I posted on Facebook, but thought I'd go ahead and give a few more details about what's coming up in our lives.
We are headed on a new adventure. We're going to go work for Cherokee Home for Children as relief parents. It's totally a fluke thing (AKA God thing)...we had not been thinking about doing this in any way. Two days before Christmas my mom asked if I'd take her and my kids to Cherokee to see my grandmother who was visiting my uncle. My uncle is the director for CHFC. While there he was talking about this Public Relations position that was open. I started thinking, "hmmm, I'd be really good at that!" So, we talked more, he showed my mom and I around the home and everything and I texted Greg, "think you could live in Cherokee?" There were a few problems with that already: 1) the position really needed to be a male since the other part of the job was to fund raise (sometimes in very conservative churches, hence why it needed to be a male) and 2) I'm the director's niece. Not to mention the fact that I wasn't completely convinced Greg and I even wanted to move to Cherokee at this point.
We figured, what the heck...so, Greg and I submitted our resumes along with a proposal to split the position into two with Greg and I splitting the workload. We were met with a phone call saying it just wouldn't work. The position reported directly to my uncle and being that I'm his niece it just wasn't the right thing for the home. We totally got it. We were VERY disappointed. I didn't realize how much I really wanted it to happen until my heart totally sank during that call.
A few days later we got another call with another opportunity. My uncle asked if we would consider being house parents. We really weren't sure...house parents are a whole different ball game. We have small children, I have a great job, we live a very comfortable lifestyle, we live down the street from my parents, we'd have other people's kids in our house, could we be good examples, do we have what it takes, how would our children adapt...these and so much more started going through our heads. Filled with questions we asked my uncle at least 20 different things. We prayed, and talked, and prayed, and talked, and decided this is something God put on our hearts and in our lives.
To give more history: Greg is adopted. He was adopted at age 2. He lived with a foster family for over a year before his parents got him. He (and I) have always felt strongly that without places like Cherokee and other similar resources there are far too many ways for kids to fall through the cracks. By giving homes/families to children who need them, we are fulfilling something Greg has always felt passionately about.
We had one more hurdle...convince the board that we should be able to be hired despite my relationship with the director. We prayed and prayed the entire board meeting. We finally got the call late that night and were officially offered the position! Wow. We were really doing this! After waiting for some loose ends (AKA my bonus) at work, I gave two weeks notice and we're heading that way soon.
We move next weekend and officially have kids in our home starting March 7th. I still feel a little shocked and honestly ridiculously overwhelmed. Packing up our house, deciding what to keep and what to get rid of, figuring out how to do a birthday party for Beth (who turns one this week), and still working everyday up until the day we move has totally maxed out my stress threshold. So, prayers for my peace level are much appreciated. I will hopefully continue to include you all on our adventures!
