An Overdue Update

Wow, time flies when you are super busy!

It has been crazy around here as we have worked to get our home ready to sell. Lots of little projects add up to hours and hours of work. We just do what we can when we can. It's not all done, but I guess it never really is. We had a lengthy painting job done as well as some flooring work completed. For those jobs we took a trip to Michigan. Chuck was able to meet up with some people regarding the church and I got to stay on high alert in my sister's home with the kids for a week. It was great to be with family (and experience cooler weather), but it was exhausting keeping the boys out of trouble in my sister's home. I came to love naptime even more than I once did!

Finally, just yesterday, we put our home up for sale. Because we have only lived here 21 months, we have to do For Sale By Owner. Luckily we have some friends who know a lot about real estate and marketing. We are hopeful that we will stand out among other FSBO houses. And really, it's all in God's hands. We will do our best to market our home and leave the rest to Him. If you'd like a link to our Craig's List listing or to a Blog we've created full of pictures and information, please email me at julicason@yahoo.com.

Fundraising for the new church seems to be full of closed doors. The economy is in the crapper and the funding prospects aren't good. If I look at the big picture of everything it is easy to say, "Maybe we aren't supposed to do this." But, the truth is, I know we are. I know with all my heart that we are supposed to move to Michigan and start a church. I don't know where the money will come from, but I know God has called us and so we go. Our faith is being tested. Some days I fail. Some days I don't.

Emotionally I'm just all over the place. Added to the stress of selling our home and relocating are a couple of big milestones. As Tristan's first birthday approaches along with the upcoming first Gotcha Day for Noah and Samuel, I'm an emotional wreck. I want to bawl my eyes out thinking about Tristan turning one. Where did my little baby go? How has this happened so fast?

Thinking about the twins gets me even more worked up. I think about where we were at nearly a year ago and where we are at today. WOW. God has been so graceful to our family in this last year as Noah and Samuel (and us!) have adjusted. When I think about how things were early on and where we are at today, my eyes well up with such gratitude. These boys are THRIVING. Seriously. We deal with some minor issues, but in the grand realm of adoption/bonding/attachment we are doing so well. Some kids come home with serious issues. We doubled our chances for that by adopting two children. My heart is so thankful for how these boys are blossoming. They are such a joy (and A LOT of work!).

I have a dry erase calendar that is still stuck on August 2008. For the first few months after all the kids arrived, I just didn't even think about updating it. But as time wore on, I couldn't bring myself to do it. When I put that month together last year on the dry erase board, I was so full of anticipation. We knew the twins would be home soon, finally. We had waited so long for them. We had begun our adoption process 33 months before. And with Tristan, we knew we would have a baby before the month was over. We had no idea what was about to happen to our little world as we knew it. Yes, we were scared, but the pure joy and excitement of it all was just all-encompassing. We were so naive! Thankfully we had a host of family and friends committed to praying for us and that carried us through, I'm sure.

We are so thankful to all our family and friends who are praying for us during this time. Going through all of this would be unfathomable without that kind of support, so thank you! Please keep praying for us, and if you'd like specifics, please send me an email at julicason@yahoo.com.