Update!

Well if you haven't heard Stephen and decided to become foster parents last summer. It has been a long road, lots of classes, paperwork and inspections. I am pleased to announce we will be certified this January! Which also happens to be the month I start nursing school... So naturally people are curious how we are going to make this work.

Fist off becoming foster parents is something God laid on our hearts months ago. Every time I question it or try to put it off God reminds us of his plan. 

“You are the helper of the fatherless. Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more.” – Psalms 10:14,17-18

 

I am continually reminded that God will not give us anything we can't handle. God has worked everything out perfectly! I didn't get into nursing school when I first applied, so I ended up taking more classes that go toward my nursing degree, therefore I now will have a much lighter school load! Isn't it great how God worked that out? 

I know everything will workout. I know this is what God has planned for us and Im so excited to become a foster mom! If anyone has questions please don't hesitate to ask. Thanks you all for your love and support and we venture into this new stage in our life. 

It starts with YOU.

Lets start by defining selfishness. Webster says it's being "concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself :  seeking or concentrating on one's own advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for others"

To succeed in life, by societies standards anyways, some selfishness is needed. You take advantage of those around you and do things for yourself, otherwise you will never make it to the top, not in your job, not socially, not even with your own family. Why does it have to be like this? Why can't you just work hard, and do things for others, why do people who are selfless get no recognition?   Im not sure how our society has become this way. The majority of people I have met in the past few years have been so self centered. Why do we only care about ourselves? our own lives? 

I went on a mission trip a few years back, the theme was "give me your eye" it was about seeing the world through God's eyes, and frankly I don't like what I see. There are people out there somewhere who are living for God, the way He intended us to live, but more often then not I see people, even those who call themselves Christians, living and acting in a way that does not bring honor to the Lord. My heart breaks for those effected by the selfish actions of others.   Im not perfect by any means, I have messed up, and I have been selfish, but I try to put others first. I try to look at every situation as if I were the one experiencing it, as if it were me going through what that person is going through. What if more people did this? Would it change anything? There are so many negative things happening in this world that are effected by the selfish acts of other. I know the majority of you want to see something done about this. Obama won the election by preaching about all the things he would "change" has it happened? No. Why? Because change starts with you. One person. That's all it takes. Change yourself, stop blaming others and asking "why does't somebody do soothing about about that?" and be the somebody. Be the person who changes someones life for the better. Who makes a positive impact instead of a negative one.   My hope for the remainder of this year, and next, is to see people love on one another more. To put their own needs aside for someone else. To pay it forward. I know this all sounds clique being that the holidays are just around the corner, but it's something that has been weighing on my heart for a while now. I will be that somebody. Will you? 

A Calling

Stephen and I have been married for 4 years now. That is 4 years to grow, love and connect on a much deeper level then I though possible.

God has placed something on our hearts.

It started on my first day working on my own as an ER tech. I wasn't prepared for the situation I was about to encounter. I turned the corner to see a commotion going on around room 20. I peeked my head in as saw a lady sitting in the corner, an overwhelmed look on her face. In the arms of one of our night nurses was little boy. He was maybe 15 months old. He was only wearing a diaper and cover in what looked like exema, chicken pocks, hives and poison ivy combined (It turned out to be cat scratch decease that has gone untreated for months)  At first I though he was having some bizzar allergic reaction, then I noticed his hair, brittle and matted, it was blonde and looked filthy.
I was suddenly so angry and the lady sitting in the corner. How could she let it get that bad. How could she just sit there while her son was obviously in pain.
I asked what was going on and if she was his mother, to my relief she said "no, I am a foster parent, I got a call at 2am, him and his siblings showed up an hour later, I didn't realize it was this bad and brought in right in" I felt instantly relieved.
He itched from head to toe, you could tell he was in so much pain. We had to tape socks around his hands so he wouldn't break open more of his skin, they didn't help that much. He itched so bad for so long he had scabs covering his body where he has tore his skin open from itching so much.
He didn't want to be held, he didn't want to be comforted, fear filled his eye every time someone entered his room.
I knew this was not normal behavior. I asked his foster mom what condition they found him in, this is what she said, "He was found on the floor with rats, cockroaches, cats, even cat poop. His older siblings talked about getting beat every night before bed, not eating for days, and being left alone in the house for hours on end" She went on and on and my heart broke for the little boy on the bed. She said flat out she felt like she couldn't do it, it was to much to have her own kids, him and his siblings, but there was nowhere else for him to go.
I stayed with hime for 6 hours constantly rubbing anti itch cream all over his body, trying to give him some sort of relief.
I wanted to do more, I wanted to take him home, care for him and show him God's abundant love.
Thats when I really started researching how to become a foster parent. I found out that Midland and Odessa are incredibly short on foster families, to the point where they are having send the children all they way to Dallas!
But thats it, all I did was read... I never did anything about it. I found reasons, selfish reasons why we shouldn't do it.
God knows me, he tugged at my heart strings for 10 months, child after child came into the ER, sometime brought my their parents and others by foster families. Most of them had major physical and physiological damage.
I finally had enough. After talking it over with Stephen and praying about it for 10 months we finally contacted a foster/adoption agency.
It has been a long process. We are finally only a home study away from being certified foster parents!
We still have concerns, it's not an easy road, but we know that this is what God wants, he won't give us anything we can't handle. We may not say yes right away, we get a call and have 30 min to make a decision, I know God will guid us and prepare us for whatever lyes ahead.
Pray for strength and guidance as we do our best to answer this call.

