Third Friday still to come

We have our 3rd and Final PC Education Session tomorrow, and Matt and I are both looking forward to the day, to all the we will hear, all that we will be given and shown..

it seems like yesterday we went to the first session, but it all feels so right which may just be why it feels the way it does at this point.

as I sit here, Matt is off at Band Practice with the local Brass band, our little friend is tucked up asleep in bed, the cat is curled up on the couch beside me, and everything is so still and so quiet and as I was reminded today by a dear friend, these times are very few and far between when you have a family and to cherish them when they happen. so as I sit here with my chocolate and my chick flick playing I am taking time to cherish, but also taking time to daydream about what may be ahead.  Matt and I have both been doing that a lot lately. He has been checking out the catalogs to kids bikes and toys and bits a pieces and I have been tracking down old recipes that I used to cook with mum, and linen for the beds and clothes for the kids.

Kyle has told us Bob the builder is just not cool as Cars and Ben 10 , oh well to each their own and that is exactly it.
we don't know what is in store for us, we have no idea how fast or how long the process may take. all we can do at this point is sit back and take each step one day at a time.

Please pray for tomorrow for this last session, please pray for the families and the kids that are and will be affected by Permanent Care. Its not an easy place to be in on any side of the Triad. and all we can do is walk by faith that God will prepare the way. that he will keep us strong and covered by his grace through all that is ahead.

Love and Prayers to all
Kat

In God Alone We Trust

Well we had a very deep and emotional day Friday with our second PC Education Day.
Nothing was hidden, nothing was sugar coated. The Cold hard facts out for everyone that this may or may not happen the way you have thought or hoped. We are extremely grateful for the insight we have been given over past months from adoptee's and adoptive parents, and for the insight that was granted to us on Friday.

While we are both comfortable with what is ahead for us no matter what may come surrounding the PC or Adoption process, or even past that looking to where we will be as a family in the future.

For those of you who have been out of the loop we relocated to a new town a few months back which has us feeling right at home, right where we are meant to be.. and so we have started looking at land in our area. That might seem a little premature to some, but we feel its a great chance to start dreaming and planning ahead. so we have even been looking into building materials and ideas surrounding how the house will look.  We have looked into many different ideas and have decided to go with a Steel Frame Straw Bale Home.. having the steel frame allows us to play around with the idea of  a second story although at present the plans we have come across we are quite happy with keeping it as a single story so we will see what time brings.

I am looking at returning to fulltime work with a couple of options sitting in front of me at the moment and now I am just not sure which one to respond to so thinking and praying lots at present.

Looking ahead to this week, we have our little friend coming to stay again this week which looks to be much fun. I have my tutorial paper to present on Tuesday which should be grand I hope.
we have some dear new friends that are coming down to the last days to find a place and move so i am sure there will be some packing and moving happening in this next week and also... last but not least.. Our 3rd and final PCEducation Day on Friday to look forward to :D so lots going on and can use all the prayer and support possible..

hope you are all well

will check in again soon

Kat xx

First Friday ..

Last week just to update, that little boy we cared for is such a blessing. What an amazing little man he is.
We get to pick him up from school again tonight and have him for the next 3 days.. :)

But getting back to last week and the focus on Friday... Our First Permanent Care Education Session.
Matt and I will both admit we didn't completely know what to expect, but what we hoped for and received was confirmation that we were in the right place, at the right time, for the right reason.

We gathered together with 10 other couples and singles that day, and while many already had children, or had fostered children, there were still a few of us that were looking at this as our stepping stone into parenting.

For us, listening to and reading through the information was comforting, and confirming. As we filled in some of the class worksheets we felt this amazing calm inside.  It wasn't scary, it wasn't uncomfortable, it was like we were where we were meant to be.

So just a quick insight, one of the key things you really need to consider when you are looking at Permanent Care, Adoption, Foster Care,  and we guess even other choices such as career, moving, etc.. is What is your Motivation.. are you doing it for the right reasons?

