POPS & MIMI

To all of our family and friends: We hope that this letter finds you well. Things are great for us here in Yucaipa, we love it! We have adjusted greatly to our new environment and have been settling into California living once again. Sam is has been a Telemetry (heart) Nurse now for almost a year at St Bernardines and is really starting to feel at home there. He has been blessed with a day shift and is really enjoying his work. I am staying at home with the girls and am loving every minute of it. Life is busy with three little ones but I feel so fortunate to be able to be at home with them. Ella is now five and is attending three day a week Jr. kindergarten at Redlands Christian School. She loves school and music and will be starting her first season of soccer in April. Milynn is three and a half and is just exploding with her vocabulary. She is super smart and loves to sing and play with her big sister. She is currently working on sharing with her little sister. Charlotte is 13 months and a complete doll. She is trying with all her might to walk and loves ALL food. She too is working on sharing with her big sister Milynn. Now comes the main reason for this email. Sam and I want to let all of you know of some of the other changes that have been occurring in our lives. To make a long, long story short; we are in the final stages of certification for foster/adoption with Olive Crest Foster Agency. This is something that God has been continuously putting in our paths for almost a year now. After much praying and arguing with God... ie “are you sure God?” we agreed to comply with his wishes. We have attended a great deal of classes, been fingerprinted and filled out more paperwork than I care to talk about but are now in the final phase of being certified Foster/ adopt parents. That means that at any time after the end of March, we could be the new parents to a little baby boy one year or under. We are cautiously excited but are equally frightened and uncertain as to what the future holds. Our only peace and sanity with all of this is that this has totally and completely been of God’s leading. How can you go wrong when you are in God’s will? We don’t know if we are supposed to just take care of a few babies for a while until their parents are healthy enough to get them back, or if there is a little man out there that is the unknown missing part to our family. We are fervently praying for wisdom and that God will prepare our hearts for whatever is to come. That is where all of you come in. We are asking that you keep our family in your prayers in the upcoming months as this adventure unfolds. It could be a week or it could be a year before we get a baby. But we are asking that you pray for wisdom and discernment for us, for the health and safety of any baby that we are to have, for however long. And that God would protect Sam and I and the girls while we step out in faith. We are excited to share this exciting time with you all and we look forward to updating you on our progress. Please forward this email to all family members so that everyone will know what is going on. We love you all. Sam, Rebecca, Ella, Milynn and Charlotte