So - last I wrote it was the weekend for Ahmed to leave. We made it through that painful weekend. It was SO tough!! I never imagine how hard it would be. I cried, and cried and cried. Ahmed left us on Sunday, June 26th and he arrived in Egypt on Saturday, July 2nd. Yes, it was a long week for me. But he is now home and settled. He is trying to figure things out so he can come back in the fall. So far, everything is working against him. We keep praying for things to work out. I keep reminding him to have faith. God is in control.
Keith and I had originally decided this past winter that we would not host a student full time this year. Kathy had told us that instead of being a permanent host family we could be a welcome family. A welcome family would host the student for their first 6 weeks here. That sounded great to us! We would still be involved with the students but not be committed to a full year of financial responsibility. (Lets face it -- Keith is still without a full time job. Quite honestly, we expected him to be in a job by now!) Some financial things happened in July and Keith and I felt that we could not even be a welcome family. It was such a tough decision, considering we had committed and this student was making plans to be in Clay, Alabama, USA. We prayed and prayed AND PRAYED that God would intervene in the situation and fortunately he did. It was such a relief. Kind of confirmed the decision we had made. Well, Kathy has been unable to find a permanent home for the student so he will be with us for 2 weeks. We are again praying VERY HARD that the family he is supposed to be with will be found. I know God has amazing plans for him, he would not have made it this far if not!!
So, let me tell you a little bit about Joon, since he will be with us a short time!!
So, today is Thursday, August 11th and Joon is leaving Norway. It will take him 3 days to arrive in Birmingham. I am not sure of his flight schedule - wish I did so that I could follow him - but I know he arrives in Nashville Saturday afternoon and he will be in Birmingham that night. He starts school on Monday - I think - but I am not sure of the registration process. I have never been through this side of it.
I think the thing that I am most excited about is being the family that Joon is excited to meet. We have made small chit chat over facebook - planned to Skype, but that never worked out. I am SO nervous about getting attached (like I got with Ahmed) but I keep telling myself that I have to do what is best for my family. Noah comes first! But, I also keep praying that God gives us a loving, Christian family for Joon that happens to be in the Clay area. Keith and I will become his "aunt/uncle" when he gets to his new family, so we will still be involved with his year here in America.
So, I guess you would like some updates on Keith and the job situation. As I said, he is still without a full time job. Yes, it is easy to become very discouraged, but we know that the perfect job is there somewhere and it is gonna be incredible when we get there. He still has his resume all over the place at different churches. He even had a phone interview with one church. We were waiting on a phone interview with the senior pastor but that never happened. We do know that the church has recently hired a youth guy as well, so I keep saying they have put the childrens search on hold. He has answered questions for 2 other churches - all at the same time. It is so amazing to realize that Keith's resume is getting so much attention with these churches but nothing is following through. So we keep praying. He does have an interview today with Lifeway Christian Bookstores. We are very excited about it but I'm wondering if that is necessarily a good thing. I mean, have you seen the awesome things that Lifeway has. HAHA!!
My baby boy is all grown up -- just about. He started 2K yesterday at Noah's Park. We are potty training, which is frustrating by the way. We have good days and then not so good days. Papaw keeps telling me that you do not see 1st graders in diapers and it will come with time. My baby boy will be 2 1/2 in less than 2 weeks. :-( He is talking so much now and having conversations and telling me what he wants and doesn't want. Its like he changed over night! He is definitely all boy! He loves his hot wheels and monster trucks and anything that is a ball. I am hoping he can play rag ball at Clay next Spring!! Yay for being a ball park mom!! (See - even more reason that I need the soccer mom van!)
I guess I have made my post long enough for now. I promise to keep better updated -- hopefully with some awesome news here soon!
Keep us in your prayers as we still determine God's plans for our family. And keep all of the exchange students in your prayers as they leave their families to come to America for a year!
~Randi
No comments:
Post a Comment