Only to Pendleton or somewhere closer to Chris' work. Don't get ahead of yourself, let me tell you how and why we were semi-forced into this predicament. The hubs and I have been hardcore praying about some things related to material resources and housing and things like that. We have always had a huge heart for "the family" as a whole, but I never knew how that was going to manifest itself in my life before I was married and living on my own. Before I was married, my parents blessed me with an amazing household..a car..a phone..a college education-no big deal right. Sike. They're ridiculously incredible and generous. SO. This is the first time in my life that I've been dealing with "serious" finances and budgets and big-life-decisions.

WELL. Christopher and I have always just loved orphans and stuff. This is totally normal, I think. I went through a phase for a while when I tried to convince my parentals to adopt (it will actually never end. they totally should..they'd be awesome at it. Mom-you guys should adopt.) And now that I have a family, we're getting pumped about the possibility (guarantee) of adoption. [The only questionable possibility is going to be the race, as I really would like an interracial family. Before you judge me, NO, I'm not for real being picky about the orphans I would love to have..I'll take all of them.]

Digression. Okay, so we really have been blown away lately by the fact that there are SO MANY empty bedrooms across America. A reliable friend proceeded to add to my burning fire of adoption-advocacy by telling us that if every church in America had just one family that decided to adopt an orphan, there wouldn't be ENOUGH orphans in America for them to have. In fact, the church to orphan ration was about 2:1. Now, I know there are some questionable churches out there..but you get the point. Also, not all people are cut out for adoption..I get that, I'll step off my soap box soon.

SO, as we've been discussing these possibilities, we have been hit with random confirmation and things that point to the fact that maybe we should think about how we could use our resources to make a start. We're not ready to be parents (unless God says so, I suppose), and we WANT to adopt after we have a child so they can be (interracial) buds and grow up together and stuff...but there ARE huge amounts of homeless/needy families/widows/orphans that could at least use a head start.

THEN, Chris was randomly listening to a Focus on the Family where Francis Chan was talking about how he and his wife felt called a while ago to take in a homeless woman and her child(ren) to help them get on their feet. They gave her a room in their house. She spoke spanish. They did not. They found her and said, ".....Mi casa es tu casa..????" Apparently that did the trick. How awesome is that? We think it is. In fact, Chris listened to it a second time with me in the car and we both just got even more excited.

THEN, the very next Sunday (the next day), our pastor pulled out the verse we had JUST been talking about: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

Our hearts exploded.

Then, we decided we should keep our eyes open for a two bedroom place closer to Chris' work. We didn't even know if we could get out of our 12 month lease. He went to the office, talked to them, and they said we could totally leave if we found a subleaser, or if they found a subleaser. But they said that first priority goes to empty units. He signed a form with our information on it, not realizing that it meant if they did find a subleaser..we'd be forced to give up our one bedroom unit (oops). Five days later...they found a subleaser. We have to move out by Jan 1. We're going to be in Nicaragua Jan 1. So basically, we have to move in less than a month.

If this didn't happen, I might not have had the guts and confidence to chase after this calling so soon. Maybe the Lord will place someone in our path that desperately needs a home, maybe this won't happen for a while. But I can guarantee that that room is not going to remain vacant on purpose. Maybe it will just be a friend or a relative that needs it. I have no idea. But Jesus doesssss!! Boom. Roasted. House/apartment-that-I-have-no-idea-about...here we come.

As far as "actively searching" for someone that needs a home...we have no idea what that's going to look like. We're praying that God just makes it obvious for us (selfish.) But seriously..I have no idea. All I know is that..nuestra casa es tu casa.

*To our friends who have taken the time to read this: Help us move? It'll be a party. We'll let ya know when.

Also, if ya wanna listen to the FC talk that we love from this post, it's called Faith and Family (part 1) by Francis Chan through Focus on the Family. And it can be found here:

FAITH AND FAMILY PT.1.