In the world of pregnancy: I am HUGE! Bending has become a commodity along with a normal ankle size. But I am so very grateful to be this far along. I remember being in the first trimester things 30 weeks seemed years away. And here I am, closing in on 31! God is good and we could not be more excited to welcome our sweet baby boy. He has been moving and kicking and it is just so precious to be able to create life. I am completely grateful. As I fold his little clothes I get teary thinking of a little body fitting in these cute outfits one day soon.
In the world of our life in general, we moved! No...not down the street. That would be far too convenient. Instead, we moved across the world to a small gorgeous island called Saipan. It is a U.S. Territory that no one has heard of and it is pretty incredible. See the pictures?!
But rewinding a bit...how did this come to be?!?! I actually heard about it from my now previous boss. He is helping to start a golf school here in Saipan and mentioned that they were looking for a young Christian couple to stay in the dorms and serve as houseparents to the kids. That's us! So it's really that easy. We prayed about it, communicated back and forth with the individuals heading the program up in Saipan and about 5 weeks later we were on a 18 trek to Saipan from good ol' Houston, TX. And here we are. The opportunity is very exciting though it has turned into something a bit different from what we originally thought. There are no children here yet and most likely won't be until September or October at the very earliest. So our focus has been preparing for them, marketing, and getting the basics taken care of. I think it works out pretty well as it has given us time to get acquainted with things here. The island is lovely and the people are most hospitable. It's great place to raise a family. The only unfortunate thing is that the island is really struggling economically. It largely depended on the garment industry up until a few years ago but was completely shut down by the US government due to wage issues. That could be another blog entirely but everyone has their own opinions. Either way, it is sad to see businesess abandoned or struggling, people living in poverty trying to make it day to day.
Before I left Houston, we had a lovely baby shower/going away party. See?!
There had to have been a good 60 people there. It was great...and sad to see so many of the people we love gathered in one place to acknowledge the pending birth of our sweet baby, but also our departure. These past weeks have been very emotional for us. We are excited because we truly feel God placed us here and that he orchestrated everything so beautifully so that we could be here. But it is hard nonetheless. We miss our families and some of the luxuries we took for granted in the states. But we are humbled as well...in a very healthy and spiritually awakening kind of way.In sad news, we have to find another home for our puppy, Lilah. My mom moved into our house which has been great but I think Lilah is a bit much for her. So we are going to find her a good home with the help of my friend Katt and her husband. It is so hard to think of her as gone. She quickly became a part of our family and even though she chewed up a huge part of our home, we loved her. But we have to trust that this too is happening for a reason and that it will be best for our loving pup. She came into our life for a reason. It makes me cry to type this...so let's move on.
So that is that...quite the post full. There is so much more to say and write but I will save it for another entry, hopefully in the not too distant future. Thank you all for reading...for caring about our lives. We are excited to share with you our adventures in Saipan as well as our soon to be adventures in Parentland. This is sure to be an action packed blog in the coming months!
Until next time!
