Update

Well, here I am grabbing a minute to sit down and write.
One baby sleeps while other babies work.
Funny how our children grow up, somehow right in front of us, yet always in our heart, in our minds eye they are always our baby.
In a week my oldest will have left the nest. 
In a week my new normal will begin once again.
Just three short years ago my family of 4 grew to 5, then 6; soon after we expanded again quickly 7 then 9. 
The latter part of 2012 began the shrinking, 8, then 7 and now I am preparing as this week Vaughan and his family move into their own home and we sit as a family of 4 again.
I'm excited 
and sad.
He's been with me the longest, it's been 20 years.
20 years.
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I feel as though I should bring you up to date with the rest of my life, I just can't think of what to type.

I'm planning a wedding for two kids from youth group, and by kids, I mean graduated from college 20-something-years-olds; when I realized they were old enough to drink alcohol I was hit slap in the face about the true nature of youth ministry-- it never ends, you just grow up with some of them.

I am also planning an upcoming Parent Open House at youth group. You got it- we are inviting the parents of over 300 students to come join us on a Wednesday night. I am excited to have my part be the decor aspect, so that has had my mind busy.

Let's see... Aubry is still living with us and we have been asked by the state if we would be willing to keep her long term or adopt her if it doesn't work out with her parents. Wow, not our original intention but we replied with a yes. We love this little girl more than words could say and of course we would love to watch her grown into adulthood living under our roof. Court is in the spring and we're just trusting God knows best and taking each step one by one.

I've been back to teaching Sunday School and I love it. Somehow I had lost the time and the drive to teach and quite frankly been saying no to God in this area because of some self-doubt; I started in December and we just started a new class on the book of Daniel and boy and I loving it. Give me a Bible, a concordance, Bible dictionary and some commentaries and you can bet I'm struggling to get anything else done.

Steve returned from a work trip in Detroit where he fell in love with a place near and dear to my heart. When we want things to happen in our time we really just need to step back and wait on the Lord and His timing. For 5 years I've prayed for Steve to make this trek north and yet perhaps had he gone earlier his heart would not have been ready, and actually it was a building Steve fell in love with. A building and it's possibilities.
Possibilities to welcome students,
love on children,
it's walls to echo laughter,
it's floors to absorb pain and heal sorrow;
a building with lights to shine down the Light,
drains to flush away rejection and negativity.
Yes, he had to travel to a building that we didn't have 12 months ago.
He had to travel now, 2013; so he could fall in love.

So... that's a brief update. I hope you all are having a fabulous 2013 with all it's freshness and possibilities.
XOXO,