Let the countdown begin!

We only have 18 days left! Can you believe it? It looks like we're going to make it. There have definitely been times where we doubted that we would ever get this far. When we first arrived and looked at the calendar and started counting... 46 days!... how in the world are we going to make it? Now, here we are over half way there and in the teens (days that is). God has been so good to us. There have had a few times where it was so horrible that we felt like cusssing (actually, I think Mary Jane and my mother-in-law did?... just kidding!). But there have also been times where you're like... Lord thank you for trusting us enough to let us experience this together as a family. Even the tough times. Mary Jane and I were talking the other night about our experience at the park on Saturday. I told her," that if everything would have been perfect that day we really wouldn't have created any lasting memories." If there wouldn't have been any chaos and struggle we would have had a great time then in a few weeks or months we would have probably forgotten all about it." Think about it. Think about that time where you went camping and you got rained on in your little tent and everything got drenched. Or maybe you've been on vacation and something happened that at the time ruined your day, but now every time it comes up you have something to laugh about. Those are the memories that we'll never forget. I think back to the time when Mary Jane and I were first married and we were in Bible college down in Graceville, Florida. We were so broke even the poor people in town felt sorry for us. I was going to school full time and washing dishes full time at night making $3.85 per hour. We also cleaned the restrooms at the local outlet mall on the weekends for extra money. We were on food stamps AND wic voutures. We would go and stand in line for government cheese every month (actually I don't think it was really cheese, because it didn't melt)! We were so broke we couldn't even pay attention! I know, that's an old one... I just wanted to go old school on you for a minute. But the point is this... we wouldn't trade those memories for any amount of money. We laugh so hard about those times. It's the tough times like back then, that make us really appreciate where we are today. It also causes us to reflect on the faithfulness of our God...man, He is so good to us! I have no idea why I said all of that. Maybe you're going through a tough time right now? If you are, just let this 'time' run it's course... be faithful to what God has called you to, and you too will have some awesome memories to look back and laugh at.

As I told you last night, the psychologist brought the 4 children, that were abandoned on the side of the road by their parents, by to see us today. These kids were so cute. But, you could tell that they were hurting. The oldest girl was so sweet, but she was very shy. I just wanted to hug her and tell her that there is nothing wrong with her... it's her parents that had the problem. I still can't fathom the fact that there are people out there who would do this to their own flesh and blood. We took a few pictures with them, we gave them some candy that we had bought for them along with some popsicles and that was it. This psychologist just wanted us to meet them because she had a real burden for this family. I really feel like something is going to come out of our meeting them though... I just don't know what. It's a crazy thing to think about kids like ours out there without parents. Our kids are so cute and so much fun... how could you abandon them? Oh well, on a different note... we're also counting down the days until Michael gets here... only 5 more days! We all really miss him greatly. Pray for his safe journey here and for favor with customs. I think Mary Jane and Maryssa are going to go to the doctor tomorrow because they can't shake these stupid sore throats. I bet if Mary Jane would have been more compassionate with me when I was sick her throat wouldn't hurt, hmmm... just a thought. Come on! It's just a joke! We love you guys and thank you for reading our blog.

Love ya,

Jim and Mary Jane