New and Old News

So much has happened since the last post. Honestly, I don’t even remember posting! It’s been so long!!

Here is a quick update on the past few months. I hope to make the time to post more often this fall, but the five boys (especially the littlest two) keep me on my toes. Literally, I never sit down!

First of all, we have a fancy new website! Don’t you like it? It launched just as we learned about the Kenyan Medical Board issue (see below), so we didn’t do much to advertise it. Plus, we were busy with having a baby, which brings up the second news: Jonathan was born!

We welcomed a fifth boy in our testosterone-filled house on May 26. We weighed 6 lbs, 14 oz. Now, two months later, he weighs over 12 lbs. He sure loves to eat. 🙂 Overall, he sleeps great, which is nice, because he’s generally not happy when he’s awake.

In the past 2 months, Joshua has decided to become a big boy. His vocabulary has exploded. We have somewhat intelligent conversations about cars, animals, and books. Please pray for me as I struggle to juggle these two little men.

Sunday was Levi’s 6th birthday. I can’t believe he’s six! He loves Paw Patrol, so we got him a big truck to drive his puppies around the house. Because his reading level isn’t quite what I think it should be to begin first grade, we are reading almost every day. He’s improving and becoming more and more confident. He will read…someday! Please pray for him as he learns how to be a big boy. He’s often torn between the world of Noah and Jacob and the baby world. It’s rough being a middle child.

Jacob and Noah are enjoying the summer. They’re reading and practicing math facts almost daily too. Next week, they go to their first overnight church camp about an hour and a half away from home. They’re really excited and a little nervous. Please pray for them while they’re gone.

Earlier in July, we took a little family vacation to Kentucky. We attended the pre-opening festivities of the Ark Encounter. Then, we went to the Creation Museum for a day. It was a lot of fun. The boys loved all the animals and exhibits at both places. They also enjoyed the pool time at the hotel. Please pray for us as a family. We’re still figuring out how to balance life here in the States. 

We haven’t been traveling as much since Jonathan’s birth partly because of him and partly because our future is very unclear. In May we learned that the Kenyan Medical Board is no longer granting licenses to Doctors of Osteopathy (D.O.s). Since Aaron is a D.O., this means that he cannot practice medicine in Kenya. A lot of work has happened to try to reverse this decision, but as each week passes we become less hopeful that we will move to Kenya next year as planned. Does God want us to wait to return? Does He have plans for us to remain in Lynchburg? Is He calling us elsewhere?

We wish we had answers to these (and many more) questions. We’ve been crying out to God daily for answers and direction. We desire to be in the center of His will. However, we don’t know what that is at this moment. Please pray that our ears would be open to His leading. Pray that we will stand firm in our faith in the waiting. Pray for answers to come quickly and clearly.

Amidst all the stress of an uncertain future and the birth of a baby, the boys and I finished school! All three boys did amazingly well on their end-of-year testing. Praise God!! Please pray for us as we look forward to starting a new school year by the end of August.

Thank you, you faithful supporters, for not losing hope in us. We would love to be moving to Kenya this summer, but God’s plans are different. In fact, they are bigger and better. May He receive the glory and honor He deserves no matter where we are and what we’re doing.

“Left to ourselves we tend immediately to reduce God to manageable terms. We want to get Him where we can use Him or, at least, know where He is when we need Him. We want a God we can in some measure control.” A.W. Tower, The Knowledge of the Holy

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9