Sorrow, happiness, & a sense of direction?

Well its been 15 days since our last update, quite a while in blogger time but none the less it is finally time to write a bit.

Foster/Adopt Progress and Direction?
Well Zackery's case plan was changed, but not to what everyone expected. It was changed to long-term foster care to allow the grandmother time to finish the home study, fingerprinting and other DES requirements to get certified. There is still a remote chance we could get him, but we understand our role could have been limited by God just to get us to this point in the grand plan. We continue to pray for his well being and for him to be placed in a home where the word is taught and believers are raising with the gospel, but we are not in control and we have to let go a bit and let God. We are also praying for Bonnie and Cope as there are the only "Mom" and "Dad" he knows. We pray he will whether the storm well and that his adjustment will be smooth and full of encouragement, and love from whatever family he may be a part of.

We are still praying for direction in our role as either foster parents and or adoptive parents. I know both are in need and I pray we make the right decision with God leading us down this path. It is hard for me to wrap my head around foster care -- it has been since the very beginning. Cheryl is a little less worried and sees it as a good start to see if it fits. I am still opposed to it but am asking the Lord to reveal his plan to me so I can drink whatever cup he has for me tor drink. His way is better than mine and his plan always benefits us more than what we could have even begun to imagine.

Sorrow:
My heart aches for a lady from our church who lost her husband today when during a routine Dr. visit he went into cardiac arrest and went home to be with the Lord. I met him only a few times, but he was always a kind man and always had encouraging words for me. He liked my singing and I feel a little guilty now that he asked me to sign a particular song for him in a church service. but regrettably I have not bought the track to even learn it yet. He wanted to get to know me more was the last phrase he said to me and I am sad we did not get the opportunity to know each other better, but I know he is in a better place and the singing there is so much better than mine for his ears. God bless you Mr. Roberts -- you have graduated and are now with our savior! What a glorious thing to be praised even in the midst of sorrow.

Happiness:
Well only a few short weeks left and we will be off to California for a week or rest and relaxation. Can't wait. Hopefully we will have the pleasure and opportunity to meet with Wendy from FH who lives in the O.C. and get to know her better. I have been doing the advocacy training but have lost contact a bit with her as she was in town for a large FH benefit and am sure she is just backed up a bit from the time out of the office. I feel the Lord moving now in out church and surrounding the FH engagement for Nyamirama East Village in Rwanda. Our Senior Pastor has asked for a child sponsorship packet and i am addressing each of the staff and board personally to pray about sponsoring a child. From there we can rally the church around the village and bathe them in prayer and hopefully next summer a trip to meet them and help in upcoming projects and development physically and spiritually.
Praise him for everything as he is always good to us. Pray for our small group as it increases almost weekly now. I think this week alone we are up to 14 people when just 1 year ago we were at 4 core people. Struggles come along with such quick growth but we welcome it and know God is using it for his cause.

Well, hopefully another 15 days will not have to pass before I update again, but you never know....I will try harder. Love to all our relatives and friends and may God richly Bless you and the ministries you serve in.

The Phillips Family.

Fun with Pop Pop

Labor Day Weekend was a fun and festive time as my father flew in from Las Vegas to spend the weekend with us and the kids. They sure love it when he comes in to spend time. You can see by the pictures they laugh and goof a lot and even a little "Hop on Pop" as Dr. Suess would say.

He came in late friday evening and stayed until monday evening. We spent some time playing basketball with the kids, taking the dogs to the dog park, eating out, nursery duty at church, and of course the pool. The girls showed Pop Pop how to play "noodle baseball" - our new family pool game, and horsed around the pool a lot this weekend since the weather was very nice.

Time flies when you having fun and fun is definitely what we had (can you tell from the picture here).

Hopefully Pop Pop will visit again in December when he comes down to visit the Bondurant Kart Racing school to solidify his kart racing skills and race around the track for a few days. That will be a good time and the kids will enjoy the time as always. We appreciate Pop Pop and his visits from year to year as it is so difficult for us to go and bring an clan of 5 to invade someones house or hotel for a few days.

Back to work now and on with normal life again. Our small group is once again underway and we are studying the life of the Apostle Paul. I am also trying to study and finish my work for the FH advocacy training. Pray I will have protected time and also be able to get all my other duties accomplished. We are also 1/2 way through our foster/adopt certification as well, only 5 classes left to go. We know God has a plan for us in this and even though it seems Zackery will not be with us more than likely we know God's will is better for all. It will be hard to detach, but Gods grace is sufficient for us and our issues. Love to you all and more next week after we all catch up from a long weekend.

Blessings,

The Phillips.