Times are a' Changing...

2011 is already proving to be a year for changes!

Here's a little update on our life:

* I'm retiring! Well, sort of. I took the leap and gave my official notice that this will be my last year teaching! Yikes! That is both an incredibly exciting thought and a terrifying one as well! Teaching is all I have known and I love my students but, for me, it's time to focus on home and ministry.
I am already overflowing with ideas of how I am going to spend my time, come July: spending more time with the college gals from church, taking advantage of mid-week ministry opportunities, spending time with family, organizing, cuddling all my friends' little ones (see bullet #3), making our apartment more of a "home," becoming more hospitable, joining more women's ministries at church, helping my friend, Julie, with her business, exercising....I will NOT just be sitting on the couch, eating Bon-Bons, and watching soap operas all day...I'm going to be BUSY!

* Brandon will be finishing up one degree this Spring and, Lord willing, will be moving on to TMC (The Master's College) to complete another in their DCP (Degree Completion Program). It takes all I have not to be jealous that he still gets to be in school but, if he ends up at Masters, I can audit a bunch of the classes and go for fun! Educational date night!

* Pretty much all of my closest friends are pregnant (7, to be exact!)! This really IS exciting...for three out of four weeks in a month (THINK: it makes sense)! The baby boom starts at the end of April and continues steadily through August, and even then, there are probably friends out there newly pregnant and haven't made an announcement! So, even better reason not to return to work in the fall! I'm going to be running from house to house dotting on these blessings!

* We are still fervently praying for a biological child and, we hope that, one day the Lord will see fit to bless us with that little one BUT, if we're not pregnant by the end of this year we will be moving forward with fost/adopt: fostering with the intent to adopt! We are excited; this is been in our family vision since we got married, regardless of whether we have biological children or not. So, we figured, now is as good a time as any to move ahead with that since we're not getting any younger! The Lord knows exactly what our family is going to look like and how it will come together, so we are giving it into His hands and are eager to see our family unfold!

Like I said, LOTS of changes! And while we don't know for sure what this year holds for us, we know that God has planned each moment perfectly...for our sanctification, our good, and, most importantly, His glory.