Keeping up....

Hi friends and family,

I have not been so good at keeping up our family blog but I have been little Miss blogger over at "The Journey of My Heart." I hope you'll click on the button on the sidebar and hop on over to find out what is new with us. I've just completed a month of encouragement for moms.

The boys are doing great. It's been a year of transition but they are finding a new place to belong and loving it. Neither of them have enjoyed sports which sometimes makes it limiting in making friends. But now they both are becoming big skateboard fanatics and several of their good friends are, too. They've been spending all of their afternoons doing ollies and jumps off the sidewalk and steps outside this past week - even when it was 20 degrees outside!

JJ took them to a skateboard park with some friends this weekend and they had a blast. He's such a great dad, always finding new ways to make them laugh and enjoy everyday life. If you want to see some of his creativity on a boring afternoon, here is a video they made one Sunday afternoon last year before we moved.



When they aren't flying paper airplanes, they are having lots of sleepovers and hanging out with new and old friends. We love seeing our kids growing in their relationships and finding a group of friends we really enjoy having around. Our prayer and hope is that our house will be a fun hang out , and that is becoming the case. We've also started hosting the youth group of boys in middle school and high school at our house on Wednesday nights. We decided it would be my writing night so I head over to Panera. JJ said he thinks that is totally God ordained so I don't have to witness the mayhem and nerf wars!

JJ's job is going well and he really liking his role as a project manager at Vanguard. He meets with a co-worker from China who asked him about Jesus and the Bible a few years ago. They went through the book of John and Simon put his faith in Christ. His wife did too a year later. God is really using him there to be a picture of His love. His health is good and he's been free from any kind of stomach problems for several weeks, since he finished antibiotics after that horrible bacterial infection that left him hospitalized in November. His liver enzyme levels went up again so he's taking a new natural supplement that is good for your liver and we're hoping that will help. He is going to see a specialist when he finished his first bottle full.

Our adoption is still in the "waiting" phase. We called the agency in December and they encouraged us to be patient and not lose hope. I feel like we just came up to a big wall. But I know God's timing is perfect and that He can see the big picture. He knows what our life looks like from a wide-lens view and we don't. We are praying that He'll use us and our new home to be a place of refuge for someone who needs a place while we wait. There are so many people in need now with the economy and we are so blessed so we want to share it in some way. We're just praying and watching to see how His plans unfold.

I am doing well, too. Family and ministry is keep my life at full capacity. Each day is an adventure but each day God provides just what I need. I couldn't do all that He's called me to do without the amazing support and help of my family and friends. So, thank you for being there for me and filling in my gaps with prayer, help and encouragement.

I wanted to also ask anyone stopping by here to please pray for my cousin Marybeth who is recovering from a double mastectomy and experiencing infections and complications. She's such an amazing mom, wife, daughter and woman. It's been a long road and my heart is just burdened for her. Please pray for her strength, her healing and huge doses of encouragement. Also, please pray for my friend Kim who is in the second year of winner her battle against stage four breast cancer. She has numerous tumors in her bones and is in a lot of pain. She's also a wife and mom to three beautiful kids. Please pray for her strength, healing, shrinkage of tumors, effective treatment and encouragement.

I feel so blessed to have these amazing women in my life but it's hard to see them suffer. Please keep them and their families in your prayers.

I guess I should end this blog book chapter. It's great to catch up and I hope you'll come back soon. Remember, if you are wondering where we are when we don't post here, be sure to hop over to The Journey of My Heart and you'll find us there!

Hugs and blessings,