June 10, 2011, is a date we'll never forget. Besides being my 35th birthday, it was the day our family was made whole again. Seeing the kids for the first time in over a year was surreal. The boys were taller, bigger, more mature, and, of course, our baby Evangeline was like a child I never knew. I was prepared for those surprises. What I was not prepared for was seeing Abigail as a budding young lady. The last I remember her, she was a spunky little girl with baby fat and a playful disposition. She's still playful of course, but gone was the baby fat and immaturity of a six-year-old. That's it, really, she had matured ... at a much faster rate than I'd ever seen any of our other children mature. (I'm sure the 12 months without her daddy helped prompt her emotional growth.) As I rested on my bed that evening and thought about the year of Abigail's life that I had missed, I wept.

Evangeline took a few minutes to warm up to my presence, but in no time she was calling me daddy, giggling, and running into my arms. The boys, of course, were elated. For days Nathan kept telling me he couldn't believe I was home, and Daniel went right back to being the love-through-proximity boy he's always been. Being back with them is an undeserved miracle. I don't deserve this kind of family, I really don't.

I never would have imagined the whole event of reunification would have been orchestrated quite the way it happened. The details are astounding. I went from being under suspicion, to being flat out accused, and, finally, swept under the rug for months and months. Suddenly all of that is on its head and the judge is calling shots no one would have dreamed of. Instead of me begging for visitation or phone calls, I'm a father again ... and a normal one at that. Now the benefit of hindsight makes me feel almost silly, as I ponder the feelings of anxiety, depression, and loneliness that characterized my 12-month exile. It feels like that life wasn't real, and that the pain associated with it wasn't as acute as I had thought. But I know it was real; I know that in my head at least.

It's morning now, and joy has certainly come.

On my birthday, Friday, June 10, the judge told me to go home! I now have full access to my children with no restrictions.

It's over.

Thank you all for your continued prayers, love, and support throughout the past year. It's been an unbelievably difficult year, but God has sustained us with every breath. We truly are in the palm of His hands.

Here's the situation. The judge has apparently granted our motion to be reunited, but we're waiting on the amended judgment from the probation department to know what it all means.

Best case? I move home.

Worst case? I'm only allowed to write letters.

This is a huge deal, and we're thankful that we've come this far. Hopefully we'll hear something this week on a reunification, but nothing has come easy in this ordeal. We continue to stand strong in JESUS.

What can be done for an old heart like mine?
Soften it up with oil and wine
The oil is You, Your Spirit of love
Please wash me anew, in the wine of Your blood
-- Keith Green, "My Eyes Are Dry"

In so many ways I feel victorious in this season of life. I've gone from faith to faith, relying on God to be my painkiller, my salve. And God's been faithful, and I know He'll see us all the way through to the end of this trial.

Paradoxically, in so many ways I feel defeated in this season of life. I can't go one more day without my children, and I'm ready to do anything to be with them again. To hell with anything and everything, I want my kids.

But I know there are no shortcuts. It's like a game of chess in that no matter how much I want to charge ahead, guns a'blazing, I can't force checkmate. Pieces need to be developed, a strategy needs to be visualized, and precise tactics need to be employed. To that end I can say our motion to amend my conditions of probation allowing me to see my children was officially filed on Friday. It's highly likely now that we'll go to a full-blown hearing before the judge (a nerve-wracking possibility, for sure) to present our case. And since Brandi knows firsthand the turmoil our children have been going through, she's going to be, as our attorney says, "our star witness."

Coming to the decision to file a motion wasn't a no-brainer. Early on, we realized there were certain risks involved in exposing ourselves to the judicial system like that. The question was raised in our minds, When we go before the king, will he raise the scepter? (Esther 5:2). We needed to know what God wanted us to do, so we prayed and fasted for three days to that end, and I came away from that time of communion with God knowing that we were to proceed with the motion. I am not being hyperbolic when I say that I have never been more sure of anything in my life. We were to move forward; the peace of God had settled that in my heart.

Obeying God is still a challenge, and I'm not merely talking about obeying Him in the "big things." As one modern poet says, "Every day I die again and again, and I'm reborn." So it's a challenge every day, because every day I'm faced with the reality of a day without my children.

I've never known the truth of 2 Corinthians 12:9 until now. Whether I would have admitted it or not, to me that verse was a trite expression of a superficial trust in God for superficial wants in my superficial life. I know, though, that when JESUS says, "My grace is sufficient for you," He means it. When I am weak, I am strong.

