August 21, 2006 - Just to update everyone....we have found our new house. It is in a tiny town outside of Wichita called Viola. For those that do not know, this is actually where I spent the first 7 years of my life and my parents grew up there. I guess it is sort of a full-circle kind of deal. Also, another funny thing, the house that we are moving into once belonged to my grandparents and my dad lived there until he was 6, after which my great-grandma lived there until her death. Weird. Joe and I rented it without knowing any of this! Pray that our move will be uncomplicated this Saturday.
We said goodbye to our friend Tracie and her 3 little ones as they left our house (after staying with us for 3 weeks) on Saturday morning bound for England. Her hubby, Harry, is in the Air Force and has already been over there since July 25th. We will miss them as they are to be there for 4 years. But we are thankful that they are to be reunited after a month apart. Pray for their safety please.
Besides that
Hola Everyone!
A lot has gone on since we last wrote a story (Which was ages ago). We moved to Colorado In March, And Have been Remodeling our house. New paint and floors!!
Luke And Shelby Had Birthdays, Luke is now 6 and Shelby 14. They had awsome birthdays, they got to go out to a resaurant of there choice and shopping. Dad is hard at work at American Furniture, and Mom is on Summer break off college. The Kids are STILL working on there school. Summer school is always fun i guess :(. The boys have a fabulous new bunk bed which they are very proud of.
Besides all of that, not a whole lot going on. We'll write soon!
-Shelby
NEW STORY COMING SOON.
July 25, 2007 - SLACKER!! I know that's what you all are thinking about me! It seems like we have been in high gear for the last couple of months. Much has been going on I guess.
For one, Tom turned 8. And he celebrated it like 3 different times!! Can't beat that, I guess. He is a great, easy-going kid and a joy to have around. We love you Tom!!
I have been hard at work on my college work. It seems my brain turned old since I was last in college (couldn't be that it was 20 years ago, right?!) and it has been a struggle getting organized. Well, I say that as though I am organized! HA HA, that will probably NEVER happen, but I am doing better. I am really enjoying my classes though and learning so much. I look forward to how the Lord will have me use all of this when I get done.
Joe is enjoying his new job. It seems to be right up his alley and we are thankful that God put Him in the "right place at the right time".
All 4 of the older kids went to church camp this summer. Kelsey to Florida, Shelby to Salina and the two big boys to up around Ottawa. They all had a great time and seemed to have soaked up a lot of teaching about Jesus! Awesome.
The girls have started taking guitar lessons from our good friend Roy and they are excited about that. I can't wait until they know what they are doing and I can request music!!
I guess that's all I can think of right now. We hope that you all are having a great summer! I for one am looking forward to fall and cooler weather (and we actually have had a fairly cool summer here, shows what a WIMP I am!).
Jill for the Whole Romines Gang
May 8, 2007 - Okay, well we have had a big event since our last update....Mr. Luke turned 5!! Officially a elementary aged kid now, GULP! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY!! WE LOVE YOU!
And tomorrow, Shelby will officially become a TEEN! That's a DOUBLE GULP!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLONDIE!! WE LOVE YOU TOO!!
It is a strange feeling for me to know that we no longer have any babies or toddlers in our household. It's a little sad, but also it is nice to have everyone a little more independent. Even Luke picks out his own clothes most of the time (I'm not saying that they are always a GOOD pick, but he does it all on his own!) and most of the time gets himself completely "ready" all by himself each day. And he continues to remind me "Mom, I can do it myself" about many things.
We are starting to see the end of the tunnel on the school year. It has been a rough one in many ways and we will be glad to see it pass. We have pretty much made up our mind on the changes for next year and are looking forward to returning to a more joyful homeschooling experience.
I have started my classes and am enjoying them. Boy is that a different perspective than the first attempt at a college degree for me! However, my brain is feeling old and overtaxed at the moment!! Please pray that I stay disciplined in my efforts. Thanks.
