IT IS FINISHED!

No I'm not talking about Faith's outfits for No Limits, but I am talking about SEMINARY! Just minutes ago Carlos took his LAST quiz for Seminary. Within about a week his grades for his last 2 classes will be posted and they will confer his second masters degree ~ Master of Divinity. I can't quite explain how it feels to know he is FINALLY finished with 90 credits in just over 2 1/2 years. Wow, and I feel like such a slacker taking only 4 credits this semester :D What will he do now? Probably get a lot more sleep over the weekends and play LOTS of computer and Wii games. Maybe he'll even get back into his workout routine on a regular basis. But first, he has to start packing.....

Our realtor called on Monday to let us know that our lender has accepted the latest offer on our home. With this is mind, it looks like we will be out of our house some time in April (preferably at the end as we are headed to Tulsa April 21). But no matter when, we'll be ready. Please keep us in your prayers in the next few weeks as our realtor and lender work with the lender of our 2nd to compromise on a payout. We are determined that God is in control and we know that if it is His will, it will be done. We will still show our house to others and accept back up offers until the deal is complete, but I'd rather not have to show it at all now and just start packing. Hopefully we can find a place with land, where the kids can ride their dirtbikes daily and Bo can run free (rather than sleep all day on his dog bed in the house LOL). But we'll worry about that next week after we finish our No Limits Conference at church this weekend.

For those of you wondering, Carlos will most likely accession in July or August. This will give him a little extra time to just hang out and go to church and go to work and VEG. We plan on having some GREAT family time between now and then. We are headed to Virginia in May for Carlos' graduation ceremonies at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, and then a weeks vacation in Williamsburg and DC. He deserves every relaxing moment he gets between now and Active Duty. He has definitely missed a lot of relaxation due to school deadlines, and family obligations.

We (Faith, Caleb and I) are extremely grateful for Carlos' sacrifices throughout Seminary. Carlos has never forced us to sacrifice our time to make sure he got his school work finished. In fact, it was totally the opposite, with Carlos sometimes getting 2-3 hours of sleep on vacations just so that we could have fun as a family. This includes in places such as Charleston, S.C. where he got 2 hours of sleep in order to turn in a 15 page paper after he was in the field for 4 days with minimal sleep, yet never once complaining of how tired he was (he did catch a snooze on the boat to and from Ft. Sumter). Places like Maui, Hawaii, where diving 3 days and trying to study for his dive certification, yet completing his school work and tests with extra slow internet connections (and never complaining about his exhaustion). The most recent one is while I spent 4 days with him in Virginia in February, where he stayed up 2 nights in a row with 2 hours of sleep a night, never once complaining (oh I forgot, he did complain he was mad at himself for not having his paper done before I got there, even though he was working as a chaplain getting up at 4 am for PT, climbing into bed at 1 am during the week) yet he managed to take me out to dinner twice and even make me dinner one night and take me shopping. Carlos (or daddy to our kids) is the greatest man alive. He is Faith & Caleb's hero. The man Faith finds for her husband is going to be hard to compare to her daddy. Caleb knows what a man should be like. They both know what determination is and a never quit attitude takes. As for me, I'm the proud wife of a an Apostolic Man of God, a United States Soldier, and the Smartest Man in the World :D

Although this is finality in this chapter of our lives, there is so much in the future we can't quite grasp yet. But we know, if we keep holding to God's unchanging hand we have nothing to worry about! And if you need advice on how to keep on keepin' on, Carlos has all the time in the world (except when were all out playin').

In honor of my husband, "Pro Deo Et Patria" FOR GOD AND COUNTRY! Can I get a Hooah!