Time for an Update!

I can't believe it's already the middle of August! Where did the summer go?! It obviously went by too quickly because I haven't had a chance to give an update in quite awhile. A LOT has happened in the past couple of months! Mark and I just got back from Michigan. It was nice to see my family, but it felt different this time for some reason. We helped my sister and her husband and kids get settled into their new home at Lincoln Lake Baptist Camp. Jim (my sister's husband) just became the executive director of the camp. I'm happy for them. It has been their dream for quite awhile to have that job. It's definitely not going to be an easy one, but well worth it. I spent the majority of the week painting and sewing. We got the kids' rooms completed...and they look pretty good!
Although I love my family dearly, I am beginning to feel like I don't fit in anymore. My oldest sister has four children. My next oldest sister just informed me she is pregnant with their third child. And my younger sister is due with her first sometime soon. As much as I want to be happy for them...it's really hard. There are now 8 children between my three sisters. I often feel like by the time Mark and I have kids (if that ever happens), that our children will just be forgotten in the midst of all the rest. I feel like I have nothing in common with any of my sisters anymore. All they ever talk about is their children (and I understand that), but it makes me feel like I don't fit in, like there's something wrong with me. I don't know what God is doing in us, and why He has chosen me for this...but I do know He has a plan and it will be good. But it doesn't make it any easier. We often have to suffer in order to become stronger.
Speaking of children, our adoption plans have been put on hold for a couple of months...but for good reasons. God recently made it clear that His plans are for us to move back to Oklahoma soon. Mark recently got hired as the full-time music minister at FBC Prague, Oklahoma. We are very excited at this new opportunity to minister, but it is a little overwhelming for me. I have a hard time with change, and it usually takes me a few months to adjust. It seems like it all happened so fast! Now I am getting ready to pack up all our stuff and move back to Oklahoma (the one place we always said we would probably never go back to, ha). God sure does have a sense of humor and plans that are way beyond anything we would ever imagine on our own. I really am looking forward to Oklahoma. Life was always much more simple there. It's a slower paced life and the one thing I will never forget about Oklahoma is how loving the people are! Right now our plans are to move over Labor Day weekend, but we do not yet have a place to live. We will be staying with some people from the church until we can find a place of our own. Because of that, we can't go any further with the adoption process right now. The next step was to get a homestudy done, and we have to get a new homestudy every time we move. They are not exactly cheap, so we need to wait until we move somewhere permanently. Please pray that we will find a home that we will be comfortable in and that will meet our needs. Prague is a very small town, so there are not exactly a lot of options, but I know God has something great in store. We just have to be patient and wait...our life is full of waiting. Another decision we are trying to make is how Mark will finish his schooling. He is almost halfway done with his Master's Degree, and it's not something he is going to quit. We have a few options as to how he will finish once we move to Oklahoma, but we have to weigh the pros and cons. Please pray for us as we have many changes and unknowns that lie ahead. We are excited about the new opportunities!
On a last note...I really am going to miss Louisville! We have only been here for a year, but I have really grown to love this city! It's definitely my favorite city that I've ever lived in and I think it's a wonderful city to raise a family in, but hopefully we will be raising a family in Oklahoma sometime soon. It's going to be quite a change going from this large city to Prague, but we will adjust...slowly:)
Thank you for all your prayers!