"You know what all this is?! It's a blog post in the making!"

Yesterday afternoon as Andy, Spike, and I were driving to the house to tape everything off for Saturday's painting adventure when I turned to Andy and said "you know what all this is?! It's a blog post in the making!" to which he laughed hysterically and then responded "That has to be the title!" So. There you have it. But maybe I should back up...


A little over two weeks ago we posted a blog about waiting. Today, we're thanking God for providing so much for us, including some much anticipated relief!


Three days ago we closed on our first home! Despite being delayed almost two weeks, the closing process was quick and simple. We got our keys at closing and headed straight over to the house and couldn't help ourselves from wondering around, in awe, that this dream of ours had actually come true. Having a home of our own is something I knew would happen eventually, but I honestly never imagined we'd be able to do it at this time in our lives. But, God has blessed us with a lovely starter home that we're anxious to move into! We're painting the majority of the interior walls this weekend (hey, I've only lived in my parents' house, residence halls, and apartments for the last 29 years...we're going to make this place "our own!") and pulling up the stylist maroon and blue carpets in the bedrooms with the help of my lovely Dad and we'll be moving in next weekend. We took Spike with us last night when we went over and he LOVED the fenced in backyard. He's still very much an inside dog, as the first place he ran to after we'd shut the gate was the back door steps to sit patiently for the door to be opened, but once we took him off the leash and played a bit, he got the hang of it. For a few minutes, anyway. We anticipate he'll have to have supervised backyard time for many weeks, given his abilities to climb chainlink fences and jump at least 2 feet vertically but we'll keep dreaming of the time we can open the backdoor and let him roam free, without fear of losing him forever.


Relatedly, since we closed on the home and have our moving date in order, we were also able to schedule our first of two home visits with our Foster Care Specialist. Once those are complete, we'll be eligible for foster placements!


The other piece of this puzzle that we're so thankful for is...Andy just accepted a new, full time, day shift, M-F job and he started TODAY! After, by the way, working all night at the factory! It's been four months since Andy left Sofa Mart and I have to admit, we've both been quite discouraged, especially over the last several weeks. It's easy to remind each other that everyone is looking for a job and that God would provide according to His timing, but the day in and day out living of such reassurances was still really frustrating. But then, things started moving quickly. On Tuesday evening, right after we closed on the house, Andy got a call from someone needing a salesperson. After a short phone conversation, the man told Andy "talk to your wife and call me back, because the job is yours if you want it." I had been out of the car running an errand and when I climbed back in, Andy looked at me strangely and said "I think I just got offered a job." After talking over the position a bit, I still had a lot of questions and we were both a little apprehensive. We agreed to think about it for a little while and make a decision the next day after Andy had had a chance to email the guy back with our questions. But then...Andy called me Wednesday morning and said that as he was leaving work, he had been given papers to become a permanent employee at the factory were he's been working as a temp since last October. Of course we were both relieved and I could see that the sales position Andy had mentioned the night before wasn't supposed to happen. Though Andy and I still weren't thrilled that his permanent position meant 3rd shift for a while longer, we knew we could hang on until something else came our way...and then...that same day while I was at work, I heard of another possible opportunity and passed it along to Andy that evening. By Thursday night, Andy had accepted another job offer, this time working M-F, on day shift!! Three job offers in three days. Not only are we excited that Andy is going back to day shift, but we are excited that he's going to be working for a Christian man and company (not a just a company that totes Christian values but doesn't mean anything they say...I'm looking at you, Furniture Row.) and better yet, he's going to be getting back to what he loves - interacting with people. I'm telling you folks, 3rd shift was getting to him... :-).

This past week has been overwhelming, to say the least. We're so excited and unbelievably thankful for the blessings we've been given. We're also reminded that there really are lessons in the waiting. A few days ago, a friend posted this on her Facebook page and I thought it was a perfect way to end this current post. Thanks, Deanne, for sharing this originally!

Has God made a promise to you that seems sluggish in coming? Has He planted a dream in your heart that has yet to come to fruition?Don’t give up hope! God is faithful, and you can rely on His perfect timing. Fix your eyes on Him and enjoy the journey to your destination. There are things to be learned along the way that will enhance the joy of a promise fulfilled. Dear Lord, sometimes I don’t understand Your timing. It’s often very hard to wait, but I trust You. I want to rely on Your ways and Your timing. Help me to learn what I need to learn as I wait. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

And for those waiting on pictures of the new place, you'll have to keep waiting! I'm taking progress pictures as we go along and will post everything once we've moved in. :-) Stay tuned!!

Waiting...

The Crowes seem to be waiting on a lot these days...right now the list includes:

1. A permanent job for Andy
2. A closing date for our house
3. The process in becoming foster parents

Though Andy continues to be thankful for the employment he has now, we're both anxious for a permanent job (whether at his current location or somewhere else) to come our way soon. In the meantime, we are so thankful God continues to provide.

"And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

Everything seems to be finalized and now we're just waiting on a closing date to be set by our bank for our first home!! We are SO beyond ready to move out of the apartment and into the house. Of course, being a master planner, I'm getting very angry that the bank is messing up my perfectly thoughtout timeline for the move. We're trying to coordinate painting, pulling up carpet, packing up the apartment, moving, etc. and it's aggrevating when things don't go as planned. But, I just keep trying to remind myself not to fight against the minor roadblocks. God's timing is perfect and if that means my timeline is offset by a few weeks, well then I guess that's how it's going to be :-).

We continue to move along in the foster care process. We've completed the first two of three training sessions and finish up the third next week. Our application is in and one of our references has been contacted. I'm planning to follow up with the local DCS office today about when we can expect to be assigned a Foster Care Specialist, who will be our go-to person. Today we're completing our fingerprinting and then the only thing left is the stack of paperwork I mentioned in a previous post (we're working on that veeeeeery slowly, hoping to knock out a lot of it this weekend) and the homestudy. Of course, we have to wait to move into the HOME before it can be studied, but that should be our last piece of the puzzle!

In our frustration and impatience, it's good to be reminded of some beautiful truths within Romans 8:

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

We know that the things we are waiting for, including fun things like our first home, and unimaginable things like our babies are sweeter than we could ever imagine. May God calm us as we wait and bring us our children swiftly.