Lessons

I have wrestled a lot recently with feelings of failure as a mother and wife.  The endless duties of keeping up a home, the laundry, the dishes, the clutter.  The responsibility and effort required in homeschooling.  The huge job of training my children in the Lord and in Godly character.  I found myself falling short in every area.  After weeks of discouragement and hating my failure God brought me back to what I know to be true.  I am a sinner, I will always fall short, I will never run a perfect race in this life, and that is where God has me. My sin and failures bring me to my knees and remind me continually of my need of a Savior.  I also was reminded, through some dear friends, that my identity is no longer tied up in my failures, that is not who I am.  In Christ I am a beloved child and a new creature in the process of sanctification.  What joy and happiness I am finding as I remember who God has made me to be and what a wonderful road he has placed me on.  I love my children, I love being home with them every day, I love being the one who teaches them, I love watching there eyes come alive as they understand a new concept in math or read a difficult word or roll over for the first time.  It is a joy and privilege to be right where I am, a sinner saved by grace, who has been blessed so far beyond what I deserve.

Weekend hike

Court date

We are now waiting for a court date to finalize Blake's adoption.  All the paper work has been submitted and now we are waiting on the courts to let us know when to come in.  We will answer a few questions before a judge with our  social worker present and then sign papers.  This is very exciting, we cannot wait to have all the legallities completed and have Blake officially be our baby.

Blake's blood update

We went to the hematologist last week and Blake's blood levels were all within normal ranges, such good news!  This means that we do not need to go back to the hematologist.  They are not concerned that Blake will have any other issues associated with the low blood levels that he has had.  We are so relieved to have this behind us and grateful that none of it was serious.

Mystery solved

They are mystery snail eggs.  For the record, when I first saw the eggs at the top of the fish tank, I had no idea what is was, and I almost lost my breakfast.  I hope I didn't totally gross out too many people.  Because the eggs still have not hatched (it takes 2-3 weeks after laying to hatch) we probably will not be inundated with hundreds of baby snails.   Lisa, I am impressed, you are obviously a fellow snail owner.