Homestudy Interview #3

Things are moving along pretty well. This Monday we had our third homestudy interview. For this interview David and I were split up. April (our social worker) interviewed David first and then interviewed me. The questions this time were geared towards how David and I were raised. We were asked about all of our immediate family members, their ages, about their personality traits, how close we are to them, characteristics we have in common with our parents, ways in which we are different. We talked about how we were disciplined, who disciplined us, what type of kids and teenagers we were, our best and worst memories from growing up.  It was interesting trying to explain huge chunks of my life in a couple of sentences. Jumping from - "tell me what you were like as a child" immediately to "who are you now, who is Joshlyn today" can kind of quickly put your life in perspective.

I'm so thankful that God allows for these moments in my life. Moments that make you step back and evaluate how far you have come and where you want to go. What God has made glaringly obvious thus far in my life is that even the best laid plans aren't always HIS plans. I know if everything in my life was stripped away today that I would still glorify His name and I would thank Him for His saving grace. I am not in control of my life and hallelujah for that; what a mess I would make of it. God has continually stripped down walls that I built up that I thought I could control and many that I thought made me better than those around me. This process is terrifying at times, but then you have to step back and put things in perspective. God gently reminds me of all those times I earnestly prayed that He would help me become a more patient person, a more humble person, that I earnestly wanted Him to have complete control in my life. I feel like He says "here it is". Are you going to turn to Me? Are you going to see this as an opportunity to grow? Or will you see this as an opportunity to hide and become bitter? If life has brought you to an unexpected place, and you're struggling to reconcile with the fact that life doesn't always go as we plan - I pray you will turn to Him too. I pray that you will not become bitter. I pray that you choose to grow. I pray that you search to find peace within your circumstances, whatever they may be. I can say from experience it isn't easy but it's worth it. There is great joy to be found on the other side of your suffering and pain.

This process has brought David and I to place in our marriage and our spiritual lives that we may have never experienced. I think we are both grateful for that. Granted we still have a ways to go! One step at a time . . .

Next step,
Fourth (AND FINAL!) Interview scheduled for
Friday, October 19th at 10:00 am

Then . . .
We will wait for our background checks to come back and April to finish the homestudy.

As always we are so appreciative of your love, encouragement and support!