Friday, February 17, 2006

Friday 2/17/06

Last night we set up the 2nd set of bunks in the girls' room. This morning, my mom & dad came over to help get the bedroom situated & cleaned up. What a HUGE help that was! Lots of sweat went into the room & I'm proud of how it's turned out! Thanks mama & daddy!!

My sister kept the kids today while we went to withdraw Andrew & Kourtney from school in Elkhart. I'm not sure what I expected, but I expected it to be harder than it was. Fortunately, when we walked in the door, the receptionist said something to the effect of "They're here to withdraw the kids." They knew we were coming & had been given a heads-up by Larry's dad, so they had every piece of paper we could possibly need sitting there ready. All we had to do was sign 1 piece of paper & we were done. Whew! We picked the kids up & took them on home. It was about 30 minutes early, but we figured we'd take them back to Larry's dad's house & spend a little time with them. It was fun to interact with the sweet kids & see how they like to spend their afternoons.

Kourtney & I went through their movies (they have a TON of them!) trying to decide which ones they want to bring with them. Pretty much everything they own is good stuff...only a few that I'll have to turn down if they show up with them. Hopefully it won't be an issue & they'll forget about those "if-fy" movies. Kourtney wanted to watch cartoons, so I plopped down onto the couch with her. They are allowed to watch one particular cartoon that we don't let our kids watch, but we sat there & watched it today. I figure "one last time" wouldn't hurt.

Andrew came in & was watching with us when an ad for a Spongebob movie came on. He said he wants to see it. It's supposed to come on in the theaters next week I think. He asked if we could go see it. We talked about how expensive it'll be to take 7 people to the movie & how we'd have to use it as a special treat now & then. He promptly ran off to bring in his piggy bank to see if he had enough money. What a sweetie! After counting his money with him, Larry played a couple hands of dominoes with him. He's a good kid!

When we left, they seemed really excited about moving in tomorrow. I'm encouraged by their behavior. In the past, they've been a little bitof a discipline problem, so it's good to see them acting so sweetly. That's not to say that we won't see any issues arise later, but for now, I'm encouraged!

The asst. principal was talking to the kids before they left today & asking who lives at their new house. They were all grins saying that they'd have "2 sisters & 1 brother". :) I almost cried hearing them call their cousins siblings!

God is just sooo good. He continues to astound me with the way He's encouraged me this past week. Last week in church, He showed me a vision of Andrew being baptised right there in our church's baptistry. I didn't mention it to Larry, but the following morning, Larry had the EXACT same vision! All throughout the week, He has provided meals, friends who called to love on us at just the right moment, music that has lifted me, hands to help with physical projects that needed to be done, etc. Tonight at Walmart, I bought a Nicole C. Mullin CD & was listening to it on the way home. As I listened (ok, well, let's be honest, I was squealing it at the top of my lungs), I couldn't help but cry the most profoundly intense tears of joy. My REDEEMER LIVES! As I cried, I was praying that God will help us teach these children, that He will give us supernatural strength, that He will show Himself to them immediately when they walk through our doors....and thanking Him for the oppurtunity to love my niece & nephew in such a special way!

Thank you Jesus! You are soooo good!

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