Blogging from Indianapolis about life leading up to our adoption process

It has been almost 2 years since I updated this blog. It is crazy seeing the last post which was when we moved out of our Lakewood home and into the apartment in Vickery to be apart of refugee ministry. Those 6 months of living in an apartment with less than half the square footage of our house were memorable and changed our lives forever. We made friends with people from Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, and Honduras. Being their neighbors helped us to chat late at night about soccer, provide a cooler with ice and milk when their electricity went out, and drive them to look for used cars and sign up for community college ESL classes. Living with people who had the challenges of being from other countries and making ends meet taught us to appreciate what we had and to love the community atmosphere of depending on one another. Fast forward to 2013. While Amy still works with her sewing ministry with the refugee women (https://www.facebook.com/VickeryThreads), we have been less involved since we moved out of Vickery. We almost took a job in Lubbock, Texas, to live close to my parents and Amy's parents in October 2011. In January 2012, we moved out of the small group we were in for 5 years at our church to start a new one with the Harveys. With these three difficult decisions, I questioned what God what planning to do with our family. I was sad to no longer be in Vickery, to pass on the Lubbock opportunity, and to move on from our wonderful small group we had grown with since 2007. I got over the sadness and began seeing how God was working in my life. Our new small group is growing together and loves the Lord. I have bonded more with my brothers because they both spent some time living with us in our new apartment this past year. This led to me and Amy getting to know Ben's girlfriend, Preaw. Now we have plane tickets for all of us (including Ruth, Lucy, and Betty) to go to Thailand in April to see our family and Preaw's family! Amy and I last went to Thailand in 2000. Thirteen years fly by once you go to med school, get married, complete residency, and have three daughters. The timing is perfect because of our other big news: we are in the process of adopting a child. Thank you for your prayers. Amy and I had our first trip out of state without kids since 2006. This trip to Indianapolis almost didn't happen because our flight was cancelled. We scrambled to get to the airport 30 minutes before the last plane was supposed to leave for Indy. I have never bought plane tickets that close to departure. Despite weather, a misspelling on our tickets, and the TSA, we made it to Indiana. It has been an awesome time here as a couple. God really blessed the time together and the people we met. We fly back home refreshed. My spirits are better now than in 2012 for I now I can see that the Lord, our God, has plans for us as stated in Jeremiah 29:11 "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." I am excited about our future.