Justin is finally coming home for good:) He will hopefully be here in about two hours. This has been a long, hard journey, but God has definitely taught me a lot through it! He has also blessed us beyond belief through it…yesterday, Justin’s boss called him into her office and told him that they were so thankful for his honesty and dedication that they were going to continue to pay him through the rest of the year! This is a huge answer to prayer because he does not have a job yet here and this will buy him some time as well as help us to get through the holidays!!:) God is so good!!!:)

It has been a while so I thought I would give an update on how things are going. It has been incredibly harder than I thought it would be…being here without Justin. I have a new-found respect and admiration for single moms!! It has also made me have a deeper appreciation and love for Justin, though. Not just because I am lonely and miss him terribly, but I realize just how much involved and hands-on he is with our kids and how privileged I am to have a husband like that!! It is really starting to hit Lily hard, though…please pray for her, she misses him really bad!!

I am very happy at my school! I love my students and the people I work with…plus, the school is absolutely beautiful!! It’s definitely a change, though, from what I am used to!! Even from the schools that I have been in withing Paulding County. I am used to having to beg for parent involvement and now my cup runneth over!! It was an adjustment at first, learning how to manage it and get used to is, but I think everything is falling into place and I think it will be a great year!!

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Not too much longer…Justin is planning on being back for good after Thanksgiving. He really needs to find a job, though…that is the urgent issue!! God brought us back here, though, so I am confident that He will work it out!!

I forgot how beautiful it was here in the fall! The kids and I are back in Dallas staying with our best friends, Jen and Kevin. We are staying here for the week until Justin brings up all of our “necessities” this weekend so that we can move back into our house. I wanted to go ahead and come, though, so Lily wouldn’t miss too much school. She started today at Burnt Hickory and had a wonderful day! I love her teacher!! My official first day is the 27th, but I will be going up there next week to observe and sit in on conferences so that I can meet the parents. I am going to have some adjusting to do…this will be a TOTALLY different environment then what I am used to!! I am very excited, though, and am ready to finally get to teach after being a “baby-sitter” in Chatham!

Well, after a very stressful and emotional roller coaster ride this week, we have decided to come back home to Dallas. It was just not working out for us here…our house was not even close to selling and we can no longer afford to make two house payments. It really feels like our family has been through the ringer as well, with my miserable job experience and the financial stress nearly tearing us apart. I called it an emotional roller coaster because it seems like we go from feeling guilt about possibly making some wrong decisions and letting friends and the church down, to relief, then to excitement about going home, then to frustration and disappointment that things that did not work out here. Since we finally made the decision, though, I have felt like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders. Things are falling into place…I even already have a job teaching third grade again back in Paulding County at a beautiful, brand new school! One thing that I have learned from being here is that I have taken so many things for granted! Our home in Dallas, our friends, our parents, our job, and most of all my family! I just didn’t realize how incredibly blessed we were and how good we had it. I also definitely feel that our faith has been tested and strengthened. We truly felt like God was calling us here and we dropped everything and followed.  For whatever reason, it is time for us to go back, but as a result of this experience, we know what it is to truly rely on God. The absolute best thing is….I NEVER have to go back to Garden City Elementary again!!!:)

Today was an awesome day!! We were able to help with our first action project as a church and fill bookbags with school supplies for needy students in the area. It was lots of fun and the kids really enjoyed it. The rest of the day were able to relax and spend some much needed time together as a family. We haven’t had mexican (one of our staples) since we’ve been here, so we decided to check out Jalepeno’s. It was really good by the way! We topped it off with some DQ and then came home to watch Alabama stomp on UGA…ROLL TIDE!! I also got to take a nice long relaxing hot bath. Don’t think I’ve felt this good and relaxed since we moved here:)

I was able to receive some good RNR today! I had a doctor’s appoinment this morning so I just took the whole day off. By the way, they are almost positive that it is another girl so Bo will be blessed with a third sister, Lucy. Justin’s first comment was “three weddings!”:)-

I also met Justin for lunch…that was nice, we haven’t had any time alone in a while. I am so proud of him…I know that he is extra stressed about our finances (he has always been the money worrier) and then I have been making his life miserable, but he has stayed strong through it all.

Speaking of finances, be praying because our realtors have another couple who are interested in doing a lease/purchase on our house. This is not the ideal situation for us, but it will keep up from having to still make a house payment every month! Hopefully, they will come through!

No updates on my job dilemma yet…please keep praying that God would open and close the right doors, and that I would keep my faith in Him to do that! Thank you everyone for the supportive comments on here and Facebook. Your prayers and encouragement have meant so much!! All of this turmoil only confirms one thing for me…that God has some major plans for us and Satan can’t stand it!!

I think that I might have a “light at the end of the tunnel” for my job situation. I don’t want to go into specifics on here, until it’s final…some of you know, if you don’t, feel free to email or Facebook me and I will go into more detail. Please continue to pray that this is the out that I have been praying for and that God would totally cover this situation. I have to admit, I was starting to think that my prayers were not being heard and for some reason God wanted me to be miserable (I knew in my mind this wasn’t the case, but you know how girls and emotions are!!) Please also continue to pray for our family…this has taken a huge toll on them because I am such a wreck!!

God is definitely ready to do His work here in Savannah. I know this because my family is being attacked by Satan in every way imaginable!! It all started with the cock roaches on steroids (as Justin lovingly refers to them) invading our house. If you didn’t read my last blog, I am absolutely miserable at my job…and it just keeps getting worse and worse!! This morning my car wouldn’t start, which is going to cost us money we don’t have, I had the worst day yet at work, our dog decided to mess in his kennel and roll around in it, and our family is just at odds with eachother. Justin and I seem to do nothing but fight and the kids are either acting really silly or they are fussy…we are all just plain tired!! Justin’s severance money is also starting to dwindle because neither one of us has gotten paid yet. Our house still has not sold and our realtors are truly dragging their feet in trying to get it sold. I know that God called us to come here, but right now we are even starting to doubt that, that maybe we were wrong, just because of all of the bad things that are happening. Please pray for us…especially for my job situation, I am just at a loss as to what to do. I know for sure that I cannot go on all year long like this…

I have really had not inspiration to blog lately. I need your prayers heavily because Satan is really attacking me through my job. I am absolutely miserable and I hate it because teaching has always been a passion and calling for me…there has never been a time when I just abosolutely did not want to go to work, until now. I just don’t understand why God would put me somewhere that makes me so miserable, and I am afraid of turning into one of those “bitter, has-been” teachers (you all have probably experienced one of these in the past!!) I am just really beat down and torn up about it.

On a side note…today is Justin’s birthday. I am so thankful for him and for the way he has stepped up to lead our family. He has been a rock for us, especially through all of this change, and I have and continue to witness God working in his life…I know that He has great plans for Justin, and I am so glad to be a part of them!! Justin, thank you for being such a wonderful husband and father. You have been so patient and supportive for all of us!! I love you…happy birthday!!:)

We drove back “home” last night for Jared and April’s wedding. We are getting to stay with our best friends, and it is just what I needed! I have missed them so much…I just dread having to leave them again!! It really is true, you don’t appreciate what you have until it is no longer accessible to you. Trisha’s latest blog about how wonderful grandparents are reminded me of this as well. Now that we live five hours away from our loved ones, it’s much easier to appreciate them more!! It’s really a shame that this is what it takes:(