Updates and the Latest....

Things have been, well, NUTSO! We are crazy busy around here. So, that is my excuse for having not been on here to tell all our news. Really, there is a list of tasks I should be checking off today that I am not cuz I am determined to get some posts done on here. We continue to get to know our new foster daughter and she is adjusting well to Doty Family life. She's a spirited little thing who knows what she wants and we are working on lots of more effective ways of doing things. She's a resiliant little thing and I have enjoyed her. She's got spunk. Don't know how long she will be with us, but we will be sure to love her while she's here.
There is another person that has come into our lives recently. Really, we've always known of him but only becoming closer thru some unfortunate circumstances (medically related). Nurse Amy has made a point of getting to know him while he has been hospitalized and the hours spent have been great. I am so glad he is open to our offerings of support and love and I am excited about what I am praying will be his "come to Jesus" moment. The seeds have been planted I think and we plan to tend that seed over the coming months and expect to watch this life florish. I have never been much of a "green thumb" but am determined to become one here. I wish I could disclose more here but want to protect his privacy. I would love it if you would pray for strength and healing for this individual. Last week I had stepped out of the hospital room to check in at home. Kirk was reading with the kids at that time about the parable of the widow who persistantly came to a judge with a request and after numerous requests for the same thing, he granted her request because of her persistance. Jesus compares this with persistance in prayer and so I plan to be like that widow and continue to ask for God to change this young man's life around. There have been things already in this circumstance that have been "God-things" and confirmation that God is calling this kid. So, one day, I hope to be able to share his story here---all about how God took a life going no where and turned it all around. So, please pray!
Other news--is that my wonderful Pastor Eric has taken another position on the state level in the Church of God and read his letter of resignation this past Sunday. (I was gone and didn't hear it but I would have likely been a blubbering mess so it is just as well I suppose). I am confident that he is doing what he has been called to do---but I am genuinely sad about loosing him as our pastor. We will be getting an interim minister for awhile so lots of changes. I am confident it will all be okay, but there is gonna be some adjustments going on within the church family. When a pastor has been in one place for over 20 years, that is something that will take some time to smooth out. But we will miss our Pastor Eric!
This weekend the family (minus Kirk) is going to visit Grandpa VanTassel in Southern IL. He has agreed to let me borrow his box of family pictures. I am gonna "interview" him about alot of them this weekend and plan to do a digital scrapbook of some family stories and such (in all my spare time LOL). So, I am looking forward to spending that time w/ Gramps. I don't get down there as much as I would like to, but it is always meaningful when we do get down there.
Looks like I am going to be taking on yet another job (yes, I am Superwoman!). My mom works for a mental health facility called Timberline Knolls. She loves what she does and so I have the inkling to try my hand in that field. I would primarily be working with teen girls with various mental health related issues (eating disorders, addictions, and other various mental health issues). My hubby thinks I am crazy because my reason for working there is to get out of the house for a "mental health break". How ironic is it that my mental health break is going to work at a mental health facility? Guess different things rejuvinate people. For me, the thing that "fills" me up is to help other people. Looking back at this paragraph, that would explain how it is that I feel really blessed to be where I am at right now. It is not to say that things don't get crazy cuz they are pretty much every day, but I'm happy and wouldn't trade it for anything! So, that's my story for today....I'll shut up for now.
Until the next ramble....