Am I There, Yet?

…the kids wanted to say, “hi!”

They are doing so great here.  They are making a lot of friends and having fun.  They can’t wait for Grandma and Grandpa to come for a visit in April.

Just a quick, “hi!”

Can somebody please explain this?  This is a picture of a milk carton with the “sell by date” stamp.  Notice that the date in New Jersey is different than the date in New York City.  I don’t understand why…but, I would love to hear your best guess.

What’s your best guess?  Comments please!

(I may have to send a box of Choxie to the best answer…)

I haven’t blogged in awhile, so I just wanted to pop in and give an update.  Not much is happening here.  I’m still the biggest commitment phobe ever…I haven’t joined a women’s Bible study or small group, yet.  I haven’t joined MOPS or volunteered at my daughter’s school.  I haven’t browsed through the community papers to look for a knitting club or book club.  I haven’t even invited any neighbors over for coffee.  I’ve been spending most of my time at home with the kids and enjoying every minute of it.  I’m perfectly content to be a hermit.  I know I need to get out there at some time, but for now I’m enjoying the time with my family.

My 6-year-old told me the other day that when she’s a mom she doesn’t ever want her kids to cry so she’s going to give them whatever they ask for.  Josh looked at her and said, “Well, you’ll have to fill me in on how that works out for you.”  LOL!!!

Parenting is way more difficult than I expected, but I’m learning to not beat myself up over the little things.  I tend to blow things out of proportion at times and feel as if I’ve ruined my kids for life.  I resonate with the scene in “Sleepless in Seattle” when the dad and son have an argument and the son runs out screaming something about how his dad is ruining his life and the dad replies by saying, “Good!  Then you’ll have a lot to tell Oprah!” 

The adoption thing has come up again.  I’ll have to blog more about that later.  I feel inadequate to adopt another child.  I feel like I need to get my life in order before I can adopt…I need to eat healthier, develop better time management skills and do a better job at keeping our home spotless.  I need to learn how to develop better discipline and education tactics with the kids.  I can think of 100 things I need to change about myself before I can take in the responsibility of another child or two.  But, then I recognize that those are pressures I put on myself…not expectations that come from God.  I’m learning a lot about fully trusting God and I think this is another example of that.  I need to sit back, passionately pursue God and let Him put all the pieces in place.

I was watching David Letterman last night and his special guests where Terri and Bindi Erwin.  Letterman asked the adorable Bindi about her dad and this is what she had to say…check out this clip.  This is the ultimate compliment from a daughter about her daddy and I hope that my kids are able to say something like this after I’m gone.

We were hit with a practical joke from Mother Nature today.  It was around 70 degrees this afternoon when we took the kids to the park for a picnic.  It’s JANUARY 6th…it’s unbelievable!  Both of the kids wore long sleeved T-shirts and we saw several people walking and running around in shorts and short-sleeved T’s.  We even saw a woman driving a convertible around town with the top down.  My brother lives in Phoenix, and it was warmer here today than it was there.  Is it really January?

I took a picture of the lady in her convertible…just in case you didn’t believe me. 

Reflecting on the past:

Wow…what a year!  2006 will always be remembered by me as the year of adventure.  Quick overview:

January:  That was the month where we decided to step out on a limb and look for another ministry opportunity.  This wasn’t a decision we made overnight, this was a decision that took over a year to make.  We just finally felt released to search out other opportunities at that time.  Josh sent out his first resume. 

February and March:  These two months were spent praying and wondering what our future held.  More resumes where sent out and more conversations were had.  We went to an interview in Oregon.  We knew immediately it wasn’t going to work out…but, it was a fun experience.  I also got to go to the coast with my girlfriends for a weekend away.  That was a lot of fun.  We need to do something like that again…very soon!  (hint…hint)

April:  More praying and dreaming.  Josh and I took the kids to Disneyland for a week.  That was the best family vacation we had been on…we didn’t want to leave.

May:  May was our last “normal” month of the year.  We told the congregation that we were leaving.  That was met with a positive response.  Most people understood and were excited for us.  We also got to go to Seattle for a conference at Mars Hill.  Josh went to the conference and the kids and I tagged along and played.  I took them to the aquarium and the zoo and other places around town.

June:  June was a very difficult month.  This was our last month employed by the church.   It was hard to say goodbye to the life we knew and we were confused by the fact that we didn’t have a new job lined up. 

July:  We were surprised we still didn’t have a job.  You would think that after 6 months of looking we would have a job.  It doesn’t work that way in the world of Churchianity.  We knew we needed to get away, so we took advantage of the time and took a sabbatical.  We packed the kids up and drove from Oregon to Phoenix and spent a month in the sun.  We had a wonderful quiet month of time spent with God and each other.  Near the end of the month we flew to New Jersey for an interview and took some time to visit New York City and Philadelphia.

August:  We drove from Phoenix to Des Moines.  We took some time to drive through Sedona, got stuck in a rain storm in Albuquerque, visited some family in Denver and managed to stay awake while driving through Nebraska.  If you’ve ever been to Nebraska…you’ll know what I mean.  We spent a week with the in-laws and then left the kids in Des Moines while Josh and I drove to Wisconsin for church planter’s boot camp.  That was also one of the highlights of our trip.  I still believe in my heart that church planting is in our future and boot camp gave me the confidence I needed to walk in that direction.  After boot camp, we picked up the kids and then drove through South Dakota, stopping to see the Badlands and Mt. Rushmore.  We also drove through Wyoming and spent some time in Cody, Yellowstone, the Tetons and had the worst cup of coffee in Jackson Hole before heading back to Oregon.  Once in Oregon, we hung out for a few days and then drove back to Seattle for another job interview.

September:  This was a strange month for us.  We enrolled Lilly in school and Josh started working for some friends.  We visited a few churches in town and spent time praying about our future.  We turned down the job in Seattle…it didn’t feel right, even though it was a great opportunity.  We strongly felt drawn to the job here…but, that was so up in the air and we didn’t know what to do with that.  It was a month of uncertainty, yet we felt really close to God and were thankful for more time to spend with friends and family.

October:  We flew back to New Jersey for interview #2 and met more people here.  The rest of the month was spent talking to God about this opportunity.

November:  We accepted the job here and packed up our house and moved across the country.  We had no idea (and still don’t) about what God has planned for us here, but we feel strongly that this is where we need to be right now, even though conditions are less than ideal and this wasn’t the smartest “career” move.  We just want to be obedient to God and see where that leads.

December:  December was a transition/settling month.  We’re still trying to feel things out and figure out what we need to be doing.  What’s our #1 priority?  What’s our role here? 

Anticipating to the future:

We’re looking forward to 2007.  We’re going to roll up our sleeves and serve where necessary.  I have only one resolution.  I am going to passionately pursue God.  Sure, there are other things I need to take care of to be a better person.  My life is out of balance right now.  I still have boxes that need to be unpacked to make this house a home.  I need to have better time management.  I need to control my diet better.  There are a lot of things I could do to be a better mom and wife.  I need to get out there and make some new friends and meet my neighbors.  But, Josh reminded me that if I passionately pursue God, then the rest of that stuff will fall into place.  I think he’s right.

So…bring it on, 2007!  What are you going to throw our way this year?