Life

So it's been awhile since I've posted a "blog" and I might have a lot to say. Life continues to be quite a roller coaster in our household. Let's start with a kid update.

T had a hearing last Friday and the judge approved the case plan for her parents. Her parents are making slow progress and have supervised visits with her once a week. According to the latest update given to us, there won't be any changes until the next hearing in 6 months, other than a possible change in the length of the visits or from supervised to unsupervised.

J also had a hearing last week. It was his 30 day hearing where they either return him home or take him into custody and work with mom on her case plan. The judge ruled that he is not ready to return home, so we start on the journey with him where we just wait to see how much progress mom is going to make. She has a lot of things stacked against her right now, and very little support in her life.

So in terms of kids, our little family will most likely remain intact for another 6 months. Oh, except for our new addition . . . . JUST KIDDING! We're not THAT crazy!

Some of you may know that lately we have struggled financially. Miles lost his job with Yahoo last year. After trying unsuccessfully to find a local job, we decided to open the studio. Well, someone should have told us that it was a bad idea to start a business in the middle of winter in North Idaho! So the studio is temporarily closed. Well, in the last few months, more bills were coming in than money and things started to look very scary. We have prayed and prayed and really wanted to make decisions that were in line with God's will for us, and that would allow us to continue being very involved with youth ministry. Miles is a great thinker and creative and savvy business person, and a few months ago started working on franchising the aerial photography business he started last spring. After months of working, hoping, praying, working some more and praying a lot more, he sold his first system today! And he is right on the verge of closing 2-3 more deals in other cities around the country. He was also offered work with the former owner of Music Match (which was bought out by Yahoo) to telecommute for their San Diego office. So after no work for months, he now has more work than he knows what to do with. It will still take a few weeks to see how this is going to play out -- telecommute only, aerial photography only, or a combination of the two -- but we can say that GOD IS FAITHFUL. We are so close to losing our home it's not even funny, and yet God has provided for us just in the nick of time. Isn't that so like Him? And in the midst of all of this, we have learned more about faith, and have drawn closer to each other in our marriage. Our values and priorities have certainly become crystal clear. Miles will continue to do portrait and commercial work as "Miles T Photography" and we hope to open the studio up again soon. He is going to get out of the wedding business because it doesn't allow him the creativity he desires. And did I mention that there are some crazy brides out there?

SO . . . tomorrow Miles leaves for Seattle to train someone on the aerial photography system and then goes straight to Jr. High winter retreat for the weekend. That equals me + 2 kids alone for 5 days = insanity!! BUT . . . never fear, I have wonderful helpers coming to save the day. My friend Rychelle (my wonderful new kindred spirit and co-leader of small group) is spending one night, my wonderful mother-in-law is spending one night, and one of the high school girls is spending the weekend. We are so blessed with a network of support. My small group girls, who are all juniors in H.S., are always willing to come help me with whatever needs to be done.

Did I mention that God is faithful? Alrighty, I'm done rambling. Both kids are sleeping, but I have several loads of laundry, a sink full of dishes and multiple other things that are calling my name. Thank you everyone who prayed for us or sent us money to help cover our bills. We love you!!