Greater things are yet to come

I find out in the next week or so if I got into nursing school or not....
This is a really big deal for anyone, let alone me. I was not the best high school student and after I graduated I took a few basic classes at the community college for a year. I was then married and moved off to TX.  School was put on the back burner as I worked two jobs to support Stephen and I while he played baseball for Texas Tech University.
As much as I always wanted to be a nurse I never thought it was an actual possibility. It's my ultimate dream job, who gets to say they are doing the one thing in life they always dreamed they would be doing. My theory is that we spend most of our lives working, if we aren't doing something that we love our lives would be pretty miserable.
So I started plucking away at my prerequisites about a year ago, taking 14-18 hours at a time. With Stephen working here in Midland my choices in schools are pretty limited, and each school requires different prerequisites. I catered mine to Midland College. Texas Tech has a P.A. program there and we would share a simulation lab, which is known to be one of the best in TX!
I applied for the spring program (2014) I find out in a week or so if I got in. This will be one of the biggest accomplishments of my life.
I had a little scare last week finding out that the only program I applied to lost their accreditation (which is a huge deal) you wouldn't want to go to a non-accredited school no matter how good their simulation lab is. Like I said this was only a scare, they ARE accredited, the national accreditation program made a mistake.
So as the excitement builds I am reminded of the many blessings God has bestowed on my life. I am filled with joy knowing He is with me no matter where I go. Every blessing in this life comes from Him. It will be His will whether or not I get into nursing school, whatever the decision is, I am looking forward to seeing where God will take me.

One Year! Holy Moly!

Has it really been a year since I have written anything? Life has been so crazy
Stephen and I have lived in midland for a little over a year now. We have lived in a hotel, an apartment, a trailer, and finally a home.
A little explanation for all the moves... if you haven't heard Midland TX is booming, like Alaska gold rush booming. People are literally having to live in hotels, trailers and right outside of town they even have a man camp! I won't go into detail about how crazy it is living here, you can google it.
Stephen is working as a supervisor at a oil company here in town, he absolutely loves his job! I am working in the ER as a tech, and given the boom, I get to see a LOT of crazy things.
We bought our house about 6 months ago now. We rent out rooms to a few boys who can't find a place to stay or can't afford it (a one bedroom apartment has a 3 month waiting list and is about $1,300 a month...) being in their shoes only a year ago we took pity on them, and given they work in the oil field they are gone all the time anyways so it seems like they are never here anyways.
I am also going to school working toward my BSN, I find out if I got into nursing school sometime this month (so pray pray pray!)
We miss our families and our hometown, but we have been so blessed while living here. Our dream is to move home one day to be closer to our families and back in our beautiful Washington. But considering the fact Washington is not drilling for oil, we will be here for a while. I trust God's plan for us is to be here, at least for now, and knowing that brings me much needed peace, I just need to be reminded of that sometimes.