Getting Into A New Groove

I can't believe it's been a week since I posted last. And even my last post was a little lame. I never did come up with my perfect world list. There are just too many people to choose from!

And let's just say my real world gives me too many choices, too! And I can't seem to keep up with all of them. It's all good stuff, just too much of it these past few weeks. In one sense, I feel like I'm disappointing someone almost every day, but for the first time in a long while I feel like I'm right where God wants me to be, doing what He wants me to do each day. And that is a good place to be.

My biggest challenge has been getting into a new groove with school, homework, laundry, groceries, finding a new schedule between working in the P31 office and working from home, interviewing, hiring and training a new assistant (since my wonderful assistant Aimy got a full-time teaching job last month), working on messages for upcoming events this month, and this new thing called "exercise" that I added to my routine this summer!

Now that I think about it, it's probably the exercise that's throwing me off. Running, and stretching, and doing all that gymnastics stuff Lysa talked me into takes time ya'll. That was always my excuse before - "I can't exercise because I don't have time. " Now it's "I can't ________ because I have to exercise. " But I have to admit, I love it. I feel and sleep so much better now.

While we were on vacation at the end of the summer we made a list of goals for the fall. One of them was to spend more time with friends, and we really have been! Last weekend we went on a double date with some old friends Saturday night. We had a great time laughing and talking. Then we were invited to a cook-out at the home of some friends from Mexico that we met through our kids. It was a whole day of eating! After that we stopped by another cook-out for dessert and games with our church small group.

This past weekend we went running Saturday morning and then worked in the yard, cleaned house and I spent the whole afternoon putting up our fall decorations. Who cares that it's 95 degrees? I am putting out those fall colors and pumpkin candles! That night we had some new friends from church over to our house. JJ grilled baby-back ribs for the first time ever and they were so delicious! We all just sat around sharing our stories about how we met our spouses, things about parenting we never anticipated, etc. They all have little ones so it's kind of weird to be the ones they are asking for advice. Makes me feel a little old - but also very blessed!

Last night we had dinner with an Ethiopian family that we know through JJ's job. JJ works with the wife, Zemen, who is from Addis. She came her for college and also to join her husband who is also from Addis. It was a wonderful evening learning all about their country, their traditions and enjoying our first ever Ethiopian meal. They are a wonderful source of help and encouragement as we prepare to bring our soon to be adopted Ethiopian daughter(s) home.

Speaking of our adoption, we found this past weekend that our dossier has been finalized and approved in the US. It's on the way to Ethiopia to be interpreted and then processed through their court system. That is a really big deal!

We also had to make some decisions last week about a few girls we were interested in. All of the younger girls had been placed with other families while our paperwork was being finished. But there were some 10yr old girls we were drawn too. Then our agency reminded us that they are outside the age range we listed on our home study so we'd have to do an addendum to get approved - which would delay everything. After much prayer, we decided to wait for more younger girls to choose from. We feel like the Lord told us to adopt between the ages of 4-9 so we need to stay with that.

That has been hard. I have been concerned. What if they were one of our daughters and we just passed them up? But yesterday while I was reading my Bible God reminded me of the verse in Isaiah that talks about those who wait on the Lord. He promises that when we wait on HIM, we will be renewed with strength. I was reminded of His timing in all of this. And then I reminded myself that He already knows her name, He already knows who she is, and He'll make sure she comes home to us.

Well, that's a little re-cap of the past week here at our house. Tomorrow, September 11th, JJ and I are spending the day together for our 15th wedding anniversary! We decided not to go on a special trip since we'll have a lot of travel expense for Ethiopia. So we're going to a spa for a couples massage (first time we've ever done that) and then we'll spend a casual day together, maybe go for a walk, see a movie, have dinner out, just be. I am really looking forward to remembering and celebrating the day I married my best friend!