New Plans

Many folks have been asking us "So, what are you doing now?" And this is a very valid question because we have not been that clear. The truth is, we have been a bit in the dark on that very subject ourselves until recently. I will try to explain as briefly as possible the crazy situations we have been in.

The first and biggest change that has affected our plans is the fact that our budget is $1,000 more than we had originally anticipated. Because of this we were not financially supported enough to stay here and get straight to work like we had planned. In fact we are currently only 25% supported. This brought us to the decision that we need to go back to Missouri and Iowa in order to finish our task of building our support and provision team. While we are dissappointed that we don't get to start working right away, we are excited to be able to finsih that task with all of you in person rather than over the phone. :)

Our second big change needs a little back ground explanation. So, what you need to know is that I did not officially graduate from Northwest. Due to some miscommunication all the way back during my freshman year, I missed one general education course that was required for my graduation. This was not brought to my attention until the end of my senior year. Because we were moving to Florida right after graduation, I turned in a petition and was granted permission to take my final course in Florida and transfer the credit to Northwest. We went ahead and borrowed a friends cap and gown so we could get 'graduation' pictures because it looked like I wasn't going to be able to walk when I did graduate. Then, when we found out we were headed home to finish support raising, I was very excited to think I could take my last class at Northwest after all. Then I was disappointed to learn that the class I needed was not offered this fall. But, after much scrambling and e-mailing, I found an acceptable course at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri. Now I am going through the application process in order to finally register for that class and graduate in December!

So the basic synopsis is that we are coming back for a few months so I can finish my class and we can continue building our support and provision team! We are excited to see what God will do over the next few months! Already He has been at work in our plans! For those who do not know, our first week down here saw us wreck our car. It was totaled. You'll have to ask us for more details. At any rate, we didn't know how we were going to bounce back and forth between Missouri and Iowa when we didn't have a car. But the Lord provided and today we bought a '98 Buick Century for just under $2,000 which was less than the money we got from the insurance on our old car!

Another way He has provided is by having it be a mutual idea from both us and the HR department that we stay in Ft. Myers a couple of weeks after COAT in order to tie up some loose ends and get some experience working in the office. Joe has already had several great conversations with Susan Caple who is the Chief Financial Officer. Through these conversations, they have started to define what Joe's role will be when we come back. He has also started spending a few hours everyday in the office starting to learn the programs and systems the finance office uses so he has a head start when he gets to work. I have been meeting with Abigail Alter several times. At the current moment Abigail is the only person in the Department of Children and Family Development. She has shown me several things I could start working on to expand our resources and she has expressed MANY times that she is excited to have me come back and get started.

I believe that updates us! Hopefully we will be much more on top of keeping you all up to date. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

• That the application and enrollment process will go smoothly at MoWest and the transfer process at Northwest.
• That Joe and I will be able to find a place to store our stuff down here in Florida while we are in the Mid-West support raising
• That our support raising goes well and quickly (our goal is to be back in Florida by January)
• That our travels (driving) from Florida to the Mid-West go smoothly and safely.