A Change

Since I have returned from Israel I have seen the Lord moving in my life and in the life of our family. It has been hard for both Jon and I to completely turn everything over to Him and let Him show us where He wants us to go. It started when I answered His call to go to Israel. I didn't know where the money for the trip was going to come from. I knew that I just needed to trust God and He would provide and He did. As my trip was drawing near Jon told me about a new job that was opening closer to our house. We had been praying for God to show us the direction He wanted us to go with our car situation and my job situation. Many of you know that I work only part time for the church. We only have one car as that is what is feasable for our budget. Jon was having to drive back and forth to St. Augustine everyday for work and back and forth to Tallahassee for drill once a month.

When Jon began to tell me about this new job the first thing he told me was that this was a deployable job. By this point God had given me a peace about the job and the possibility of another deployment. I told him to apply for the job especially because it is only 15 minutes from our house. We were hoping that he would hear something before I left to go to Israel or even while I was gone. He didn't hear anything and began to worry. A few days after I returned home we learned that he DID get the job. Such a huge answer to prayers! He started on the 18th and he doesn't have to deploy with the unit at the end of August.

Another answer to prayers was that once I returned from Israel, we began to aggressively work on potty training Jack. Up until just recently he has shown NO interest what so ever to go to the potty like a big boy. It took about 2 weeks for him to be out of pull ups and into underwear and then another week or so for him to be completely in underwear and completely potty trained. I am so thankful for amazing teachers at the Junior Academy that didn't pressure him to be potty trained and that worked with Jon and I to accomplish this huge goal. I am also thankful for Shelly Taylor and Amie Shields and that they had the forethought to realize that every child is different and not making it a requirement for children to be potty trained by a certain age.

I have also been feeling a pull to go back to Israel. There is so much work to be done there and I don't feel that God is done with me there. The people that are working in country are amazing and we were able to form some amazing bonds with them. I was able to share with some coworkers and it even looks like some of them are wanting to go and that makes my heart happy. I throughly enjoyed my time there and can't wait to get back.

We are looking foward to going on a short trip to Orlando in a little over a week. Jon will be down there for a work conference for a week. Jack and I will be heading down on Thursday afternoon after work/school and staying until late Saturday afternoon. We are all excited to spend this time together since in the weeks following we are going to be super busy with school, choir and Mom to Mom starting.

For now,

Family Pictures and a 4th birthday

The Saturday before the 4th we had our annual family pictures with the amazing Sarah Orgunov. We included our dog in them as well assome in Jack's room. Here are some for you to enjoy:

A certain little boy also had a FOURTH birthday on the 7th. I can't believe he is 4 years old. He had a really good birthday. We took cupcakes for his friends at school - in Iron Man colors. After school, my mom and step dad took us to Chuck E Cheese for dinner and for him to play games. We had such a good time. He got quite a bit of wooden parts for his wooden Thomas the Train set. He had his 4 year check up on Friday. He weighs 36 pounds and is 40 inches tall. He is growing like a weed. Next year I will have a kindergartner. It was just like yesterday that he was born. I love you James Alan!