Joe has started a new job. He was offered a job by a man in our Sunday school class that owns a construction company. They mostly build upscale, custom homes. He has made Joe his superintendent and Joe is really enjoying it so far. It is a lot of learning, but it is a job custom made for Joe, I think. He is out and about, working with people, attending to lot's of details and probably drawing on that sales experience (which he always liked!) fairly often. Anyway, please pray that he learns his tasks well and that he continues to enjoy the new position.
Besides that, not much new going on around here. We have had lots of rain but thankfully the tornadoes have passed by us. Please keep all of the KS people who have recently been affected by the tornadic weather in your prayers. They have much rebuiling to do.
Jill for the Gang
March 23, 2007 - Yes, we are still here! I have just been really slacking off on my update duties!! Much has happened for the Romines since our last update. We are starting to see the definite spring weather moving in and I for one am always a little sad to see the winter weather leave. I know, I'm nuts! But, this winter in KS we did actually have a couple of nice snowfalls that allowed us to go sledding! Of course, for us, that brings on a great "hankerin" to go snow skiing, but it was not in the works this year!
We have found a new church home, for that we are grateful. It is, of course, a little over 30 miles from our house though! But we keep reminding ourselves that is 10 miles less than what we used to drive one way to our church in CO for the last year we lived there. It has been a real blessing starting to get involved there and the pastor is great! He obviously loves the Lord and is not afraid to preach the whole Word. The kids are enjoying their various classes there also, so that is good. The whole family has given it a thumbs up!
Other changes in our household are soon to be occurring. The decision has been made to make some changes in schooling. The girls are to definitely be pulled out of the virtual school next school year and the boys probably the year following. We have had some concerns with the fact that it seems to be that the top priority for the virtual school (especially in the middle school and high school grades) is for the students meet certain deadlines, regardless of whether they have mastered material and concepts. This seems backwards to us as our main priority is that our children are actually learning and mastering material, not just learning to meet deadlines. Anyway....changes are on the way!
The next development is that I have decided to renew my quest for a college degree! YIKES!! I was inspired by my aunt Schari who spent the last few years doing this very thing all while running a very busy daycare business out of her home. However, I know that she is WAY MORE organized in life than I am so I may have to get some pointers on time management! I will be striving toward a Bachelor of Science in Religion so be in prayer for me. I feel like God has definitely opened this door and placed the desire in my heart to do this but I will probably need some encouragement from time to time! I would love to someday be officially involved in ministry of some sort (leaning toward women's ministry).
Some sad news to report (many of you already know this) is that my grandpa, "Grampy" to his family, went home to be with the Lord in January. So, I guess actually it isn't only sad news, I'm sure he is having a great time! It has been a weird couple of months knowing that he is no longer here with us, but we rest in knowing that we will see him again. This development, however, has brought about another change. My mom has moved back from CA and is now living with my "Granny" and seems to be happy to be back in KS. I know that we are all enjoying her being back here anyway.
No other major changes to report except I will just say go to the pictures page and check out Luke's hair. I gave him a haircut one day and we took off the curls. It was a sad day for me, but didn't seem to affect him at all! He looks much older....boo hoo! But most opinions of his new "DO" have been favorable.
We hope that you are all enjoying your spring and hope to hear from all of you soon! Go sign the guestbook and let us know you stopped by!!
Jill for the Whole Gang
December 1, 2006 - I guess I have been lacking on my updates lately, huh? November was a weird month for us. We are church "homeless" and that feels really odd. We also found out just yesterday that the pastor who many of us were hoping to have come to Wichita for a church plant would instead be headed to Hot Springs, AR to an already established church. We certianly are disappointed, but we also pray for the best for him and his family. The church they are going to will be nothing but blessed by having him at their pulpit. So, that leaves our family still searching for where God wants us. He has a plan for us, we just pray for the patience to wait until He shows us what it is.
The kids are plugging along in school. They are anxiously awaiting thier Christmas break (as is mom!). My mom Karen will be arriving from CA to celebrate the holiday with us. And there are numerous other activities thrown in here and there for the holiday season.
