Exchange student update

Marie has now confirmed the travel dates for her exchange. She'll be flying into North Bend on August 18, less than two weeks after Julianne gets home. What an exciting month August will be! Marie and I have e-mailed back and forth many times and I can hardly wait to meet her. She seems like the sweetest girl.

I've also found a wonderful resource: Hannah is a young American woman who is married to a Korean man and living in Korea. She is a Christian (homeschooled even!) and I discovered her blog while researching Korea on the web. I e-mailed her to get her perspective on what cultural issues we may face as we integrate Marie into our family. I don't anticipate any major problems, but I figure the more I can understand Korean culture, the easier it will be. You can never be too prepared! (Check out Hannah's blog here.)

Another exciting development is that I have almost placed my first exchange student! I was getting discouraged as I kept calling people and hearing no to hosting. Finally, in desperation, I prayed, "Lord, would you please find me a host family?" A couple hours later we went to Caleb's baseball game, where I met a very nice Christian woman who nearly hosted several years ago, but adopted three children instead. (!) Her family has decided to host a Brazilian girl for the fall semester. I will call the high school tomorrow to request school approval. If all goes well there, it's lookin' good!