In our case relating to adoption it was Yes.
For a lot of choices and paths we have looked and in the past it has been a case of wrong place, wrong time, wrong information, wrong people involved in it.
But this feels right in every way. Neither Matt or I doubt that there will be a lot of hoops and hurdles ahead of us but for right now we are enjoying the calm that we are sitting in.

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Its Monday night now and another week starts with our little friend staying with us.. and for the last hour he has been playing race-cars with Matt on the floor with his new Lightening McQueen car .. he is so adorable.. and now he is walking round the house talking to his Mum now on the phone.. he is just such a little man..

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Oh well Tea Time now.. have a great day everyone

Overwhelmed by God and His blessings

Be prepared you never know when or how God will answer your prayers...
Matt and I have been praying constantly "God please prepare us, what ever you need us to do, how ever you want to do it, we are open to your leading"
Well today begins a 4 week adventure.

Yesterday in church we were approached by a dear sister in Christ who is facing a hard road ahead these next few weeks and has asked us while away during the week for us to look after her little boy.

so we have taken on mum and dad duties for a 6yr old boy starting today when we bring him home from after school care..
so starting tomorrow..  up in the morning to get ready for school, drop off, pick him back up again after school, homework and fun dinner and off to bed..
he is a funny kid, a bit hyper than most but goes with the ADHD territory..

He did really well with his homework ( reader and words) kept squeeling with excitement every time he got the word right and got a tick next to the words he read on the list

He had fun racing Matt on the Wii with his favorite Sonic Characters..

At Bed time had the funny experience of introducing him to.... a .. hot water bottle.. he kept saying but it will pop, spent 15mins trying to explain how its a special bottle that is made so it wont, asked me to pray so God would make sure it didn't pop..  hehehe was kind of funny and sweet..

So now its late and he is all tucked up asleep in bed.

As Matt and I sat here tonight chatting it Hit us just how close everything is and again how exciting it all is.

Friday (the first session) just seems so close and yet so far away, but for right now we are just enjoying the opportunity to put some positive experiences and influences into this little guys life..

So its late and I need to be up early to get not one but two men up and ready in the morning..
*BIG SMILE*  looking forward to it not just being a favor we are doing, and its a child of our own we are looking after..

Getting Ready to Go Back To School.. Well Training...

We got the confirmation letter in the mail yesterday that we are registered for the Permanent Care Training on the next 3 Fridays..  and its just so exciting..
We will finally get to really delve into what is ahead of us.. it's like getting ready for the first day of highschool or Uni or some level of education that we have never looked at or attempted before.. Matt is trying to remain calm and mellow about it all afraid he will jinx it and for me.. well as I sit back letting my mind wander once again to the possibilities that are ahead of us I am given clarity over other things surrounding us at present, other choices that are yet to be made.
I love how God is using these times to shape my heart and mind to His will .. He used to have to sit back and wait till I dropped myself in another hole to get my attention.. but these days He just gently and slowly works His word and His will into my life.
Anyways this Training.. we are looking at from a learning perspective and from a fellowship perspective... its an opportunity to come to know other couples and even singles that are in the same position as us, that are looking at this as a way of starting a family and sharing life with another. What an amazing blessing to do this and to think God has been preparing us for such a time as this..
I only hope and pray at this point that what issues may or may not arise are swiftly dealt with and not  extended to far in red tape.

Please pray for us for this next step in the journey,.. it has us looking at a lot of things at the moment our living situation , our employment, our hearts, and life. please pray for God to reveal His path just a little more .. we know patience is a virtue but we are also strong believers in pray..

