On A Personal Note

Very few people outside of my immediate family and some close friends know about my faith. Part of this is probably being Lutheran and part of this is probably being German and part of this is that it is not something that I am comfortable discussing with people I don't know well. Of the two of us, I am probably the more traditionally religious person. Why am I bringing this up? Well it is a little over 5 am here on March 17th, St. Patrick's Day. It is also the day that Annie joins our family. And our journey to Annie has been complicated to say the least. Few people outside of family and close friends knew about Annie in the beginning. Why would we want not to scream it from the tree tops? The last 9 months have been a trying time for our family. We have faced new a job, the break in employment when moving from one academic institution to another, selling a house that is still being renovated and finishing it up to put it on the market, selling a house in down market, a spouse working 900 miles away, finding a new job in an economy that stinks, you get the picture. So our journey to Annie has been about FAITH. And I capitalize FAITH because that is all it could be. It is not a small faith. This required that we heed the call from God and follow on FAITH. And the conversation I had with our Pastor and Parish Nurse sums up what we have been doing. This has been one of those times when you hear the call and you know you are being led but you kind ask, ok God, now what??? Well in 5 hours, our now what arrives. Please keep our family and Annie in your thoughts and prayers this morning.