It's been way too long since I've updated the blog! We did end up moving May 28th from our house after selling to friends of some friends of ours who had called us up out of the blue to find out if they could buy it. It was so nice to not go through listing again and all that work! We had a few jobs that looked like strong possibilities for us to move up North, but those didn't work out. So May 28th we moved to a rental house in another suburb farther out into the country near here. the Lord worked marvelously to provide us this place! My dh was at Bible Study and brought up the prayer request of whether we should sell our house or not without having a job to go to elsewhere and mentioned that maybe we could find someplace to rent around here if we didn't have a job yet and still keep his current job while we continued job-hunting. After Bible Study one of the other men came up to him and said that he had a place that might work out for us. It turns out to be 105 acres on a small lake with a nice large old farmhouse that he's willing to rent us for way below market value because it's just sitting vacant anyways. They're planning on subdividing the land and building on it in the future but don't have plans for the original house and buildings yet. So this summer the Lord has BLESSED us with a wonderful lake home in the country and has even provided me with a good Christian friend who plans on homeschooling her kids when they're that age, who lives right down the road! We've enjoyed fishing and eating some pretty good-sized fish that my ds has caught, playing in the sandy area by the lake and swimming in it, and more recently eating apples and making applesauce from the 4 big apple trees that are here. There are tons of huge old mature trees that are just gorgeous! I am so amazed by the Lord's provision. We've continued looking for a job during this time, but nothing promising has turned up at all this summer but being here has been such a blessing. It is a longer commute for dh to work and in the winter it would be harder to heat the place, so I'd really like to not be here through the winter if possible. We'll see. I'm trying to work on contentment in being here through the winter if that's where we're to be. So that's been our first major blessing - this wonderful place to stay. There are plenty of uncertainties going along with how long we'll be here etc though...

Our other blessing we're looking forward to any time. I'm 39 weeks pregnant with our 6th child right now and am excited to meet him or her. It's the first time in a while I haven't known the sex of a baby, so it will be exciting at birth to find out if we have 5 boys and one girl or 4 boys and 2 girls! I'm planning our first homebirth this time and have 2 midwives and a doula who are planning to be there to assist! I'm so excited to be at home and to not have to go to the hospital! Of course I'm a bit nervous in that I've had epidurals with all my previous births at the hospital, but feel confident that in the comfort of my home, with supportive/helpful midwives all will go well and the Lord will provide the strength and wisdom to get through the birth! so we can't wait to meet this newest blessing!

Praise be to God for all he's done in our lives through this last year! What a year it's been! The Lord is very faithful!

Melanie