I want to thank You now for being patient with me
It's so hard to see, when my eyes are on me
-- Keith Green, "Make My Life A Prayer To You"

After much delay, it looks like we are finally going to file a motion for me to be reunited with the kids. It's been a long time coming, and we still are not sure exactly how it's going to play out, but it's highly likely that the motion will be filed this week, and that we'll at least hear a preliminary response shortly thereafter.

There have been times -- many times that are too numerous to count -- when all that separates me from my children is a wall. A wall of stone. A wall of drywall. A wall of wood. I'm not speaking metaphorically here. Many times the only physical object that has kept me apart from my beautiful children has been a literal wall. In those times, my children have been ignorant to the fact that their daddy is on the other side of that wall.

As of Friday we have officially hired an attorney to petition the judge to allow the removal of another type of wall -- a wall of obstinacy. We'll probably hear some initial news here within a few days, but we might not get any real traction or change for at least a couple of weeks, maybe more.

I love my children. I love Nathan, Daniel, Abigail, and Evangeline. They are my favorite people in the world, and I hope one day they'll understand why I could not be with them during this time. I hope God uses this in their lives to make them better, more like Him.

And we still wait for the salvation of Yahweh.

Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength!
We will sing and praise your power.
-- Psalm 21:13 (ESV)

We're still attorney shopping. We've had some good leads and have had a couple of positive meetings, so hopefully we'll be making a decision here pretty soon.

In the meantime, Brandi says our kids are doing great. They miss me every day, and I miss them, but I think we all know that the longing we all feel will make our reunification that much sweeter.

The other day I told Brandi that I've never understood what it means to have a broken heart, until now.

It won't stay broken forever.

I called the Big Cheese at BC the other day and left a courteous message asking him to give me a call so I can discuss my options. He called back, left a message and said I have one of two choices: 1) I can hire an attorney and go before a judge, or 2) I can shake their Magic 8 Ball take a polygraph in BC in May, and if I pass he said they'd "amend my conditions."

He didn't say what they'd amend the conditions to. I doubt, even then, that they'd let me go home; they're too concerned with their liability to allow that, but they'd probably allow for some sort of contact.

After discussing this with Brandi and praying about it, we both felt like option 1 was the way to go. Option 2 is just not proactive, and I feel like we're in a proactive season right now, not a passive season. The time for waiting and reacting is over.

I called the Big Cheese back today and left him a message telling him we're pursuing option 1.

The authorities are still saying I can not have any contact with my children.

I understand that my original crime was felonious and that I deserve to be punished, but right now all I can see is the fact that my children are being tortured for no good reason.

CPS has closed the case with sexual abuse "ruled out." The detectives in my county investigated (and interrogated) me, and came up with nothing. My children were interviewed and my home was inspected -- clean as a whistle. I have passed their beloved polygraph exam.

What else am I supposed to do?

Obviously this means we are to diligently seek Him even more now. He is the rewarder of those who do so -- and His presence is all the reward we need.

We're still waiting on something to happen. The people in BC have had the information they need in their paws for at least three business days now, so, Lord willing, we'll hear something in the earlier part of the week.

I have not gotten my hopes up at all; and I must say seeing my kids would be such an unbelievable joy that it almost seems like it's outside the realm of reality. I have no framework in which to mentally process such a possibility. No matter what the circumstances, the day I see them again will be the happiest day of my life.

I've often thought about the war motifs and metaphors in the Old Testament as a beneficial picture of spiritual warfare for present day believers, in a 2 Corinthians 10 and Ephesians 6 sort of way. As we've been going through Nehemiah on Sunday mornings at Antioch, I've been encouraged by much of the imagery of being ready for battle, with a sword on your hip, while walls are being rebuilt. And there is no fear:

"Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes" (Nehemiah 4:14 ESV).

And later, verse 20 proclaims, "Our God will fight for us."

The battle belongs to JESUS; what a comforting thought. To that end, I would like to ask you all again to call out to the Lord on behalf of my children. As 2 Corinthians 1:11 says, "You also must help us by prayer ..."

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. ... From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. -- Revelation 19:11, 15 & 16 (ESV)

This week we expect the authorities in BC to review my case and make a decision on whether or not I will be allowed to have contact with my children again. It's been almost 10 months since I've seen them, and I'm ready to be back in their lives. We're praying that the authorities realize that my children are not being protected, but they're being harmed by not having their father with them.