I always enjoy this time of the year. Some years I get discouraged by how commercialized the season has become. It seems like sometimes that everyone forgets to invite Jesus to His own birthday celebrations (and that includes us for sure!). But Joe and I try to make sure that our family stops in the frenzy of it all to just stop and thank God for the wonder of the true meaning of this season. How blessed are we that God chose to send us such a wonderful gift.
Anyway, that's all for now. I would ask that you please keep us in your prayers about our church decisions. Our church home is very important in our lives and we look forward to where He will have us serve Him next.
Keep checking back. We will soon be posting our Christmas letter on our front page!!
Jill for the Whole Gang
October 26, 2006 - Well, it has been sort of a trying week around here. It became very clear to us in the last week that we were going to have to say goodbye to the church home we had found when we moved back to KS. I will not go into details, but suffice to say that things were being pushed as doctrine that we just do not feel should be considered doctrine. It was a very tough decision for us and we are sad. There are many people that we will miss seeing and worshiping with each week. Thankfully, God knows what we are going through and He already knows what is next for our family and those other families that felt they had to leave the church. Please pray for wisdom and guidance for us all as we seek God's will.
I enjoyed my women's retreat last weekend. The speaker brought great messages that were right on target for what the church is facing. Is God sovereign or what? Awesome. Anyway, we had lots of fun and I am thankful to Joe and the kids for letting me go.
Besides that, we are just plugging along on school. Staying on track great this year, which is a blessing. We are getting excited about being able to start planning for the holidays. Noah and I will be trying to figure out just how soon we can get away with playing Christmas music. I fear Joe would think Nov. 1st to be a little extreme!!
Anyway, please keep us and our former church family in your prayers. I fear that there are some trying times still ahead. Thanks.
Jill for the gang
October 20, 2006 - Well, it has been a couple of weeks since our last update. And what a couple of weeks. There has been much turmoil at our church. Unpleasant stuff going on. Please keep us in your prayers as we are being faced with many decisions regarding this and how God wants our family to respond. We are resting in the knowledge that He is in complete control!
Besides that, not much going on but day to day living! I am off to the second annual women's retreat for our church (later today). I am relying on Kelsey's cooking abilities while I am gone to keep the family fed!! I am not worried, she will do fine. That's it for now. Have a great weekend!!
Jill for the Gang
October 4, 2006 - We had a great start to our week at our annual church picnic. It is held out at one of the church members home and they have a great place for it! Room to play touch football, baseball, jumping castles, horseshoes, etc.!! It was a lot of fun!
Besides that, not much going on. Just the approaching weekend which includes Kelsey's 15th birthday!! Yikes! I don't know how it has been 15 years since she came into our lives. It has sure gone way too fast. Such a mixture of feelings comes with each of their teenage birthdays I am finding. Although there is joy found in the godly young lady she is becoming, there is sadness knowing that the day is quickly approaching when she will be out on her own. Thankfully, they are never on their own and God is always there to guide them along.
That is about all for now. We hope that you are all enjoying the fall so far. Although, this week in Kansas is feeling more like summer! Take care!!
Jill for the Gang
September 28, 2006 - Well, not a terribly eventful week for us. We are just plugging along on school and making lots of progress.
This last weekend we had a senior pastor candidate and his wife in town from Centennial, CO to check out our church and Wichita. Joe and I got to know them a little and we really enjoyed it. Also, he delivered the sermon on Sunday morning and was great! Plus, he earned points in our book as he has great respect for our former pastor in CO who went to be with the Lord back in 2002. They said they enjoyed their time here and hope to be returning. We hope so also, but we will see what God has in store! Please continue to pray for our church during this transition time. Thanks!
Nothing too exciting happening besides that! Thanks for stopping by and please let us know you were here.
Jill for the Gang
September 20, 2006 - I am shooting for weekly updates, but we will see how that turns out. I am not the most organized person around!
