesting, add the right photos, and make sure there aren't any typos!  well, i have not many huge things to write about, but i figured i may as well commit to writing something anyway, as this is my life, excitement or no.

i guess an update is in order?  it has, after all, been over a year since a post has popped up on here.  well.  let's see.  where to begin.  i started teaching preschool again november 2011 at southwest christian school.  i loved it.  & brought the girls with me every day.  and then, over our latest christmas break, between june's first and second semester of kindergarten, i quit.  it wasn't really in the plans, but with sudden tuition increases, a constantly sick abigail (most persistent staph EVER), and a tiring daily commute of 68 miles round trip, i felt like the decision was made for me.  

so now here i am, claiming to be a homeschooling mom, trying to figure out my day to day all over again.  and i'm kind of feeling like june is smarter than me.  i wasn't exactly sure where she was with some things in school and i'm quickly learning that she is way ahead of me.  oh well, we'll get on the same page by summer i'm sure.

in other news, john is quickly settling into his new part-time job as youth minister at our church.  i know i just said that very nonchalantly, but it really feels new and exciting and overwhelming and unbelievable.  still.  and it all started with a marriage class over a year ago.  no really, it did.  we took a marriage class taught by this amazing couple at southwest christian church, and it did some magical things to my relationship with john.  long story short, we started trusting God more, and asking for the things we really wanted but were also really afraid of.  to be used more directly in the church.  to help people.  and love them.  we were put in the basement of the church, sitting by ourselves for all but 20 minutes of the morning, checking kids in for church.  this was not exactly what i felt like we could be doing to touch hearts.  it just wasn't sitting well.  john misses church every three weeks for his job with the fire department.  we missed church every three weeks for check-in.  and i missed church every three weeks to work in the nursery with the babies (which i loved, don't get me wrong).  do the math.  john and i went to church together once a month.  if we didn't get drafted for an extra shift in the basement .  which i do realize is far more than a lot of couples get that work at the church.  but we just felt like at this time in our lives, with all the little struggles popping up constantly, we really needed that once-a-week-grounded-feeling-of-purpose, worship-together experience.  we wanted to find the lonely people and tell them they aren't alone.  we wanted to take what we've lived and show others how you can come out on the other side with a purpose.  we wanted to be good listeners, open hearts, and the best example we could be of Jesus' love.  we wanted to work with the youth.  but there didn't seem to be a place for us in that area, so we waited, preaching contentment at each other in the lull.  then in july 2012 i was at my parents' house hanging out for the afternoon, when my mom got an email update from her church.  their youth pastor was abruptly gone.  i (too-loudly) blurted out: "we'll help!".  probably i should have checked with john before i volunteered us for only God knew what.  but it just came out of my mouth before i had a chance to engage my filter.  so my mom shot off an email to the senior minister letting him know john and i would be happy to help out in any way they needed.  the next thing we knew we were sitting at chic-fila talking to a really cool guy about our kids, our lives, and the youth group at first christian church in carrollton.  then he asked us if we wanted to do this.  did we want to work with these kids?  holy cow, here was our chance.  the thing we'd prayed for, been terrified of, and hoped for, right in front of us.  the thing was, these kids needed permanency; people willing to commit to them for the long haul.  that meant leaving our home church and taking our family to the church where i grew up.  HUGE deal for us.  we took two weeks to decide; to make sure we weren't running away from a church because we weren't happy.  we went on vacation.  we came back and went to first christian church.  we did not look back.  those kids are amazing, resilient people hungry to serve.  we wanted more time with them.  so john applied for the open youth minister position.  we really had no idea what the church would think of him applying for that position.  he didn't have the degree, or the experience.  somehow, they gave it to him anyway.  we've been teaching on wednesday nights, getting to know these kids, and planning events ever since.  john is home more than he has been in the last two years, and we are so glad we were given this kind of opportunity.  so that's the story of our latest adventure.  i'm really bad at condensing, if you can't tell.

i guess the last and latest update is that we have a meeting at an adoption agency in atlanta tonight.  we're going to learn more about our options to adopt a child or children domestically.  this isn't some notion that just popped into our heads.  we've wanted to adopt since before we were married, never quite sure when it would happen. well, now we feel a much stronger tug than ever to start the journey of opening our family for more.  we (with what little we know about the whole process/system) think what we want to focus on is a sibling group ages 5 and younger.  no race preference, no gender preference.  just siblings that need a home.  we've read that sibling groups are much harder to place because many people feel it's too much to take on at once.  i'm quite sure it is.  but we want to do it anyway.  we have a nice life.  a nice church, a nice family, a nice home.  support from every direction we turn.  and lots and lots of love.  we know it will take more than just being willing to love these kids and give them a place to sleep.  we aren't naive.  we're just optimistic that God will give us what we need to help these kids overcome their grief and thrive with our family.  and learn how truly valued they are.  so if you will, pray for us as we hope that this is something we'll be able to do.

and i think that concludes all the most recent updates.  i'll try to be slightly more consistent with future updates.  and now for some pictures.  no rhyme or reason.  i just like to look at my family.

     
the end. for now.