We've come a long way in this journey, and we don't know where it will take us, but God is faithful.

Here's what's been going on in a nutshell:

The polygraph examiner who was supposed to confirm the test I passed is saying that he can not give an opinion on the test because he thinks one of the questions I was asked was invalid.

When the polygraph examiner who gave me the test got wind of the situation, he got agitated because he felt like his reputation was on the line. He subsequently had the exam quality control tested by two other polygraphers, one of whom is a high ranking official in the Texas state polygraph world. In other words, two credible polygraph examiners have confirmed the results.

Now we continue to wait and see how this all plays out. The real prayer point here is for the county to see this as legit and to allow me to begin to see my children again. I'm really getting a glimpse into how much gray there is in the supposedly black-and-white world of polygraphs.

On a related note, I'm really feeling a surge of boldness and confidence, and I know it's from the Lord. I need to be careful, though, to have "no confidence in the flesh" (Phil. 3:3). I do feel like we're entering a different season with this situation, and in many ways I feel like it's a season to fight; or, perhaps more appropriately, a season to allow the Lord to fight for us and to rejoice in His victory.

I had my weekly group meeting tonight with my therapist. He said the other polygraph examiner hasn't received the charts yet, but that when he does it should be pretty straightforward because both polygraphers use the same computer software. All the other polygrapher has to do is plug in the chart to his computer software, verify that the computer says it's a "pass," and we're good to go. It's pretty silly to go through this, but it's good that we're covering all the bases.

My therapist said a couple of good things tonight to our entire group. He said that typically fear and anxiety don't have an impact on someone taking a polygraph, but in certain cases someone's anxiety can be so severe that he thinks it can skew the test. That's what happened in my case, he said, and that's why it was a good idea for me to take take an independent polygraph, to further remove myself from any potential anxiety.

I can't tell you all how thankful Brandi and I are that you all have stood with us, walked with us, and prayed with us through this ordeal. We still have a bit further to go, so please keep praying. God is good, and He if faithful.

*Update* -- Please pray for my children and for Brandi. The kids have been having a harder time lately, missing me and all, and it's really taking a toll on Brandi. Please lift them up.

That's the question I'm getting most often these days, and understandably so.

Right now we're waiting on my therapist's polygrapher to verify the results of my polygraph chart. This is a precautionary measure, so that when we present the passed exam to BC we can say, "Not only did I pass a polygraph administered by a licensed professional polygraph examiner, we also had the results verified by another polygrapher."

Once the results are verified (presumably this week), my therapist will then informally present those results to BC to see if we can proceed with reunification. The big prayer point here is for BC to not be obstinate. If BC chooses to dig its heels into the ground, we'll have ample evidence to fight this separation in court, but we'd rather not go through the trouble or expense of that endeavor.

Back in June of last year, when I was sitting in jail, not knowing what the future held, I felt like the Holy Spirit opened up Romans 8:33 to me, and, despite the uncertainty of the future of my family, I was comforted. The scripture reads, "Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies."

He justifies on so many levels. I praise Him for that.

Pray without ceasing ... -- 1 Thessalonians 5:17

In my mind I think I've been leaning more toward Pray until you pass a polygraph, but Brandi reminded me this morning via email that now is a critical time to pray.

From her journal this morning:

Now it is easy to "relax" in prayer. But I felt reminded by the Spirit that now is just as critical. Decisions will be made based on the pass and we want God's best and for Him to be glorified.

We still don't know what the future holds. If the authorities are logical, they will allow me back in my home immediately. But I've seen that all too often rational thought means virtually nothing when people who are far removed from a situation go into "cover their tail" mode. Right now, nothing is a foregone conclusion. The contretemps that is the past nine months is still not over, and who knows what God has in store for the future?

With that said, I'm believing God to be reunited with my family by April. Please pray with me to that end. I know it will happen. But if not, I still will not serve the god of this age.

As many of you may know by now, I took and passed a polygraph today covering whether or not I have had any sexual contact with anyone other than Brandi since the time of my last passed polygraph (Feb. '09). I passed!

The polygrapher said that in order to score a "pass," you have to have at least a +3. He said that the highest anyone can score is a +10. So a +10 is like pitching a no-hitter or bowling a 300. Well, the polygrapher said he manually scored me at a +10, and his computer gave me a score of +9. So there is no ambiguity whatsoever!

