Sep. 6, 2006 - Hello all!
Me again!
Wow life has been crazy!!
Some of you have heard bits and
pieces of this story, but for the benefit of those who have not, I'll
start at the beginning.
My mom's uncle and cousin live in Troy OH. There is a family in
their church, the Gillespies, who are homeschooled, and expecting their
9th child. They are good friends with Uncle Frank and Aunt Beth.
A
couple months ago Aunt Beth called and said the Gillespies were looking
for someone to help out for the school year. We talked about it a bit
and thought it might be a good idea. When we were in OH last week we
met the family and talked about it. I fell in love with the family
right away! What precious children!
We all decided we could make it work, and after much prayer..
I will be living with the Gillespies for the school year. I will be
cooking, cleaning, watching the younger children during school hours,
and of course anything else that comes up in daily life! I'm planning
to just be the 'big sister' and do a little of everything. I am so
excited! I know I will learn so much from this family! And I will also
get to spend some time with Uncle Frank and Aunt Beth!
This is such an answer to prayer. My heart's passion is for
families, large families, committed families. There I will be enabling
the parents to be parents in stead of enabling them to get away from their children.
I would ask you to pray. Originally I was going to go there
after the Counseling Seminar in October but some things have changed.
The girl that has been helping them is not going to collage this
semester and they are struggling with giving her up. So I may not go
until the second semester, or maybe I'll still go in Oct, and I'll have
some overlap time with this girl... or maybe something else will
happen. But the Gillespies have to make this decision soon, and I know
it is a hard one for them.
Also, the Gillespies have recently made it clear that they do
not want me only for this school year... they want me for as long as
I'll stay... as many years as I will stay. Now, if I can only stay this
school year they still want me to come, but they really want me longer
than that.
This
really changes how I look at things! I'm not sure I'm ready to
completely move away from home! ... But it is such a perfect
opportunity.
So pray that Mr. and Mrs. Gillespie will have wisdom
concerning when I should go out there, and that the Lord will direct in
the next few years. I certainly don't have to decide now.
That's about it! Thanks for listening!
Rejoicing in His plans!
Christy
The children are, oldest to youngest:
Ashley. Caleb, Seth, Ethan, Micah, Katie, Joshua and Levi (and the baby on the way)