This week the kids and I are hard at work on school. Everyone is moving along at a great pace so far and also seem to be enjoying their lessons (well, okay the girls aren't actually ENJOYING math!). The big boys are daily watching a "compost station" that they assembled for science to see what occurs. Luke has started some new "school" as of last week. Our local library has a Thursday morning storytime/lessontime/playtime for anyone at least 3 but not actually school age yet. He was a little nervous when we first got there last week and kept looking over quite often to make sure mom was still in the room. But, as the class progressed he started feeling more comfortable and having some fun. He is looking forward to going back this week.
Well, I had a WOW moment recently. There are times when Joe and I get to feeling somewhat discouraged about our "station" in life (can't think of a better way to put that!). We see these really cool houses and vehicles that would be nice to have, there are vacations we would like to take, it would be nice to always have an abundance of money and not have to ever worry about that. But, then God made it all very clear to me. Would I trade my situation and have all of these things in place of the time that I get with my family? Would it be worth it to me to miss all of those milestones that I have already seen them reach, with so many more to come? We strongly feel that we have been called to homeschool our children (this is not to say that we think that this is what everyone should do....everyone must do what they know to be right for their own family) and we would not be able to accomplish that if we had a different lifestyle. These thoughts have brought back some verses that many of the Awana leaders at our church in CO memorized a couple of years ago. In Phillipians 4, Paul speaks of being content in whatever circumstance you are in. I feel I am not only content, but also count it a great gift that God has chosen to grant me the opportunity to be a full-time wife, mom, teacher....whatever else falls in there. I have been blessed with a VERY hard working husband and some great kids. We are looking forward to what God has in store for us in the upcoming years! Just some thoughts.
I would ask for prayer for my mom who has started leading a new bible study at her church. She is a little nervous about it as she has never done anything like this before. But, she is a "people person" for sure and I know that she will do great!
It seems that fall may actually be creeping toward us and I am excited. It is my favorite season of the year. I love the crisp air and all the beautiful colors that appear. God is a great artist!
Have a great week! Don't forget to sign the guestbook and let us know you stopped by. We love to see who has been here!
Jill for the Gang
September 11, 2006 - As I sit here watching coverage of the 5th anniversary rememberences going on for 9/11, it is still just as sad. It does not seem that it has been 5 years since this terrible tragedy. It also brings to mind all of the military, police, firefighters, etc. that we take for granted everyday. They put their lives on the line for us everyday, but I wonder if they actually feel our gratitude. My prayer is that we would all make an effort to be sure that they do. Let's all take a moment and pray for their safety and that of their families. And, the next chance you get...give a big "thank you" to one of these individuals.
Jill for the gang
September 9, 2006 - Well, our first week of school went well. Everyone is getting back into the groove quite well. We did well and stayed on track. We also had our Awana kick-off night for the year and had banana splits (a big hit of course!) which was a lot of fun. Joe has taken on a new position of service at church on Wednesday nights of helping with the youth group. Pray for us that we have just the right words at the right time as we serve the Lord in these positions at church.
We were also very excited to get our first phone call from our friends in England! They sounded like they were right around the corner. They are getting settled in and we are thankful they all arrived safely. Thanks for your prayers on thier behalf.
I guess that sums up the week. We are getting back into a routine and I am thankful it is going smoothly.
Jill
September 1, 2006 - Well, we are moved in and somewhat settled. We are enjoying the quiet of being in the "country" and the drive back and forth to work for Joe is very easy. Not a whole lot different than the length of drive he had before.
Next week on Tuesday we will officially start school for the year (although, Kelsey started 2 weeks ago....over achiever!!). I am actually looking forward to getting back into a regular routine! We would appreciate prayer for a smooth start to the school year.
It seems that our church has found a pastoral candidate and he will be coming to visit and deliver a message in late September. We would just ask that you would pray that our congegration would have open hearts and that we would know when God has sent the right man. Also, pray for this man and his family as it will be a change in their life as well.
Take care!
Jill for the Gang!