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We wanted to quickly share this outside note with you, We had the pleasure as many others in a support group did to read a letter from an Amum to a Bmum and the sweetness and consideration that she shared is what we hope we can share with our children, and Bparents.
it was not a letter of divine right but of care and consideration for time that may have seen lost, emotions that have been and are yet to be shared, about the love they both have for a now young woman who has grown into an amazing individual.. such things we hope and dream about..
Please Lord we pray and know that you have everything planned and set before us and all we need do is lean on your understanding and not our own. God at this time we pray that no matter what is ahead of us you will prepare the way and prepare us to deal with it, with your grace and love. Amen

Seasons Out of Sync

It has been just a little while since I blogged last not to long but long enough I think.  would just like to say thank you to all those who have been reading the blog, I hope it brings you some insight or comfort, and as we go through this time to come I hope it continues to do so.
I had a strange question the other day,  it was "why did you choose to use an autumn leaf back ground"

I know it may seem like a bit of a silly question to be answering but I think its important..
We all, no matter what things we face in life go through seasons of change, sometimes:

•  its new and bright and fresh and exciting like spring,
  
• sometimes its cold and quiet and feels like it goes on forever like winter,
  
• then there is summer when things get hot and sometimes difficult to understand and or bare,
  
  
• and that just leaves us with autumn, a calming time when we look at the changes that have happened and are happening, when there is a dramatic shift in how things are around us, when the bare truths are exposed and (for any one who has ever worked or an orchard  out there) its a time to prune back all that is in the way so the new growth can come through.

Well right now we are in our Autumn, dealing with the bare truth of things, trying to see and explain clearly what is ahead. looking and what has fallen our way already and appreciating everything as it comes. gathering up and pruning the things in our past that are no longer required and removing them from our life so we can focus on the future.

As I said everyone has a season
ours at this moment happens to be Autumn.. we know there is a summer just around the corner then possibly a long cold winter after that but then will come the Spring with all the hopes and joys it holds.

Hope and pray you are all well no matter where you are on your path, or where you have been.
Don't forget to take time to stop and smell the roses, appreciate what is at hand, and never forget that God has a plan and a purpose for all things even if you don't know what that plan is God does, so be open, prepare yourself, your heart and your life to the possibilities that may be ahead.

Kat xx

Enhanced Prayer, and Off to School

So I am a firm believer in prayer, and I tend to spend much of the day in prayer over one thing or another.. I have been finding more and more though that it has become more intense in these past months. Yes granted this could because of the place of complete surrender I have been trying to keep myself in. But I also believe it has something to do with the type of prayer.

Some times we can get so caught up in the world and activities around us that we get into auto pilot of what we are thinking and praying about.  These past 2 months with the move, there has been a dramatic shift in location, emotion, situation, and I believe this has given birth to a definite shift in prayer, both in the doing and the listening to what God is saying.

And I must admit I love it.. its been a really interesting change, rather than a constant prayer in desperation for Jesus to move in my heart and in my life, to take me out of the complacency that I had settled into and really stamp a mark in my life that I could not deny. Well again in an answer to prayer he has done that, He has enriched my time of prayer, shifted my thoughts to look more closely at what is really important, And I believe that through others He is encouraging us to open our hearts more to the children He is surrounding us with in a matter of preparation for the future adoptive children we have enter our lives..

My Prayers have turned from desperation to thankfulness. I was looking through my old prayer journals a while back and a constant theme that ran through them was Please Lord, Please,  to now saying Thank you Lord, Thank you,  for even the smallest things from the sun coming out in the day, to the blessing of my mum still being with us, from tea tasting great, to Matt being home safely.

God is good all the time, all the time God is good!

So its the 20th of July by this time next month we will have been to 2 of the Permanent Care Training Sessions , and as silly as this sounds I feel excited like a kid going to school for the first time. Does anyone else feel the same, its all exciting with new people/friends to meet who will be looking at the same information as us, who are all hopeful to become parents too, where there will be lots of information for us to learn and take in,
just minus the uniform and packed lunch. hahahaa

But seriously while it is very important and will be difficult along the road ahead, it is so exciting to know that at the end of the road will be our children waiting for us to bring them home.  :)

So going back to study again next week, at The Salvation Army Training College,  real school work and assignments, it will be interesting to see how that all pans out. I am hopeful that God has worked in me this past semester and prepared me for Mission Foundations and that He will continue to develop me further.

anyhoot can't sit round here all day blogging ..

Hope everyone has a spectacular day..

Kat xx