Run run run

It seems like running around trying to hurry up and be somewhere or get something done has been the focus around here for awhile now. It's all good things like meetings at church and outings with the kids and helping out folks who need the help but boy am I worn out!!! I don't see myself slowing down much either since there is just so much going on that I want to be part of and so many other things that I have planned and projects here to work on that even when I do have a chance to lay down and rest I can only lay there and plot the things that I want to be doing. It really isn't helping me either that my mind is just soooo busy right now. Sometimes I wish that my mind had an off button so that I could go into 'sleep' mode like the computer does. There is so much on my mind so I'll just blab all but the unspoken stuff here for now and see if just getting it out of there for a bit helps at all.

My kids.....
Jessie -- still living with her baby's daddy's grandpa in a tiny little studio apartment but has managed to spend the money everyone has given her to help get a house on a new car and now the other not very old car that she has is sitting in the parking lot at her baby's daddy's grandpa's apartment. GRRRRRR. Do you ever just want to shake someone and remind them that they are way too old to be so irresponsible?

Josh -- doing wonderful. He is working constantly and keeps getting promotions, raises and more job offers. His graduation is June 4th and I know he is really ready to be finished with school. He isn't sure whether he will go right to college or not and to tell the truth I don't see any harm at all in him waiting to see what the Lord would have him to do before he dives into something else.

Tae, Jared, and Caleb -- almost done with school for this year!!! I ordered the tests for them today and will most likely get that done within the next few weeks. I know that they all still have some fairly serious weak spots (especially the boys with math) but we have a great plan for finishing our quest to get back on track before the official start of next year's schooling. They are all very very excited about the garden we have planned and getting some critters to keep here too.

Tae is growing into a wonderful young woman who has a real heart for the Lord. She is so sweet and helpful that I wonder sometimes what I ever did to deserve her....my precious little 'fred'. She still is very seriously interested in Mr. Puppy Love and he in her but they are waiting on the Lord and have both managed to seriously impress me and her daddy with the way they have chosen to handle this situation. We are just praying and praying that they will continue to just give it to God and do His will for their lives.

Jared is growing and growing and growing.....if grocery consumption was a contest boy would we be a blue ribbon family!!! The boy can eat!!! He has also turned into a pretty serious book worm and is rejoicing over having gotten his first library card since we moved to North Carolina.....the only down side is that the library didn't have any of the books that he wanted the most (biographies of great men of God and other books of that kind). Troy and I are trying to see what kind of book budget we can come up with for the kids for books like that and I am really blessed to have a wonderful sister in Christ who has an awesome book collection that she loves to share.

Our big concern with Jared right now is that he is really trying to run from God (again). He tends to do that when the Lord has given him a burden and he feels a little overwhelmed....it has taken a lot of watching and praying for me and Troy to catch on to this but there is definitely a pattern developing. He has gotten into this terrible habit lately of trying to impress his friends by goofing around and joking and has gotten himself into some pretty serious trouble at home with it. Troy and I go back and forth a lot on how to deal with this but are constantly in prayer over this boy!!

Caleb is amazing sometimes. He is usually very content to just hang back behind the other two kids and keep kind of on the quiet side but lately at home the boy has just shined. He has taken to getting up earlier than everyone else and picking up around the house. He fixes his own breakfast, picks up the house, walks the dogs and has his 'quiet time'. He says his day just doesn't feel right if he 'don't get to the Lord first before everyone else'. I have woken up a few times to hear him in his morning routine and it's just so sweet!! It's hard to believe that my baby boy is ten now.


Us.......
Troy and I are both doing good too. Troy was honored with the opportunity to speak for the 'opening' part of Sunday school last week and he felt so blessed just to be allowed to speak in the Father's house that he has beamed ever since. He really struggles at work with some of the guys who aren't saved and behave so ugly toward him and having done that has really given him a boost in just the day to day stuff. I am so impressed with my husband and it has really blessed me to see how he has grown over the last year. I just keep praying that the Lord will make me a better wife for him (one that can keep up!!). We are both just really seeking God for his calling on our lives. It just feels like there is something we are supposed to be doing but neither one of us has a really clear idea. Every so often we think we have a clue but Troy isn't qualified to preach and so he thinks that disqualifies him from all sorts of other areas of ministry too. We'll just wait and see what the Lord has for us....I'm sure that we both have a lot of growing left to do before we are thrown into whatever work it is that we're supposed to do.


The home.....
I'm almost moved in....sort of, well maybe. But we will live here and eventually I'll find all of our stuff and get it organized (I hope). I know that things will slow down soon and I'll get to keep my home and in the meantime we'll just keep on having the wonderful adventure of trying to find our stuff without losing our tempers over it being lost in the first place. We have big plans for gardens and critters and even some decorating type stuff as soon as we get the time. I desperately need to get back into my little routine with the meal planning and such since we have been just terrible since the move with all of the busyness and it has cost us more money than I even want to think about.

That's really all I can type right now. I have a carpet to clean ( our lab was sick all night) and stuff to do before the meeting tonight. Sorry to ramble and not make much sense but this post was for me anyway....hopefully now that I've gotten some of that stuff out of my head it won't feel so cluttered in there. Whew!!! I have a lot to do so SEE YA!!!