update

*almost done with fostering classes

been seeking our Lord on what He wants us to do in terms of our apartment lease. stay and not be able to foster now or is there another apartment He has for us? {note: NEVER was looking for a house!} we continually asked Him to show us what HE wanted. Regardless of how it did or didn't make sense to man.

*March 2: on the way to a free movie date: on the phone with dad as he's telling us to check out HUD homes and foreclosures. Keep telling him we can't afford that. He says, "you know we will help you with the down payment right?"  

no dad. did NOT know that!

*following weekend I start looking for a Real Estate agent for the express purpose of them proving me right to my dad that we can NOT afford this! 

*March 7ish: met with Lender. shocked to be told what we CAN afford with no cosigner!

call the agent with the news and start looking that Saturday.

*March 10: first day of looking at houses. Find one in Fruita that would work. 

Continue to look at places. Nothing comparing to the value of the Fruita place.

*Friday night March 16: both of us on our own are going to the Lord asking what He wants us to do. How do we know when to act? The Fruita place fits our needs. We don't want to be greedy. How/when do we know Lord?!

{NEXT MORNING}

*March 17:  Jeremiah checks HUD sight before we leave for Fostering class. See's new listing {the Lord's house}, with no pictures (why do they do that?!), he calls our agent on it blind and asks to see it that day!

we are quite taken with it. so much so we go see the Fruita one to confirm before we placed an offer later that afternoon!

*in the meantime we have a fridge given to us, a dining room table & chairs, and a washer and dryer! The Lord is furnishing a house we don't have yet!

*March 26:  Our bid was not accepted.  we praise our Lord for His answer.

find out we are a backup to this house.

{we see 2 houses during this time. there were hardly any new listings since that house}

*April 12: find out the price the house sold for.  thank the Lord and again ask what He wants.

*April 17: receive email from our agent says the bid fell through ?!?!?!

waiting to see if we are the next in line via the backup

*April 18: Bob sells! we are DEBT FREE!!!

*April 19: I {Luann} leave for a visit to CA

*April 21: I {Luann} check the HUD site {I KNOW this was a prompting of the Holy Spirit} 

 I see the Lord's house posted!?!?!  

call agent immediately. 

agents dunno what is going on!

{yet we know it's our Lord's doing}

we placed another bid

it closed that night

due to find out Monday

*April 23: we hear nothing.  

Lord, what do you want? I don't want to miss anything.

*April 24: Get a call from our agent saying OUR BID WAS ACCEPTED!!

*April 25: Loan issues/changes. ends in our favor.

*April 26: get a call saying they sent the contract back for corrections. they are accepting the FIRST {lower} bid, not our most recent, higher bid !?!

*May 8: Inspection and second appraisal. Inspection shows extreme differing (as in, it needs a new roof NOT a few shingles replaced) information then HUD's did. It appraised $20,000 over our bid.  


*May 12: had last fostering class


*May 14: met with lender again. shared our pickle. that we can not get a home insurance quote with the existing roof. and we cannot move forward with financing without said home insurance. our realtors are approaching HUD regarding this issue.

*May 22: more paper trail stuffs. tentative closing date of 
June 5! 

*June 1: after being held up due to various people/paperwork issues, we are now shooting for a closing date of June 8th. 

*June 5: received wiring instructions. heading to the bank in the morning to wire them funds!

*June 8: CLOSED! 

* Aug 8: home study and first interview are scheduled 

*Aug 21: fostering update

*October 30: moving forward 

*December 28: came home to house flooding. hotel living ensued

*April 5, 2013: contacted Bethany Christian Services again. Learned the reason for the silence. The local rep no longer works there and the new rep did not know anything of us.

*May 1, 2013: met with new local rep. reiterated everything. really liked where she stood on fostering vs adoption.

*May 15, 2013: turned in paperwork and new fingerprint cards

*May 21, 2013: received email from said rep saying that, " Due to the fact that you did not sign the provider policy with Mesa County, they may be hesitant to place foster children in your home. "  
and
 "Please be advised that your income level is on the verge of being too low to license."

The policy she is referring to, that we did not sign, is the one mentioned in the Aug 21 update. That we will not allow, enable, or participate in any worship of any man made god in our home or through our home.
They knew about this both times we met with them and assured us it was different for them and would not be an issue. They want to refer us to Ariel Clinical Services, yet we do not see how they will be any different when it comes to this form needing to be signed.

*June 17, 2013: Contacted and working with Pacific Justice Institute at the recommendation of a friend, in regards to the child's religious freedom statute(and our religious freedom "rights") 

*June 27, 2013:
Recieved the following response from the Pacific Justice Institute mentioned above; "I've reviewed the Religious Policy Statement.  There does not appear to be any constitutional problems with the way they have this worded.  As such, I do not see any legal vehicle to challenge this."

*July 18, 2013:
Contacted Liberty Counsel regarding the aforementioned Religious Policy Statement. They are looking into it. 


*July 19, 2013:
After talking with Mr. Lawyer man from Liberty Counsel, it appears we do have (religious) protection as foster care providers!?!


*August 21, 2013:
response from Mesa County:

"As far as the religious policy goes, signing it is not the main concern for us. Joyce explained to me that you did not want not to assist in helping foster children attend their religious meetings because you did not want to enable them to participate in any religion that you disagreed with. Although you may sign the form and technically comply with the religious policy, I would be worried that the children would pick up on your deeper feelings about other religions and that can in turn affect how foster children feel about themselves. In this great country we all have the right to believe as we wish, and I appreciate you adherence to your beliefs. However, I feel like your belief system is too rigid when compared to what our foster children need. So we would not resume your certification."

and the journey continues...

that we would steward all we are given well.