All thanks and praise to God! We moved all of our stuff from the rental to the "new" house last Thursday through Saturday (8/6). We cleaned the rental on Sunday and Scott left at 4:30 am Monday for a week of training in Texas. He returned safely late Friday night. Well, on Monday - the first day "by myself with the kids out in the country" was overwhelming. So thankful that my friend, Katrina, took the girls to their sewing class so I could stay home and try to unpack and organize. I was cleaning the front porch and heard a strange sound. When I looked over the edge, the biggest snake I've ever seen out here (and I've seen way too many in the past year!) was rapidly squirming from under the porch to a nearby shrub. Yikes! I actually did not scream (for the 1st time when seeing one of those dreadful creatures) and got my 40 lb bag of lime pellets. I scattered it all around the porch (apparently snakes don't like lime), but then Hannah saw it about an hour later. Then we got a call from my sister saying that Burgess (we did a "dog swap" with my sister -- she has Tilly now and we have Burg) had run away and was down at the horse stables a few properties away. Daniel threw a few tantrums. Day 1. Praise the Lord that things went much better after that because I was worn out! What day is it??!! It has been such a crazy whirlwind and we are exhausted. Oh yeah -- and we finally moved Daniel out of the crib which by the 4th child was held together by bungee cords! Scott's friend, Kevin, whom he's known since age 6 years was in charge of the crib dismantle. He had never seen anything like it! ;-) Daniel slept in his "big boy bed" (ie, bunk bed) for the first time on Sunday night. Whew.
Oh I forgot -- the appliances were delivered Wednesday, just 2 days before our move. We are so thankful that everything worked. And the plumber installed the toilets and faucets on Friday, just one day before our move. That is so not my personality and cutting it way too close. But, once again, God gave us peace and He worked everything out.
I was a little nervous about the move. We have way too much stuff. Period. I am praying that God would help me/us to wisely discern what to get rid of because I don't want to be a slave to material possessions or spend too much time taking care of stuff. I don't want to live in the clutter and disorganization that we did while in the rental. When Scott's parents' passed away a few years ago, we inherited a number of antiques that are in great condition and have been in his family for quite a while. They are beautiful and I'd like for the kids to have the opportunity to have them if they want when they get older. This house is a little smaller than the last house we built, so we have even less room for stuff.
Anyways, we weren't sure how many people would be willing to help us move for the second time in 13 months and it was a big swim team week-end (Champs meet). I was praying for weather mercies (it had been soooo hot this July and the previous year it was 100+ degrees for the entire move week) and for God to bring the right people to help us - and enough of them. I remembered the missionary story of George Mueller -- he didn't ask people, but God, when he needed something. That's mostly what we did. Scott asked a few guys, but then the kids and I prayed that God would provide what we needed - and I wasn't even sure what that was. God knows. Well, we were blown away by all of the help we received both on Thursday and Saturday. I think we had 12 men helping on Saturday alone. We had the 26 ft. moving truck loaded and over to the "farm" by lunch. Thank you, Jesus! And thank you to all who helped us, especially Jasen and John who were there on both days. They made 3 trips on Thursday with a 16 ft. truck and the help of Fred, Scott S. and boys (who knew we'd have 4 men and several big boys to help us during the week!?). We are so thankful and completely overwhelmed. In fact, the couple who is moving into the rental after us stopped by during our move last Saturday and exclaimed how amazing it was that we had so much help. They said, "I don't think we even know that many people!" The many vehicles lined both sides of the street. AND....the weather was better than it had been - slightly cooler and no rain. God is good! Soooo grateful. God does hear, He does know our needs, and He does provide.
I STILL haven't found my Bible (that is driving me CRAZY!), but these words from Chris Tomlin's song, "Forever", are perfect and we sang it in church this morning. Besides, so many of Chris' words/songs are direct quotes from the Bible... ;-)
"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever. Sing praise, sing praise."
p.s. We have a laptop temporarily set up for now and I don't know how to post photos from it. Scott will set up another computer when he gets a chance and then I can upload some recent pics! He's helping Jasen's family move today. We spent a couple of hours at Lowes yesterday buying those things you take for granted -- toilet paper holders, towel rings and bars, mirrors for the bathrooms....Hoping to get those installed this week...Praying that the trim guy will have time to start working on our bookshelves and two closets. I can't unpack many boxes until he does that...
