New baby in the house!

Our last post was an update on our year so far.  The last part that we couldn't really share was the calling we felt to pursue fostering a medically fragile very premature (earlier than our boys) baby boy.  Here is an update that we sent to a group at our church:

Ken and Rachel Barnes have been at NLC (New Life Church) for over 12 years (since the old building in the skating rink). Both serve every weekend in Kid Life at the GLR campus. They have 8-year-old twin boys, Jack and Luke, who were born 3 months early. It was 4 months in the NICU before the family was finally together at home. Luke still has a feeding tube and has faced numerous medical challenges over the years. Their family also has 4-year-old Ally, who is the princess and only girl of the generation on both sides of the family.

They thought their family was complete, but throughout this year, God spoke to both about adding another member to the family. Rachel is a NICU nurse. She fell in love with a very sick baby boy born 4 months premature and was abandoned at birth. Ken and Rachel have dealt with major medical issues through their son Luke's life, and felt called to express their interest in fostering this baby boy. After weeks of waiting and very little information from DHS, they officially became provisional foster parents. The baby boy came home from the hospital two weeks ago.

Now the hard part begins as they add all of the baby's doctors, specialists, and therapy visits to their family's already busy schedule. They also are navigating the details, requirements, and responsibilities of the foster care system. Prayers and support are very appreciated as they navigate life with a new baby, dealing with the DHS system, and maintaining normal life for the 3 other children!  

Life has been extremely busy this year and is even crazier now.  We will post occasional updates as we can, but are very limited in what we can share online throughout the foster process.

What we need most are your prayers.  Meals would be a great blessing as well (if you're not local, Bite Squad works too).  Some have asked what baby gear we need, and we have an Amazon list here.  

We are beginning to adjust to having a baby in the house again, along with all of his medicines and oxygen equipment (similar to what we had with Luke 8 years ago).  It's much different this time being older ourselves and trying to add his routine and needs into our normal schedule with the kids.  Please keep up in your prayers and thanks for your support!

Big Changes....

Hello Everyone!

God has been moving and revealing so much in our lives over the past couple months. So much has happened and so much more to come. Here are some of the things that are happening:

At the beginning of the year I (Rachel) knew that this year was going to be hard. God had put it on my heart to sit and get through. That was the goal of 2017. With me starting school and Luke possibly having major spinal surgery I felt that I (and my family) needed to hunker down and just make it through. I did not renew a leadership role at work to pursue school and sadly I had to step back from some leadership roles at church.

One role I had to step back from was pretty early. No matter how hard we tried, I couldn't make my work schedule, life group with Ken, and being co-leader to the group all fit together. So I sadly stepped back from that church group. The second one was a project that I had been praying about and working with church members for the last 2 years to get started. In May I had agreed to co-lead with another lady. It was going to be a big project but I was willing to take it on. Ultimately the project was given to a couple with more experience and more ability. After I nursed some hurt feeling and did a lot of praying God gently said "Hey--remember this year is about sitting." I was again reminded that it was not the year for this project and I am praying about my involvement with it in the future. I believe God has great plans for the program and for me--just not now!

It was also at that time that God opened my eyes about how Ken had been growing and changing. His heart has really changed and I love the man I see him growing into. I was proud of him before but it keeps growing deeper! God has also really started working and changing me. During June God revealed that to me that this year was not only about sitting and hunkering down but it was also about growing and changing our family! So not only was it a year to sit--it was a year to grow, learn, and follow God's plan.

The second thing God revealed to me in June was that I needed to go serve with Ken in the KidLife ministry at New Life Church. I take care of babies. It is my life calling--my full time job is to work with babies and then I had been going to church and serving in the infant nursery. I loved it! THEN God revealed that I needed to go to KidLife. KidLife is for Kindergarten through 5th grade--BIG kids! I cried, prayed that I was wrong but I finally told Ken and obeyed. I can't say that it was AMAZING the first time I went in but it has been getting better. I have been praying a lot for freedom to be able to get out of my shell and connect with the kids. I have found that I am very closed off and while I can be silly with my kids in my house- anytime we are out in public I get all uptight and shut down. I want the freedom to be silly in public, do the worship dance moves without being self conscious, to not be so uptight, and to ward off the thoughts of inadequacy that plague me often. I have a long way to go!

I have always struggled with my christian growth. I still have days when it is bedtime and I think "Oh I haven't prayed all day." I have been making my driving time my prayer time. When I am headed to and from work I turn off the radio and pray over everything that is happening, everything that I want to change, for friends and family, thanking for everything that has happened and thanking God that He controls the future. I still need to work on diving in and learning the Word. I just pray that I keep taking little steps forward and not fall back into stagnation.

There are many more things that are happening that haven't fully evolved yet but I feel like big changes are right around the corner for our family. Some things I can't announce yet as they are not fully developed and need some time before we can reveal them. Some other big things are :
1. Ken put his month notice in at work.
2. I won a scholarship that is fully covering the rest of my school tuition for the rest of the program! It is such a relief to not have to worry about how we are going to pay for my school.
3. Luke has not had a tube feed in over a month!!! He is EATING and maintaining his weight!!!!

What can you do? PRAY PRAY PRAY. We are making big changes and following what God is calling us to do. It is scary but it is also exciting. We know that God is doing big things but we also know that we cannot do it without the help, guidance, love, fellowship, and prayers of our family, friends, and our church family. Pray that we continue to grow, that the kids handle all the changes well, that we can become better parents, that our financial needs will continue to be met, that Ken and I can keep up with everything that needs to be done, my health nuisance can be fixed (ENT appointment coming up), and just covering us fully in prayer for anything and everything else!!

Email us, text us, call us, hunt us down at church (we pretty much live in KidLife area)! We need all the support we can get! We will update as we can!!

LOVE YOU ALL!
Rachel