Have patience, have patience, don't be in such a hurry....

I am sitting here with this blank slate and have no idea what to write. I know it has been a while and so much has happened that I don't even know where to start. I will say, Greg is doing soooo well. I mean, you would never know that 6 months ago he was in a hospital with a large brain tumor. I know, you are probably saying, has is been 6 months? Well, on June 10, it will be 6 months since surgery. It was December 1st when he was actually diagnosed with a brain tumor and our lives took this strange turn. We have learned and continue to learn so much. However, the number one thing we have learned is patience. Patience and that even when you think you may have a great idea, and that it would seemingly be God's plan, it may not be His plan. I think that may be one of those hard lessons I have had to learn. I somehow have a hard time understanding why His will would be different than mine. :o) I know that the Lord has to shake his head at me and wonder how he created someone so silly. I know His plan is perfect, so I am just doing my best to wait. I have found myself singing a song my roommate, Amy used to sing. It goes like this:

"Have patience, have patience,
don't be in such a hurry.
When you get impatient,
you only start to worry.
Remember, remember,
that God is patient too
and think of all the times
when Jesus has been patient with you."

We still do not know our future plans about what IMB would have us do in the future. We are just waiting on them to let us know what those plans are.  We are grateful to God and to IMB for taking such great care of us during these past 6 months. We did put my parent's home on the market this past month. We are anxiously awaiting some precious buyer to make a great offer on it. Please pray with us that the Lord will bless my parents for the way they have blessed us.

Greg continues to take  his chemo pill 5 days a month and he hasn't skipped a beat. One week his platelets were down and we prayed and the next time they were back to normal. His body is handling everything perfectly and we give God all the glory. His next MRI will be on June 9th. Please pray that we continue to get good news and see God move in big ways! We continue to look forward to living out every day as if it is our last and enjoying each one of those days as a family. A family that is just like yours, filled with faults and craziness and laughter and arguing and complaining and rejoicing, but mostly, laughing. We thank each and every one of you for praying for us. We look forward to sharing with you just how God is working in our life.

For now we are looking forward to summer. Jerod had a great first year at Liberty and is working as a counselor at Camp Cheerio this summer and we know he will have a great time there. Annie has been enjoying horseback riding lessons and is hoping to learn more this summer. And Alex is very excited about a youth retreat with IMB that will be held in Costa Rica. We are all looking forward to a great summer, we pray you all will have a blessed summer as well!

                                 Here are some pics to catch you up on what we have been doing.

Annie and I have been blessed to continue going on some field trips with our homeschool group from last year. We had a great time at this drive through zoo. 

Our sweet niece Emily graduated from college and we were there to see it! It was a great day! 

We also got to see Rachael graduate. Rachael lived with us in Mexico for a few months. We are so proud of both of them! 

Love my sweet Emi

This was Annie's first day of horseback riding lessons. She has learned so much! 

Alex has decided he is interested in film like his brother. So you always see him with his camera. 

I am counting my every blessing.... I can't count that high. I am so thankful that God has chosen to bless me with this man.

and this girl!

and this "Honey." You get the picture! 

We have had fun getting involved in our church and serving in different areas. 

Fun night at a baseball game.

Love these two cuties. They are both nerds. 

More pics of my Alex. 

This was a good look for Alex and Clay. 

On May 23 we remembered Annie's horrific accident. We thought we would show you

just how great God's healing is. 

This is today. Yes she still sleeps with that same, very loved, blanket. 

She has graduated from sippie cup to solo cup and from Barbies to stuffed animals. 

But, she is still as sweet today as she was 8 years ago. 

She loves life, for sure! Here she is swimming with our neighbor. (She is probably thinking about her sister that is out there somewhere... but for now she will be content to love on our neighbors!)

We were blessed to spend a weekend together at Camp Willow Springs for a mother/daughter retreat. 

This is Linda Harris, she lead the retreat and did an amazing job of storying the book of Esther. She just happens to be the mom of one of my dearest friends, Melissa Conner. 

As you can see, we have been busy. We are happy and healthy and praying God will show us our next step. Thanks for following us on this journey!