Growth

Life is filled with growth for us right now. Isn't that how it should always be? If we're not growing, changing, learning we are stagnant - life is too short to be stagnant!

A little over a week ago I resigned from my current position as Director of Benefits (It wasn't public to the company until Friday, so I didn't want to post anything until then). I know that TNTP is one of the best mission and goals driven organizations out there, and I'm thankful I'll stay on to do some project work, but I know for my family this is the best decision. For months I have been struggling to find some sort of balance between work and family life. I recognize this is a struggle for many people, but for me, in particular, it was impacting my sleep and therefore health, my relationship with Geoff and the way that I wanted to be able to be a mom to Mary-Michael. I am blessed to be married to a completely supportive husband who also has proven to be a successful business owner in his 31 years, so thank you darlin' for encouraging me and working hard to help this happen.

This was a huge and prayerful decision for us, but one I really believe God gave me peace about. I've learned that rarely (or for many, never) do we hear a big ominous voice tell us the path we should take. Rather, I've learned we hear from God through inner peace (hello Holy Spirit!), leaning on wise council and reading God's Word, among other things. Just making this decision has put me in a better frame of mind - one of content largely because I know I'm in God's will. So, over the next several months I will make the transition out of my current role, and we'll do a little transitioning at home by eating out less (I mean we do have 60 chickens if times get really tough!) and cutting back where needed. Thankfully, I come from a line of coupon and bargain fanatics, so as annoying as it might be to Geoff, we do alright with budgeting. Thanks, Mom!

And we're going to need that little cushion in the budget, so that we can grow our family! Many of you that know us have heard us talk about adoption, and the fact that we both felt from the time we started dating that adoption was a way we wanted to grow our family. Well, the time has arrived! We plan to adopt our next child through parental placement or private domestic adoption. Parental placement adoptions are arranged directly by the birth parents and adoptive parents, so with your help (stay tuned!) Mary-Michael will have a baby brother or sister soon. At some point soon I'll write more about why we chose this route over other routes and "why adoption?". In short, we firmly believe with God's help we'll be able to reach a birth mother who might otherwise not consider adoption, and this made the most sense for us financially because sadly, adoption is expensive!

So, on Friday we started our home study with Jewish Family Services. We had about an hour and a half meeting with a social worker to discuss the process, the paperwork and just get to know each other since over the next 2 months she'll get to know us really well! A homestudy is required by the state of Virginia, and essentially through paperwork, interviewing and exploration into our lives as parents, a social worker well determine if we're "fit" to parent by adoption. She'll come to our home in less than 2 weeks, so please keep us and that meeting in your prayers. More to come on this adoption journey...

And finally, while it feels strange to transition from the future adoption of our son or daughter to veggies and chickens, I did want to mention the other things that are growing and changing besides our faith and our family. My vegetable plants have become my new babies, and because I check on them every day they never seem to be growing. Yesterday I forced myself to not look at them so maybe I might notice a change today. Growing plants from seed requires A LOT of patience. I have learned I will probably not try and grow tomatoes again from seed since out of the 75+ in tiny pots only about 4 are living. And this weekend I went to a few local farms with my stepmom that sell veggie plants, and I bought 4 tomato plants for a dollar. That's a bargain and much easier and cheaper than building a greenhouse to keep these babies alive! So, while there is nothing to enjoy from our labor yet in terms of veggies, it is time to send our Cornish hens up north (a.k.a. to our dinner plates).

Geoff is planning to do this sometime this week, and while I'm not sure I want to be present, I did have an opportunity (if you want to call it that) last night to get used to the idea of dead chickens. Gross. Of course while Geoff is out of town I find 2 of them dead - apparently, they are getting too heavy for their little legs, which is why they must be sent up north asap. So, in all my farming glory and squeals of anxiety, I put on some gloves, grabbed a shovel and some sacks, and I got rid of those dead chickens. While it was less than graceful, I felt like I'd reached a major milestone in this farming adventure. Now this doesn't mean I won't pass up every other opportunity to do something like this in the future, but for myself, I now know I have the guts to do it.

So, how are you experiencing growth in your life? I will try and ask myself this question more often, while also considering what fills my days and my calendar. Our pastor recently challenged us to look at our schedules - is most or all of our time focused on bettering our careers or business, recreation for ourself and opportunities for fun? In other words are our calendars completely "me-focused" and not "others-focused"? Are we carving out time to encourage others, bless others and show God's love through our lives? I know I can do better at this. How about you?