The polygrapher we used was not state-appointed. We went at this with an independent guy, and the next step is to have a state-appointed polygrapher verify the results. That shouldn't be a problem because my chart was so "clean."

My therapist said once we get his state-appointed polygrapher to verify the results, we can present that to BC and request that I be reunited with my family. If BC is still obstinate (which would not be a surprise), then we'd have a strong case to take before a judge, and my therapist (who is also state-appointed) said he'd testify on our behalf.

It looks like things are falling in to place. Praise JESUS!

Therefore the LORD heard this and was furious;
So a fire was kindled against Jacob,
And anger also came up against Israel,
Because they did not believe in God,
And did not trust in His salvation.
-- Psalm 78:21 & 22

Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. ... -- Hebrews 3:12

Tomorrow is a big day, but I have no anxiety right now. Meditating on the above passages tonight has helped me to remember that unbelief is, well, evil. I will hold the beginning of my confidence steadfast to the end, and I will wait for the salvation of Yahweh.

If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods ... -- Daniel 3:17 & 18 (ESV)

I love the confidence of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They know God will deliver them, but even if he doesn't -- "but if not" -- then they still won't bow.

I trust God for His deliverance, and I know He will deliver us from so great a death (2 Cor. 1:10), but if that deliverance is not what I expect, then I still won't bow to the god of this age.

Tonight my therapist wrote my monthly report:

"No problems noted. I recommend the client be allowed to write letters to his children and to talk to them on the phone. ..."

The report will be forwarded to my MC authorities, and while I don't expect them to budge, it at least shows my therapist's willingness to continue to put pressure on the higher-ups. I was encouraged by it.

I had a good meeting with my therapist yesterday. The bad news is he said he talked to the gatekeeper in BC, and that the conversation didn't go anywhere. In other words, his plan for reunification was shot down before he could even explain it. In reality, we expected such a response, so while it's a disappointment, it was not unexpected.

I'll say I feel like the therapist -- and keep in mind he's the state-appointed expert -- has a deep compassion and concern for our situation. He truly believes that I need to be home and he's doing things to help us toward that goal.

I know this isn't much of a detailed update, but much of what I want to say will probably be better said on email. So if you'd like a more detailed update send me an email* ... and thanks for praying. Brandi and I love all of you guys.

*It might be better to not use the "Contact Me" feature on the sidebar until I can verify that it's working. I tested it out but haven't gotten confirmation that it's working. So a direct email or even a comment on this post asking for an email from me would work just fine.

The Contact Me is working now. I had misspelled my own name in the administrator email form. D'oh! So feel free to Contact Me anytime!

About two weeks ago my officer in MC sent an email to BC asking them if I was allowed to receive a letter that Abigail wrote for me. BC promptly responded, "No!"

As frustrating as that was, it wasn't a surprise. In the meantime we were still waiting on my therapist to send his letter to BC asking to begin the process of family reunification by first allowing me to send the children letters, then phone calls, et cetera.

When I talked to my therapist yesterday, he said he's still planning on sending the letter to BC, but that he wants to wait a bit longer because if he sends the letter on the heels of the aforementioned rejection, BC would likely simply say, "They just asked about letters, and we said no!"

Therefore, we're still waiting. It's frustrating to be in a holding pattern, but I'm very much encouraged by the fact that it's obvious to me that my therapist -- the guy appointed by the State -- is still very much for me and my family. He has sympathy and understanding for the pain I'm going through, and that's a rare thing in the world of criminal probation.

Most people might think, He's your therapist, of course he's going to be on your side. And while that's probably true in a non-probation setting, it's not something I've ever seen on this side of the justice system. Especially since I'm sitting here with two failed polygraphs. For the past eight years, my experience of their attitude toward failed polygraphs is complete incredulity on their part. It's always, "You're obviously lying about something, now tell us what it is." This time it's more like, "You obviously over-analyze certain things and it gives you trouble on the polygraph. We'll work with you on that." That type of attitude is nothing short of a miracle, and I'm thankful that God's given me so much favor.

Thanks again for all of your prayers and support. I truly believe that if it were not for the prayers of the saints, my situation would be much worse. As it is now God is teaching me as a loved son (Hebrews 12), and He's showing me how to commit my soul to Him as to a faithful Creator in the midst of all of this suffering (1 Peter 4:19).

