Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Psalm 82:3

What if there are children who will suffer somehow because I failed to obey God?
What if my cowardice costs even one child somewhere in the world his or her life?
(excerpt from The Hole in Our Gospel)

Sunday, August 26, 2012

So long Utah...VA here we come!


We're moving to Virginia!
Yes, you read that right.  And yes, we know you're not supposed to do major life changes back to back.  But for those of you who know us (really know us), know that's just sort of how God does things in our family.  And though it's all a bit surreal at the moment, we're all surprisingly excited about it.  Yea, we will miss many Utah friends (most of whom are truly part of our family), but in the end, God has opened too many doors in the past 4 weeks for us to question what's He's up too.  

Kyle starts his new job on the 27th, the rest of us move out there on the 5th and yes, our house here is under contract - Praise God!!!!!  It'll be interesting, I'm sure.  We have no idea what's in store, but I know from many experiences that the crazier the path seems to be, the more joy we find along the way.
Jacob (formerly Habtamu) and Corey are virtual twins.  Just like Chelsea and MJ have a special bond, the boys have figured out one another's quirks and have more in common than we initially thought.  They started Karate for a few weeks here, can you tell?  Once we get settled they made me promise I'd find them a new Karate class.  (If you're wondering why Habtamu has a new name, it's because HE wanted one.  He chose it.  Apparently he likes the Bible stories about Jacob and said "I just like that name, can I be called that?")  So..........like our other adopted children, his given Ethiopian name is now his middle name.  

Jared will start HS in VA.  He's excited about that part, and just wished we got moved before school started there.  He's really hoping there is a good basketball team there in need of a point guard! 

Corey will enter junior high out there, and thinks that sounds fun.  I'm not sure jr. high is ready for him, but apparently I don't have a say in that one!  Not sure where they'll start Jacob, but maybe he'll be there too.  If not, he'll be a 5th grader...guess time and some testing will tell.

Chelsea and Miranda are seemingly good with things.  Chelsea has been the only one to express some sadness at moving, but more often than not she talks about new adventures we'll have.  She looked through some VA books recently and thinks she's about to live in a rainforest...and this girl loves learning about the rainforest.  Miranda helped pack 3 weeks ago.  She gathered her Rapunzel doll, her Alvin, Simon & Theodore stuffed animals and each one's girlfriend, and put them all in a Kohl's bag under her bed.  When I went to tuck her in one night she said she had a surprise for me.  She smiled great big, pulled out the bag and said "Look, mom, I helped you pack my stuff!" 

Kyle is excited about his new job and I get to keep mine (i love my directors!).  We're also on the same page about school, home and kid stuff, so our anxiety level is fairly minimal.  That says a lot, too, since as of right now he's living in an Extended Stay hotel and we don't have a home to rent yet! Yikes.  He's got a week to start a job, find a lot to build a home on, get a rental in the mean time and buy a car. 

Some of you may be reading this and going "Wowa...I didn't know you were moving!"  Well, 4 weeks ago we didn't either and things have happened VERY fast. 

My next post will be more of a "good bye" post, but right now I have 5 kids waiting to head to the pool.  Their stuff is boxed, they're not starting school here and we need to keep our sanity :o)