Status Update

Eh, so much for my New Year's Resolution. We've been incredibly busy!

In February, we finally got our "Randy", and we are just waiting through the mandatory six months before we can officially petition for adoption. He fits in well, and is doing great here, and we are so blessed to have him!

As for the three girls, the situation has changed fairly dramatically, and it looks highly possible that they will return home. Of course, I can't share the specifics of their situation, but I really believe that this would be wrong for them. I've tried very hard to separate myself, and to look at this objectively, and the conclusion is still the same. My goal though, is to give it to God, and know that He is taking care of all of us.

It's been such a tough year so far. I lost my grandmother this January, very suddenly, just one year after her husband died. I wasn't even able to see her before she passed away because I was sick, and they just will not let you visit ICU patients when you are visibly ill (go figure). But the last thing she said to me was that she thought it was great that I was raising a large family, just like her. She herself had 9 children and close to 20 grandchildren, and so out of anybody in my life, she really understood. She was a very special, amazing lady, and I miss her.

Not even a week after my grandmother passed away, my husband's uncle died very unexpectedly, and, unlike my grandmother, he was fairly young and had children and grandchildren and a wife who needed him and were massively grieved at his death. If memory serves, he was in his early fifties, and had no known health issues. I've often heard the old folks say, "The good Lord giveth, and the good Lord taketh away". And so He does.

The chaos level in my house is at an all time high. The three girls are struggling with all of the back and forth, and extended visits and such. The result is highly violent behavior directed at us. It's like something has taken over these three that I love, and they are practically strangers to us now.

Sorry that this has been such a melancholy post-- but that's life right now. We are trying our best to remember who is in control... but it sometimes difficult beyond my abilities. To see so many friends and family struggling around us is not particularly helpful. I know that we've got to turn a corner soon.