These are merely light afflictions. The weight of glory comes next.

Talked to my therapist today. He said the authorities in this county are saying that the BC authorities have already said "no contact," and that we'd need to appeal directly to the authorities in BC in order to get permission to get the ball rolling on any type of contact.

With that said, my therapist told me that he would write a letter directly to BC asking for permission to initiate contact with my children. He told me that he would explain in the letter all of the reasons why "it's necessary" for my children to be able to have contact with their father, and he said if the letter doesn't generate a response, he would call BC and explain the situation to them.

For us, that's very encouraging news. My therapist continues to be extremely supportive and we really get the sense that he believes in me. We're very thankful for that!

Please continue to pray daily for Brandi, Nathan, Daniel, Abigail, and Evangeline. I have not seen the kids in almost five months. I want my family back.

Thursday was a good day.

I had a routine meeting with my therapist and at the meeting I asked him if I could send letters to my kids. He picked up his phone, called my probation officer in McLennan County, and left a message to this effect, "Hi, [insert name here]. This is Dr. [insert name here]. I've got Eric here in my office and what I'm wanting to do is move him toward family reunification. The first step in that is allowing him to be able to send letters to his kids. What do we need to do to make that happen on your end?" So we await her response.

Now, if for some reason, BC comes back and says, "No, you can't write letters," then we'll have a valid argument with which to approach the judge: "Look, judge, my therapist -- the guy appointed by the state -- is saying I need to have some sort of contact with my kids and that I need to be moving toward family reunification. May we do that?" Of course, the judge could still say no, but with the professional therapist on our side, our chances are much better.

After my meeting with the therapist, I got the call from the mysterious stranger wanting to give me his truck. Not a bad day. The truck is the nicest vehicle I've ever owned. It's been well cared for and looks absolutely beautiful. I'm amazed.

On Wednesday (obviously, the day before Thursday), my former truck (which, in reality, is a small wheelbarrow with a 4-cylinder engine attached to it) had gotten a flat tire. When I was getting the tire fixed, I was overwhelmed with thankfulness. I thought, Thank you, God, for this little beat up farm truck. Thank you that it runs right now, and even if it breaks down on the way to work, I'm still so thankful for it and for everything you've done in my life. The sense of thankfulness was so overwhelming, I had to text a few people right then to tell them how I was feeling. It was great!

God is faithful. And even if I had never gotten the call about that truck, He'd still be faithful.

A few days ago I talked to a Waco attorney about our situation. This guy was recommended to me through a brother in my Lifegroup. To put it succinctly, the attorney reiterated what we've been hearing all along: It's best to wait to get the support of the therapist, rather than to simply petition the judge out of the blue. He indicated if we chose the latter, we "could be wasting money."

Honestly, I'm not sure if his advice is from God or not. I don't "feel" anything about it either way. About a week and a half ago Brandi and I had dinner with Blaine and Golden Parsons, and they talked about the idea of praying to find an attorney who would "take a personal interest" in our situation. I think there certainly is some validity to that. In any legal situation, one would absolutely want to have a solid rapport with their attorney.

What we're doing now is still moving forward with pursuing any possible leads for attorneys, but our hope is certainly not in the legal system or in any legal counsel. We're confident that God is in control here. All we have to do is walk in the path that He illuminates.

Nothing has materialized yet. We're still praying for an attorney (and still looking into a lead in that area). The kids seem to be doing well. I think they're adjusting to life without me, but Brandi says they do think about me and long to see me back home. I have my ups and downs. Most days are fine, but many times the reality of the situation and the pain of separation feel like they're too much for me to handle. Of course, when I'm weak, He's strong. We have so much to be thankful for.

Brandi and I met with my therapist today. Throughout this ordeal he has always been very supportive, and today was no different. While his hands are tied by what BC is going to allow, he said what he wants to do is move us to the point of family reunification. What that means practically are a couple of things:

- Regular individual meetings with him, to work on "therapy stuff."

- Eventually, a passed poly. He said he won't be able to do anything without a passed poly to work with.

With those things in place, at some point in the near future he'd be able to help me approach the BC authorities to allow for written contact, then verbal contact, and so on. The feeling we got from him was that he didn't want the process to drag on forever, but that we're going to have to give it a little time. It doesn't look like there's a quick fix anytime in the future.

