Christmas

The reason I have not posted in quite a while is this little thing that happens every year called...Christmas! It's crazy, busy, hurried, and wonderful. I love every minute of it. My husband's sister and brother in law were in town from far away this year with their one-year-old son, so days have been even more full as we've tried to soak up every second we possibly oould with that little guy! We also have some great friends who recently adopted a son from Uganda. Meeting their new addition and spending time with my nephew really heightened my excitement to enter this new phase of life!

Now, I understand that most of what I have seen of these two is their best behavior, and life probably won't be quite as rosy when we get our first placement, but I am trusting the Lord to be faithful to our obedience. It will certainly be an adventure, and I can't wait to get started.

However, I'll add another layer on this emotional roller-coaster. It has been about a month since this decision was broadcast to those who are closest to us. In that month, I have been sick almost the entire time. I thought I was pretty much well a week or 2 ago, but then two days ago, I had a fever of 102.5! Satan sure knows how to get to me. Exercise is my best stress reliever, and I'm a full-fledged extrovert. If I was to plan the perfect attack on my spirit, this would be it. I have felt isolated and lazy much of the time, but I am calling spiritual warfare what it is, and I'm praying through it.

One benefit of being home sick several days recently is that I have forged ahead on our mountainous pile of paperwork. We are scheduled for training on the weekend of January 22, and I'm trying to get as much done as possible in my down time. Lo and behold, I have 22 documents to complete, and the first one I opened was 36 pages along. Not only that, but my husband and I have to complete one apiece. The second one I opened was instructions to complete an autobiography. The bullet points of information to include go on for 2 pages...yikes! Needless to say, I didn't open any of the others. I'll just take this one step at a time.

The last thing I'll say is that my husband had his psychosocial evaluation right before Christmas, and as he left, the therapist assured him that he "had no reservations about us being foster parents." He then said that he would see us in January. Great news right before the holiday!

2 Prayer Requests:

• IMPACT Training is set for the weekend of January 22, which is also the weekend of a retreat I am leading for several middle school and high school girls to learn their worship dances for the spring. Pray for someone to step forward to take that responsibility from me or for the girls to be flexible to rehearse the weekend before (MLK Weekend)
• Pray that my sinuses would CLEAR!! It's getting ridiculous.

Happy New Year to you and yours! May the Lord use all of us in challenging ways this year!