[Here is the link to all of the pictures that go along with this update if you prefer facebook for your picture browsing leisure!!]
I pronounce the month of April, "The Month of Almost-Change." So many things are perched on the precipice of changing - but not actually changing yet... It is akin to the pause at the top of a rollercoaster after you have clicked all the way up the slow-waiting part. You know some speed and possibly screams are in order. Where are they? When is this ride going to start? Is this thing bro... AHAAHAHAHAAAA!
It is really only fair to you that we present this month in bullet points (which would be cooler if they actually looked like bullets):
- MOVING We have been quietly searching around Tulsa and have just found the perfect spot! It's a great little community called Brittany Square. It's about 3 miles from where we are currently; it's a little tucked away place. We are moving May 24th into a one bedroom, one bath 500 sq. feet apartment, which is about 1/3 of our current size...it will be an adjustment, but we are excited to simplify! We are excited about the change, but this is also a smart financial move for us. God has impressed on us a few ways that we need to change the purposes of the money he provides us. This is both exciting and an act of obedience (both good!). God is definitely good :) (we will try to get some pictures up soon)
- SCOOTER We love it! We have been riding it quite a bit, but our grand scheme has not yet come to fruition. We want to put one of our cars on bed rest for the summer and drive just the scooter and one car. Gas is projected to go over $4/gal this summer! So we are hoping to get all repairs, etc completed so we can unfurl our master plan.
- PUPPY This is really the biggest news, our BIGGEST news!!!! We are getting a puppy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After over a year of dreaming and hoping and researching, we have finally found a puppy that we will soon call our very own. In keeping with the theme of this month - we don't have him yet... but soon. We were praying that God would bring the right one at the right time, and in the middle of April He all but dropped a litter waiting for adoption into our laps. We got to see the little scruffers and swooned. We have gone to see them multiple times and finally decided on a little black & white guy for our very own...we are naming him "Lego". He is about 2 months old right now and TINY. He shouldn't get to be more than 15 pounds tops all grown up. The people who are fostering him will be keeping him until after Melissa returns from a trip to Paraguay. He is just adorable (and manly...in his own tiny way)...we are sending you pictures and will be uploading a video onto facebook soon. Again, this is all such a blessing - puppies can be SO expensive and the deal we are getting is really a steal.
- DONE WITH MEDICAL SCHOOL EXAMS So, I finished my medical exams on Wednesday... sort of. After a long semester of classes and tests - the final battery was lined up against me this past week. Everyone has been asking me since I finished the last one, "So, are you SO excited to be done?" I am, but... The truth is I still have board exams on June 7th and 14th to complete. So even though I am done with classes, and I am done with medical schoole exams... I still have some steep uphill work to do to pass boards. Once again - ALMOST done... but not quite yet. I would deeply appreciate prayers as I study and then take those exams. They are beastly (8hrs each!). I am confident that God will walk me through this Jordan river, because I know he has called me to the other side. Prayers are appreciated and treasured so much in the process.
- Melissa had her very first medical wives meeting! It was a tea at a doctor's wife's house...there were about 5 of doctor wives there, it was a good start. Melissa is hoping to do another one in June or July and she has started thinking about maybe starting a small group at the church for medical wives.
- We've been married 2 years! Hard to believe it but April 22nd was our 2 year anniversary.Every year we invent our theme for the anniversary (instead of following the "paper anniversary" "china anniversary" themes of tradition. We are calling this one our "in sickness and in health" anniversary. Melissa was pretty sick with a head cold and Joel had tons of studying to do, sooo....it was a very ordinary night! But we liked it that way~probably the cheapest anniversary meal we will ever had, $5 at our favorite mexican place for some salsa and queso :) HA! We actually had a chance to celebrate in early April as we had gotten FREE tickets to the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra and had a REALLY REALLY nice meal and then went and watched the orchestra...we hope to celebrate a "little late" sometime in june too.
- Joel ran in a 5K race. He came in 2nd in his age group :) He also, because he is Joel, decided to run in his famous "boody shorts" --- that's right, they are a fake "boody". It caused lots of laughter!
- We started working in the Children's Ministry at Believers! We are serving once a months in the 3's. We did it for the first time a few Sundays ago and it was fun! There were about 10 kids there - and man, 10 3 year-olds are ALOT of work...we are excited to have a small place we can serve. And being around kids makes us both really happy - we are looking forward to making our classroom really work well and figure out how to share the love of God with these kids.
Well, I think that's all from us for now! We love you guys.
---Joel and Melissa