So we're left wondering if it's still worth it to attempt to petition the court via an attorney, sans my therapist's support. Of course, if all goes well, we'll have his support in due time, and that would make matters easier, I'm sure. Regardless, we're planning on at least talking to attorney, to see what our current legal options are.

In other matters, a few people have inquired about our automobile situation. Right now the Suburban runs just fine, it simply doesn't want to start sometimes. :-) Through a friend's advice, we contacted Ed Espinosa at the church. Apparently he's started a ministry through the church where he works on cars for a nominal fee. I told him my car's symptoms, and he's relatively certain it's my fuel pump. He said if I bought the fuel pump, he'd install it in exchange for me taking some photos for him -- sounds like a great deal to me! Of course, now I need to locate a fuel pump, so we're not out of the woods yet. I'll keep everyone posted.

We've gotten a good lead, maybe two, on possible attorneys. I plan to follow up on Tuesday, when the world gets back to work.

The kids got back today from about five days in Houston. Brandi reports that they seem to be doing well, but Daniel tends to get weepy these days, with no real explanation why. Of all the kids, Daniel is the sensitive one. He's the one who "feels" and who likes to be in close proximity with plenty of physical touch (e.g. hugs). I think he's feeling my absence, even if he can't understand his feelings or verbalize them. Please, pray for all of my family, but say a special prayer for little Daniel.

Brandi and I had a good weekend. We were able to see each other for several hours on Saturday (thanks to my mother-in-law taking Evangeline for us), and we were able to go to church together this morning. I also spent a couple of hours out at our place this afternoon, doing various random chores.

This will be my second holiday without my family; the first was the 4th of July. It's difficult to be without them on special days, but Brandi and I try to keep the proper perspective, knowing that this means we're one day closer to being together as a family again.

Thanks to all of you who read this blog. I've gotten a few emails and encouragements specifically about the blog, and I really appreciate them.

Pray for Brandi, Nathan, Daniel, Abigail, and Evangeline.

- Still trying to figure out everything about an attorney.
- Our kids (sans Eve) are in Houston right now until this weekend. We're leaning heavily toward telling them what's been going on, and why I'm not home. I think we may do that this weekend or early next week. We'll see. It'll obviously be Brandi who tells them.
- Most days are full of deep joy and deep sorrow.
- Please pray that something works out for us to have reliable transportation for Brandi. Her Suburban is broken (again!), and we're kind of at a dead end right now. If she doesn't have a vehicle she's essentially a single mom without transportation. Bad news.
- That's it for now.

I haven't actually had voice-to-voice or written communication with my children in nearly two weeks. Please pray for Nathan, Daniel, Abigail, and Evangeline.

We've put some feelers out to some attorneys to see about petitioning the judge for some sort of contact, but so far we haven't made much progress. I'm sure much of that is due to the fact that Brandi is going non-stop at home, and I've been snowed under at work, so there isn't much time (or energy) at the end of each day to pursue legal counsel.

I did, however, talk to my probation-provided therapist on Tuesday, and told him about our plan to talk to the kids about the situation (so far they don't have a clue), and our plan to petition the judge for some sort of contact.

On the petitioning the judge situation, the therapist recommended I wait a few weeks (months?) so that I can have a few more meetings with him, and that way he would feel comfortable offering his support when I petition the judge. He said the judge in question is usually pretty tough on these types of cases, and the implication was that my chances would be better if I had him (the therapist) on my side. So now the questions are: Do we petition the judge anyway? Or wait a few weeks to see if we can get the therapist on board with us?

With regard to telling the kids about the situation, he also recommended that we wait to tell the kids until he can have a session (within a week or so, hopefully) with both Brandi and me, to talk about how we plan to tell the kids and what we plan to tell them. We're not under any obligation to obey the therapists advice, but we certainly want to make the right decision. If we hold off until Brandi and I can see the therapist, it might be another week or two until we can tell the kids what the situation is. The downside of that is they were used to me calling them and writing them, and now all of that has dried up, and pretty soon they're going to start wondering why.

Once again, we have plenty to pray for. Thanks again to all of you who keep up with our situation, pray with us, love us, and walk with us. We truly love all of you.

As most of you probably know, the latest news is that BC has said that I must petition the judge (through an attorney) if I want to have any sort of written or verbal communication with my children. While that is a setback, and certainly not what we were hoping for, we know it didn't take God by surprise and that He has a plan for us through this leg of the journey. Please pray for God's provision through all of this.