Genesis 45: 5, 8

After Joseph revealed himself to his brothers... "But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. .. So now it was not you sho sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt."
--Genesis 45: 5,8

Hi Friends!

I am feeling better today. We spent the weekend around home, catching up on housework, grocery shopping, and miscellaneous stuff. We are no longer contagious, so we were able to have Brandon over on Saturday to hang out with the boys. They were thrilled as they hadn't seen him for several weeks. He is a big blessing in our lives as he is like a big brother to Nate and Isaac. Cameron doesn't interact with them as much as they'd like due to his autism. Shirlene made us some great home-made chili and a cornbread souffle, and she brought it over -- so we've been eating it all weekend.

Today we got to go to church. Our friend Annie came with us, so that was nice. I am struggling still with my severe lupus headache. The doctor is trying me on some new meds -- one of which had a copay of $150 per month, and of course -- it's not working. So, we'll keep trying for me to get some relief from the headache. The good news -- I went to church even with my headache, and it didn't get better. But after worshipping, I felt better able to cope with it.

After church Annie and I went home with the kids, and Bill stayed at the church for a meeting. He is giving a talk to the other men in our church this Wednesday. The theme is "Staying Close to God During Difficult Times." I am proud of him and I know he will do a great job!

I am no longer as saddened by the Grace Brethren situation right now. I still feel we were mistreated, and I do feel motivated to let the people involved know the laws they broke. However, Bill and I can now clearly see the blessings that will come out of removing the boys from that school. Basically, as referenced in my Bible passage above, God uses what man intended for evil to accomplish his plans and for good. Usually it takes longer to see what blessings come out of the storm, so we are thrilled to identify them already. For example, we are going to be able to restructure our budget and household, because we will now have access to the $1147/monthly we were paying for tuition. We didn't really have the money to do that anyway. More on this to follow, but we are excited about the new plans we have for the boys.

Tomorrow Cam and Molly are well enough to go back to school -- finally! Cam has finals Monday-Wednesday, and they both have off Thursday and Friday for semester break.

Currently we are watching a movie -- "Get Smart" as our family day activity. So, I need to go join the family!

Much Love,
Michele